What to do after Culinary School - Four Professional Concerns

Okay, you’ve completed your courses at a top culinary school and walked away with certification as a trained cook or chef at some level. That culinary degree is your ticket in the door somewhere; the question is where. One of the elements in the culinary industry that should be a key factor in your job search is the fact that there is a high turnover rate of employees at all levels.

That includes chef positions at the top restaurants and hotels. The hours required for these positions and the stress that is inherent in them create a churn in even the top ranks of culinary employees. So when a culinary school graduate takes an “entry level” position, remember that in the kitchen you can expect personnel changes to be the norm. Here are some suggestions about tempering your expectations during your job hunt.

1. There is tremendous variation in restaurant personnel structure. There are small, individually run restaurants. These could be family restaurants or a chef-owned fine dining establishment. If the cook is also the proprietor, don’t expect to have a shot at the chef’s role in that establishment.

2. Larger operations such as restaurants that have multiple outlets may be advertising for a chef or sous chef but are actually looking for a kitchen manager. Restaurants at this level, particularly those with multiple outlets, use their menu as a marketing tool. For that reason, every outlet has to serve identical fare.

These companies have chefs that create new menu items, but it is not only culinary creativity that is involved. The menu items must have strict cost control built into them and must be simple enough to be prepared by employees you’ve never met. The kitchen staff at each outlet works off a corporate menu.

3. Institutional food service (retirement homes, corporate lunch rooms, hospitals and schools) are not always on the cutting edge of culinary. They are a good opportunity to learn what running a high-output kitchen is like, and the job probably has good benefits.

One of the factors in this job segment is that the culinary school graduate is going to have to understand dietary needs and how to meet them. It’s a good opportunity if you’re looking for less stressful culinary employment, but it’s not an outlet for creativity.

4. A job as personal chef to a family or private household seems like a golden opportunity for culinary school grads who wish to avoid the tough competition and tougher hours that chefs in fine restaurants confront. However the role of personal chef is in many cases different today than in past eras.

Chefs often have several clients, and rather than cook on a daily basis, they prepare a series of meals to last the week. It’s almost like running a catering business - and you may find yourself using your own kitchen. A good business, but once again a business that is as much planning and logistics as it is cooking.