Ready to start your culinary career in a professional kitchen? Becoming a successful chef takes dedication and patience to refine the craft. Getting that big break and building upon that foundation can be daunting. However, here are some tips on finding a suitable chef job and excelling in a professional kitchen.
Important skills need for chef jobs
Every restaurant is different, and so are its kitchen needs. However, chefs all over the world are in high demand. It takes someone with both hard and soft skills to take command of the kitchen. Some important job skills for becoming a chef and excelling at your kitchen job might include:
- Clear and effective communication
- Budgeting and time management
- Attention to detail
- Business sense
- Cleanliness
- Creativity and imagination
- Culinary expertise
- Inventive sense of taste and smell
- Expert multitasking
- Team building
- Stress management
- Dexterity
- Ability to function in a high-paced, hot, noisy kitchen
- Will to work odd and long hours, even on holidays
Kitchen jobs bring newer challenges. So, chefs retain these skills by moving jobs. Some even open up their own restaurants.
What does a chef do?
A lot of hard and smart work makes up a successful chef job. Chefs are different from cooks, and so are their responsibilities. A chef may be more trained and skilled at adding to the reputation of the restaurant. It isn’t just about preparing food to the customer’s liking but also about their management and organizational skills. A chef may be in charge of the following:
- Oversee kitchen duties
- Plan the restaurant’s menu
- Maintain kitchen budget
- Price the menu items correctly
- Keep track of kitchen supplies
- Train cooks
- Manage all staff
- Ensure safety
- Ensure quality of all services
- Make all meals eye-pleasing and scrumptious
Getting a job as a chef
Kitchen jobs are both physically and mentally demanding. As a chef, there’s even more pressure, but it’s also rewarding. It’s a difficult decision, but once you make your choice, here’s how to proceed.
1. Identify and understand your specialties to know the ideal work environment.
2. Get formal culinary education – that’s like a gold star on your CV and provides valuable industry know-how.
3. Seek career guidance, referrals, and networking opportunities from your institute to prepare you for a successful career.
4. Participate in an externship for real-world, hands-on cooking job training.
5. Create a robust and widespread network, and you might end up in a professional kitchen pretty soon.
6. Take up an entry-level job, such as a line cook job, and work your way up, mastering the craft.
7. Pursue necessary certifications to level up your culinary creativity and learning.
Getting a kitchen job with no experience
Well, everyone will have a “how to get your culinary job” guide for you. The contents can differ, but the key takeaways include passion, dedication, hard work, and self-improvement. But what about getting a cooking job with no experience? There’s no shortage of young, fresh, and new talent. And here’s how you can land your very first chef job without significant experience:
- Communicate your passion with a tailored covering letter and an appealing CV
- Familiarize yourself with the kitchen brigade
- Take a basic food hygiene course online
- Keep honing your skills
- A short cooking course can also benefit greatly
- Utilize your network
- Check local online job boards
- Stay motivated
Summing up
We hope this article gives you genuine advice on making your way forward. So, get yourself out there, apply for cool cooking jobs, and ensure getting feedback from unsuccessful ones. Keep giving your best until the day you make it big.
Check out all our listings for chef and cook jobs on our Food and Beverage page and on our Hotels and Resorts page.