Any Chefs Here?...Career Question

I've seen people do really well, and I've seen people struggle.

A good friend of ours, and my grandmother. Both wonderful wonderful chefs.
Grandmother struggled financially always.
The good friend of ours now sells ADT security systems and has $40.000 in loans to pay off.


So there is that. I love my kids and want them to follow their dreams, and money isn't everything. But I would steer them in another direction.

I have a bunch of friends who are chefs and I'm currently in a culinary certificate program. I'm doing that over actual culinary school because I can't quit my job. I work in marketing and do blog editing, food writing and guide recipe concepting for a kitchen appliance company. I also write a personal food blog and test recipes for a James Beard Award-winning website.

My chef friends love what they do. Some are executive chefs who have started their own restaurants, while some own food trucks and some work under chefs they admire. I only know one person working in a chain restaurant, but we're not really a chain restaurant kind of city. I think it depends a lot on your drive and where you choose to work. A lot of these people I know could have ended up working for chains if they had gone to the suburbs or not lived in a city with a rapidly growing food scene. There are a lot of variables and you have to be willing to take calculated risks, but it has been worth it for 99% of my friends.

That said, a few of them never went to culinary school and are self taught. I think it comes down to drive and effort in the end.

Its an incredibly difficult and time consuming job.

Generally speaking the pay isn't good unless you're one of the best.

People do it for the love of cooking, the passion and the joy they get from seeing others eating their food.

Expect very very very very long days.

With that being said, I am incredibly excited for my future in the industry

If he has a sincere passion for it, I believe he should pursue it and you should encourage him

I've wanted to be a Chef all my life. However, life takes it's own turns while you are making plans.

I am going to retire in a couple of years and we are relocating so I can go to Culinary School. I'll never work as a Chef, but I will have the skills.

My son is 14 (15 in October) and starts High School this month.

He has taken culinary classes in 7th and 8th grade. Loves the cooking part of it. Nothing wrong with that.

Also may or may not join the military.

We live in the Greater Houston, TX area.

My husband's cousin is in his 30's and went to culinary school. He graduated last year sometime and has been back and forth between "regular" jobs and jobs in kitchens. He is in a small town in Ohio.

That said, we believe that he really likes to cook for fun and not for money. He's taking classes for engineering (In what he's not decided). We encourage him to continue to enjoy his culinary skills but for fun, not for profit.

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My son is 14 (15 in October) and starts High School this month.

He has taken culinary classes in 7th and 8th grade. Loves the cooking part of it. Nothing wrong with that.

Also may or may not join the military.

We live in the Greater Houston, TX area.

My husband's cousin is in his 30's and went to culinary school. He graduated last year sometime and has been back and forth between "regular" jobs and jobs in kitchens. He is in a small town in Ohio.

That said, we believe that he really likes to cook for fun and not for money. He's taking classes for engineering (In what he's not decided). We encourage him to continue to enjoy his culinary skills but for fun, not for profit.

very cool. I hope youve looked at the prices of the big 3...holy crap.

We aren't "from" Texas but he was born here. If by big 3 you mean Maroon color, burnt orange color, or Rice... well, he's looking at Rice. We also told him we aren't paying for his college. (Or a Car or his rent, etc).

But he might also move to Florida to live with my mom and go to school there. As you know at this age life is a game of 52 pick-up. Throw it in the air and see where things land.

My son is 14 (15 in October) and starts High School this month.

He has taken culinary classes in 7th and 8th grade. Loves the cooking part of it. Nothing wrong with that.

Also may or may not join the military.

We live in the Greater Houston, TX area.

My husband's cousin is in his 30's and went to culinary school. He graduated last year sometime and has been back and forth between "regular" jobs and jobs in kitchens. He is in a small town in Ohio.

That said, we believe that he really likes to cook for fun and not for money. He's taking classes for engineering (In what he's not decided). We encourage him to continue to enjoy his culinary skills but for fun, not for profit.

very cool. I hope youve looked at the prices of the big 3...holy crap.

We aren't "from" Texas but he was born here. If by big 3 you mean Maroon color, burnt orange color, or Rice... well, he's looking at Rice. We also told him we aren't paying for his college. (Or a Car or his rent, etc).

But he might also move to Florida to live with my mom and go to school there. As you know at this age life is a game of 52 pick-up. Throw it in the air and see where things land.

no, i meant the big 3 culinary schools (according to most in the culinary schools, these r the only ones that matter)

Johnson and Wales
The International Culinary Institute
The Culinary Institute of America

Ha, no. My son isn't looking into culinary schools. I misunderstood your question, sorry about that!! Generally people think of Texas as UT, A&M, and "other."

I'm not sure where my cousin-in-law attended his culinary school. (Just checked, it was Hocking College Culinary Arts).

I am a CIA grad, worked 10 years around NYC. It's a very demanding job. Right out of school he can expect decent pay IF he is in NYC, LA, Chicago.

The only real schools to consider are Johnston & Wales & CIA. They have the highest esteem within the industry. A big decision to make is whether or not to become a pastry chef or "Food" chef. Very different training and schooling associated with them.

I left the industry when my first born was 3 years old. Being a chef means working 80 plus hours per week when you are elevated to the Executive Chef title. Sous Chef's also work long hours.

My best suggestion for him is to find a job in a local restaurant. Even at his age, he should be able to find part-time weekend work as a bus boy or dishwasher. He can speak to the chef there about taking on some prep work, and see how the business works. I did that myself at 14 in a local italian restaurant, and was hooked.

Best of luck to you both in his journey!

Hi, there, LoneWolf...Not only am i chef, but i'm also a veteran. My culinary schooling was about $30K (National Center for Hospitality Studies at Sullivan University in Louisville, KY), and my GI BIll paid for about half of it. Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits are a bit better, but ensure that whatever job he goes for has a benefit attached to it...not all of them do. The College Fund is between $40-65K, depending on the job (MOS).

Most of the time when a young person tells me they are going to use the college money after they enlist, I tell them to go to school first and get a degree, rack up the loans and then enlist. There is a program that is offered to all enlisted soldiers called the Loan Repayment Program. After your first year in (I believe its a 4-6 years minimum contract) your loans are paid for you. I tell everyone I did it the stupid way. My two younger brothers racked up $65-100K in loans and they are already paid for...I will be paying for the next ten years.

I agree with BlueGreyGreen that there are two paths in the chef world: pastry or cookery.

The military has culinary teams and often times have highly trained chefs...CIA, Johnson & Wales, Le Cordon Bleu, etc...on the teams. Depending on skill level several have been employed at the White House and embassies all over the world.

I lecture HS culinary students as a guest chef every quarter, in addition to an adjunct professorship at my alma mater. In a class of 30 students, roughly half will become executive chefs. The other half will never move past a sous chef position, if they make it that far. Half of those executive chefs will become owner/operators. Less than 1% will become a celebrity chef. A chef makes his or her money on evenings, weekends and holidays. Roughly 60% of culinary grads, regardless of which school they went to, make it past 10 years in the industry...the other 40% leave to pursue other careers due to the hours or burn out.

There is another option...managed food services. These are the chefs that run eateries on college campuses, corporate dining, hospitals, etc. i've done the fine dining thing...and it's wonderful, amazing, and stressful...I switched to managed food services about ten years ago and haven't worked a holiday in the last five years. I am on call every third weekend, and I am home by 7PM at the latest, but 4PM is my usual end of shift. I've worked in military hospitals, civilian hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.

The baby boomers are retiring and they don't want slop on a plate, they want food they would order at a restaurant. My patients order from a room service menu similar to a hotel...the added challenge of adhering to a patient's diet order, while still making it look and taste good is a bonus...<wink>

There has to be true passion for what we do...I think he should absolutely get a job in the industry to get a feel for the pace (just not fast food...it doesn't deliver a true picture of what real food service is like. I know its a good start for many people, but i feel like they learn too many bad habits in fast food) and the expectations.

I'm happy to answer any questions he or you have about it...

I know there's another chef on here who has a lot of experience as a personal chef and that can be a very rewarding career, too.

(Edited: I went back and read the thread...and laughed a bit...as a contract chef, I think of the Big Three as Sodexo, Aramark & The Compass Group...the Big Three in managed food services!)