If you love to cook and have a background or experience in managing a business, a career as a chef will be a fulfilling one for you. Before you decide to apply for jobs, it is important to understand all of the background information for being a chef, from training to the salary you can expect.
Average Salary
A career as a sous chef or head chef might seem glamorous, but both involve well-developed cooking skills and the ability to think fast and work well with a team. Global Gourmet reports that a sous chef earned from $31,977 to $49,745, as of May 2008, while executive chefs earned from $55,976 to $85,328 a year.
Degrees
Being a chef does not typically require a degree from a culinary institute or training in business management, although holding one or both can give you an edge over the competition when searching for a job. According to Payscale, a head chef with a degree in 2010 earns from $43,239 to $59,521 annually. Most culinary institutes offer both associate's (two-year) and bachelor's (four-year) degree programs that focus on developing hands-on cooking skills, as well as administrative and managerial skills necessary in the restaurant business.
Experience
Most chefs must climb the restaurant ladder from the lower kitchen positions to understand how a restaurant kitchen works. A promotion from line cook might be chef de partie, who is in charge of one specific section of the kitchen and sometimes manages a small team of cooks. A promotion to sous chef puts the chef working directly beneath the executive chef. A head or executive chef manages the entire kitchen, including menu creation.
Administrative Skills
Chefs must have more than just cooking skills and knowledge of food. A chef often manages other cooks in the kitchen and sees that all parts of the job are done. He also meets and works with salesmen and vendors, places orders and handles deliveries.
Expert Insight
All Culinary Programs reports that the U.S. government requires that chefs have a health certificate stating they are free of communicable diseases. In addition to cooking and administrative skills, chefs must adhere to a strict level of personal cleanliness both for themselves and their kitchens.
Average Salary
A career as a sous chef or head chef might seem glamorous, but both involve well-developed cooking skills and the ability to think fast and work well with a team. Global Gourmet reports that a sous chef earned from $31,977 to $49,745, as of May 2008, while executive chefs earned from $55,976 to $85,328 a year.
Degrees
Being a chef does not typically require a degree from a culinary institute or training in business management, although holding one or both can give you an edge over the competition when searching for a job. According to Payscale, a head chef with a degree in 2010 earns from $43,239 to $59,521 annually. Most culinary institutes offer both associate's (two-year) and bachelor's (four-year) degree programs that focus on developing hands-on cooking skills, as well as administrative and managerial skills necessary in the restaurant business.
Experience
Most chefs must climb the restaurant ladder from the lower kitchen positions to understand how a restaurant kitchen works. A promotion from line cook might be chef de partie, who is in charge of one specific section of the kitchen and sometimes manages a small team of cooks. A promotion to sous chef puts the chef working directly beneath the executive chef. A head or executive chef manages the entire kitchen, including menu creation.
Administrative Skills
Chefs must have more than just cooking skills and knowledge of food. A chef often manages other cooks in the kitchen and sees that all parts of the job are done. He also meets and works with salesmen and vendors, places orders and handles deliveries.
Expert Insight
All Culinary Programs reports that the U.S. government requires that chefs have a health certificate stating they are free of communicable diseases. In addition to cooking and administrative skills, chefs must adhere to a strict level of personal cleanliness both for themselves and their kitchens.


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Faizan

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