Becoming a chef demands natural endowment. Imparting an aesthetic look to the food and experimenting with bizarre ingredients to prepare exotic dishes requires great talent and interest in cooking. And it sure is exciting. It is more of passion than a career and pays well too. With the food industry growing left right and centre, chefs with extraordinary talent of preparing mouth-watering delicacies have become hot property. But pleasing someone’s taste buds is not an easy task. People often like to try “something new” but who is to make sure that the “something new” is always “something good”? Who, the chefs of course! So, it is essential that you experiment new recipes over and over again and well in advance to avoid dissatisfied customers. Hence, perseverance and organisation are other qualities you must have. An important point worth noticing while opting for this career is that the normal schedule of holidays and leisure is not applicable here as this profession is a part of the service industry. Browse down to find out more details about this profession!
Becoming A Chef
Requirements
Eligibility
One can pursue the professional courses in this field right after completing higher secondary education. The minimum qualification and aggregate marks differ according to the institute/university. Selection procedure is different for different institutions. Some institutes conduct entrance examinations for admissions. Such exams usually test candidate’s aptitude in general English, general science, general knowledge and reasoning ability. Entrance examinations may be followed by group discussions and interview to judge the candidate’s personality and aptitudes. As the career depends upon cooking, the candidate must have a passion for it to stick on to this career for long time.
Courses
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Many institutes offer vocational courses and graduation courses in this discipline.
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Culinary schools offer 2 year and 4 year graduate courses in this direction.
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Some hotels also offer courses and placement for chefs. Courses conducted by armed forces (Military Chef Schools, for example) are another option which are followed by good internships or apprenticeships.
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There are several weekend classes and other crash courses available in cookery but they are informal, and hence highly variable in terms of success rates.
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Courses offering training in food and beverages, kitchen, housekeeping and front office management can also add value to your resume.
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To become a chef, you need to specialize in kitchen while doing a hotel management course.
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If you are not interested in other aspects of hotel management and want to focus only on cookery, you may join a hotel as a junior staff after pursuing a basic course in food craft. You can grow gradually up to the supervisory level.
Skills Required
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Passion for cooking
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Good sense of smell and taste
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A natural instinct for blending flavors and ingredients
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Knife skills
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Ability to work quickly and with high level of efficiency
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Personal hygiene
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Interpersonal skills to lead teams
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Communication skills to guide people well
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Fluency in a foreign language to take up jobs in high end hotels
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Great experimenting
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Willingness to work for long hours
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Good managerial skills
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Ability to work under pressure
Roles And Responsibilities
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Duties and responsibilities of a chef depend upon his/her position in the hierarchy. A trainee chef starts with basic sauces and salads, keeps tabs on inventory, chops veggies and other ingredients and garnishes dishes attractively before presenting them to the customers.
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Second level is a sauce chef and the duties of this position include supervising the kitchen staff and menu planning etc.
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Executive chefs are placed on the top of the hierarchy and are highly paid. Duties of an executive chef include maintaining quality standards, managing food preparation, creating new recipes, planning menus, preparing budgets and training juniors etc.
Career Prospects
Getting a job as a chef is not very hard. There are plenty of opportunities around the globe because food industry is the most rapidly growing industry across the globe owing to people’s heightened dependence on outside food. Furthermore, it is not necessary that a professionally qualified chef should spend his entire career in kitchen and related works. A qualified chef can also offer his service in teaching also and serve as a faculty in various cooking schools. As far as the career growth goes, a fresher may have to work as a junior staff under the guidance of a senior chef and it is only after gaining some on-the-job experience that the person can move up in the hierarchy to take up senior roles.
Career as a chef is interesting and beneficial. It boosts your creativity and out-of-the-box-thinking. This profession holds its own share of glamour and charm. Wish you a bright career!
