Executive Chef Job Description, Salary and Career Information

Essential Information

Executive chefs supervise other kitchen personnel and are responsible for making the administrative decisions for a restaurant. They often work long hours, with 12-hour days being common. Work experience is the most important requirement for executive chef positions, though a bachelor's degree in culinary arts or a related hospitality field is recommended; associate's degree programs are another option. Voluntary certification is available from the American Culinary Federation.

Required Education	None specified, though bachelor's degrees are increasingly common; associate's degrees are also available
Other Requirements	7-8 years of work experience for executive positions
Certification	Voluntary
Projected Job Growth (2012-2022)	5% for all chefs and head cooks*
Median Salary (2014)	$54,881**

Sources: *U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, **PayScale.com

Executive Chef Job Description

Executive chefs work for restaurants and make most of the administrative decisions. They may review food and beverage purchases, develop and standardize recipes, maintain safety and sanitation in the kitchen, maintain equipment, design food presentation aesthetics, plan and prepare special menu items, choose menu designs and determine menu prices. They may also be in charge of interviewing, hiring and training new kitchen personnel.

Additionally, executive chefs supervise all kitchen workers. They give performance reviews, grant pay increases and take disciplinary action when necessary. Executive chefs may also help prepare meals in the kitchen and delegate work to other chefs and cooks during the restaurant's busy times. At the end of the work day, executive chefs oversee clean up and record the day's sales.

Executive Chef Salary and Career Outlook

According to PayScale.com, as of 2014, executive chefs earned median salaries of $54,881. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest number of chefs and head cooks were employed by restaurants, followed by travel companies and special food services. Jobs were predicted to increase by 5% from 2012-2022, due to the increased use of lower-level employees to do a lot of the work.

Executive Chef Career Information

Since executive chefs hold a high position in the culinary industry, they are usually required to have 7-8 years of previous related experience. Valuable work experiences include managing food and labor costs, developing and pricing menus, leading a culinary team and demonstrating food preparation skills.

Ideally, executive chefs should have a bachelor's degree in the culinary arts or in a related area, such as hospitality. Many chefs have only a 2-year degree and rely on additional work experience to improve their career opportunities. Other chefs get their start through on-the-job training or apprenticeship programs and work their way up without completing any formal education.

Personal characteristics that are important for executive chefs to have include good customer service skills, the ability to lead and manage a diverse group of people. They should also be creative and have a keen sense of smell and taste. All chefs should have good personal hygiene since they must work in sanitary conditions and many states require proof that they are free of communicable diseases.

A Certified Executive Chef (CEC) designation is offered by the American Culinary Federation. Although it is not required, certification can help executive chefs move into advanced positions and can lead to higher paying jobs. Those who have at least three years of experience as a chef and a high school diploma or equivalent qualify to test for CEC certification. An aspiring CEC must pass both a written and practical examination. Continuing education is necessary to maintain certification, and recertification is required every five years.

Resource: http://study.com/

20 Tips for How to Be a Better Home Cook

We're never finished honing our craft as cooks, so here are 20 new tips for you to remember.

Do you think Julia Child scoffed at the sound of someone giving her a cooking tip while she worked in her kitchen? Would José Andrés fire his chef de cuisine on the spot for suggesting something new on the menu? Do you think James Beard never had a question about a technique?We don’t think so, and we don’t think that any other legendary culinarian would act in this way, either, because learning the craft of the culinary arts is never complete. With varying opinions, different training, and new techniques and ingredients being introduced every single day, there is never an old tip or suggestion when it comes to cooking, and we as cooks are committed to an unending quest to discover how to be better in the kitchen.

The Cook editors at The Daily Meal never stop asking questions about cooking. In fact, we have contributorstelling us new tricks of the trade on a daily basis. While cooking advice can be narrowed down to the most specific questions (like, say,how do you use a pressure cooker?), we also want to know what those overarching skills and qualities are that make so many talented chefs, cookbook authors, and bloggers as great as they are today.

Want to know how we found out? We just asked them, and now we have a neat and easy list of their thoughts for you to refer to. We didn’t just go to one expert, but to several, from big names like TV personality Sara Moulton and legendary inventors likeNathan Myhrvold to talented and hard-working chefs that are, probably right now in fact, ferociously working away at the stove to create beautiful and delicious masterpieces with food.

These tips range in topic and scope; some are ones you should remember every single time you’re in the kitchen (like salt!), and others are things like roasting a chicken, because if you don’t know how to do it, then you can just forget about being a good cook. Some had us going "right, right…" and others had us raising an eyebrow, but at the end of the day, the tips listed here are things that we think you should know (and pass along to others) if you ever want to join the ranks of Child, Andrés, and Beard. So put your pride aside for a moment and take a look, we think some might surprise you. 

Resource: thedailymeal.com

Top 10 Tips - Become a Better Cook Read

Everyone wants to become better in any skill they have. Cooking is no exception. Even if you think you are hopeless in the kitchen; like everything else, practice and increasing your knowledge makes perfect. Just relax and pretend that you are playing with the ingredients and you will realize that cooking is not such a daunting task. The following are All Nigerian Food Recipes' top 10 tips to becoming a better cook.

1. Add to what you know

Constantly increasing your knowledge of cooking is important because you already know the basics of cooking and you are interested in improving your skills. Search for recipes on the web and in cookery books, read them through even if it is a recipe for a meal you think you have perfected. With Nigerian food recipes, and any other world recipe, there are often many ways to cook a meal and achieve the same results. So there's always something new to learn.

When you eat a familiar meal and you notice an improvement in the taste, it is good to ask the cook what he/she did to achieve that.

2. Timing

This is one of the top tips of how to become a better cook because you may know all the ingredients you need, spend a lot of money on premium ingredients but get the timing wrong and all the money and time spent goes to nothing. Knowing the right time to add certain ingredients goes a long way to making your food taste better.

3. Organisation

Some things need to be done before you even light up the stove for example; you can take your time and cut up every vegetable that needs to be chopped, place them in separate bowls and set aside. This is so that once it is time to add these, it will be a matter of putting them into the pot rather than hurriedly washing and cutting them up just before you add them.

4. Attention to detail

Watch out for how your cooking can benefit from low, medium or high heat. Sometimes, you need high heat to get that white rice to dry quicker as medium heat will cause it to become soggy.

5. Have the basic tools you need

Something as basic as a chopping board is essential in the kitchen. It will help you cut the carrots or green bell pepper better as opposed to doing these without. It may be worth investing in that expensive blender because it gives you the best tomato puree etc.

6. Plan Ahead

It is a good idea to plan what you want to cook well ahead of time. This is so that you can be sure to buy all the necessary ingredients for preparing the recipe.

7. Choose your time carefully

It is best to cook when you are sure you will have minimal distraction. Do not plan to cook when your favourite TV programme is on air or on a day you brought some work home. The less you are distracted from your cooking, the better attention you will pay to the preparation of the meal. This way, there will be no burnt/overcooked meals later!

8. Give yourself plenty of time

Always give yourself plenty of time to cook your chosen recipe. With practice, you can estimate the time it will take to cook, say, a pot of fried rice before it is meal time. This way, you will not need to rush through your cooking. Also, if you invited friends over for a meal, you do not want to be dashing to and from the kitchen when you should be talking with your visitors.

9. Be adventurous in the kitchen

Feel free to throw a few vegetables in the frying pan to make your very own gravy. You can start by using your favourite vegetables, then eliminate and substitute later if you feel that some of them do not fit in the mix due to their taste or texture. Soon, you will be wowing your friends and family with a recipe that started as a concoction! Remember, it is your kitchen so play with the ingredients as much as you want.

10. Often does it

Practice, they say, makes perfect. The more often you cook, the more you learn new and better ways of the art of cooking. The frequency of cooking also boosts your confidence in the kitchen. Let's say you cook Jollof Rice every weekend, you will be perfecting on the different stages of the cooking such as parboiling the rice more than if you cook it only once every 2 months.

We hope that at least one of the above tips will help you in your quest to become a better cook. Happy Cooking!

Resource: allnigerianrecipes.com

This is what it takes to become a chef in Ireland today

WHEN I FIRST started in the industry, I was one of 40 chefs in a kitchen. Today, the average number of chefs in the restaurant kitchens across Ireland has dramatically reduced, most now operate with only five team members.

Various factors impacted on our sector momentously over the past few years and in order to survive restaurateurs and chefs had to re-adapt, some changes were for the betterment of our industry but some have the potential to throw our reputation as a good food nation into question.

One of the reasons we at the School of Food decided to create a professional chef training course was to help tackle the shortage of such chefs in Ireland. Recent figures from the Restaurant Association of Ireland revealed an urgent need for 5,000 new professional chefs each year by 2020.

In 2014, over 24,000 chefs were employed in Ireland and the majority of jobs in the hospitality sector directly relate to the food services sector so the fact that each year, just 1,800 chefs qualify from certified culinary training programmes – it’s worrying for the industry.

The right stuff

However the main reason we wanted to develop this course was to provide our colleagues; the restaurateur, the hotelier, the Head Chef / Owner, with actual kitchen-ready individuals who can continue to grow upon our excellent food reputation.

Source: Shutterstock/Cristi Lucaci

What does it take to become a Chef? First of all, the reality of being a chef reaches much further than creating picture-ready, aesthetic looking food master-pieces that rocket their way through social media channels. All chefs need a high degree of training and professional experience before they are able to manage and maintain their own operation.

The only option at the moment for a professional qualification as a chef is via the academic route where most students pursue a culinary arts degree with an Institute of Technology or Vocational Community College.

These courses, by nature, tend to be based upon an academic outlook; prospective chefs take modules in culinary techniques, pastry, baking and desserts, food and nutrition, food science, meal service and international cuisines to name a few.

Vocation

Becoming and being a chef, a real hands-on and in-it-to-win-it chef, is not for the faint hearted. To a degree, it involves putting on your thick skin each morning and persevering because you believe in what you are doing and have a constant hunger to keep improving, learning and cooking food that makes people go mmmmmm! The greatest qualities an individual entering into the industry can have are stamina, dedication, patience and a strong threshold for stress!

It’s a vocation. This is one of the few industries that you can’t apply a ‘fake it, till you make it’ philosophy. The passion is inherently there and that’s why it’s so important we commit to ensuring those entering our kitchens receive a solid and practical foundation, based on what those in the industry are telling us we need.

Source: Shutterstock/White78

Although formal programmes are a great source of training, much of a chef’s education comes from on-the job experience and mentoring. It is through their professional experience that chefs develop their keen sense of taste and smell and cultivate their creativity and skills.

Would-be chefs need the type of skills that will allow them to hit the ground running in the real world environment of a kitchen. This course will act as a pipeline for hotel and restaurant kitchens dedicated to food excellence.

Training Programme

The School of Food training programme will be 70 per cent work-based learning, where we will be teaming up with restaurants across the South East to place our students and 30 per cent classroom based theory.

This is the type of training programme our industry is demanding and as a small community-led initiative, we’re proud to launch an internationally recognised and certified course where students will get a real taste of life on the kitchen front-line.

We are very much a learner focused centre and our students will be equipped with the skills and confidence needed to make a seamless transition into the workplace. Our students will succeed and make a genuine contribution to the industry because of our competency based approaches to learning and training.

Resource: thejournal.ie

What Kind of Schooling Does One Need to Be a Chef?

If food fascinates you and feeding people makes you happy, you might have a vocation for being a chef, but it takes more than that to turn your passion into a career. Not all chefs need a formal education, but it can give you skills that employers find valuable. Regardless of whether you start your first job with a culinary degree in hand or just a high school diploma, you will start out in an entry-level position cooking on the line.

Basic Requirements

Many employers require a high school diploma or GED, but it is possible to start out without either. Some chefs begin by washing dishes, and then move into prep cook positions and on up as they gain experience and skills. O-Net Online notes that 20 percent of chefs surveyed in 2010 did not have a high school diploma, while 39 percent only had a high school education. Some employers value a willingness to do any job, the desire to learn and the ability to work hard more than a formal education.

Formal Education

Culinary school or programs offered at community or vocational colleges can give you the skills you need as a chef. A two-year degree is typical, but some programs last up to four years. While a degree isn't always necessary, and it's possible to learn everything about cooking on the job, many culinary programs teach related skills that are sometimes harder to come by through work experience. These can include inventory management, basic accounting and the nuts and bolts of running a restaurant. If your long-term plans include being an executive chef or running your own restaurant, a well-rounded culinary education is useful.

Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship program offered by a professional association, such as the American Culinary Federation, or a culinary school, is a good way to combine formal education and actual work experience. Typically when you sign up for an apprenticeship program you're matched with a restaurant or other food service organization and work for wages in a variety of positions. You also spend time in a classroom during the program, which generally lasts from two to three years.

Hybrid Path

A full, formal culinary education is often an expensive undertaking, but it can also teach you skills that might take even longer to learn on the job. For example, sous chefs don't often get the chance to work in pastry. However, another option is to work at your trade and concurrently take classes that advance your skills without going for a degree. This works especially well if you want to specialize in a technique or cuisine, just want to take classes as needed and don't need formal training in some areas.

Resource: http://work.chron.com/

How to Become a Professional Chef / Caterer at Home Without Culinary School

To become a professional chef at home, you should;

1. Be passionate about food

You just have to love food to become a professional chef and i don’t mean you must be a glutton. What i mean is that you have to enjoy cooking. Being a professional chef means spending hours on end in the kitchen preparing food and if you don’t have a passion for cooking, you will drop the idea of being a chef within a short period.

So your first assignment when you want to become a professional caterer is to fall in love with food. Cook different meals for your family and friends. Host parties regularly and prepare meals for your guests. You can even offer to be in charge of cooking at gatherings of your friends and family members. If you want to become a professional chef at home, then eating at restaurants or ordering take-outs should not be a regular practice in your home.

2. Experiment with food regularly-:You see, as a professional chef, food is your art. You need to experiment with food constantly. Cook different meals, try something new daily even if it doesn’t taste nice. Constant practice would help you improve on your skills eventually.

3. Understand the concept of food substitution

There are no rules set in stone when it comes to cooking. If a particular ingredient doesn’t work quite well for you, who says you cannot substitute with another ingredient? The key lies with knowing what works for you and doing accordingly. If a recipe says ‘fry‘ who says you cannot grill if that is how you prefer to cook your chicken?

But the key to substitution is to understand the whole concept behind it in the first place. For instance, if the recipe says you should fry the chicken, you need to understand why you were asked to fry the chicken because that is when you will be able to say ‘oh, grilling the kitchen would also work and the food would turn out the same way whether i grill or i fry’4. Cook often

Yes, I am going to reiterate this very important point again. To become a professional chef at home, you must cook at home regularly and this does not mean cooking regular family meals; you must cook like a professional regularly. You can choose a day of the week, preferably weekends to do your thing.

Pick out one recipe per week and prepare the dish and serve it professionally. You don’t have to cook for a whole large crowd. If you have a large family, you don’t even have to cook for everyone. Just make sure you cook and serve a new meal every week and before you know it, you will become extremely good at your chosen professional.

5. Organize food tastings

To become a successful professional chef at home, you must be ready to listen to criticisms and make necessary adjustments. This would help you to be a better chef. Pick out someone or a group of people that you trust to give an unbiased opinion of your skills and invite them over to your house for food tastings.

6. Develop your own recipes

Another thing that would help you on your journey to becoming a professional chef is to develop recipes of your own. I saw a popular movie series sometime ago, desperate housewives and in one of the seasons, one of the characters loved cooking so much and she started developing her own recipes. Her recipes became so popular that her friends would usually come to her to borrow or even ‘steal’ some of the recipes. Eventually, she was able to launch her own professional catering business just from developing recipes.

You too can take a step in that direction and develop recipes. You can create a blog where you can share those recipes or publish them in magazines regularly. You can even do that on social network. This would make your business very popular and increase your chances of becoming a professional chef.

7. Start a home-based restaurant

You can map out a small space in your home and use it as a restaurant. Inform your family and friends and encourage them to patronize you and refer others. You could entice them with freebies and discounts. You can create a kind of romantic atmosphere with scented candles, soft music and good food so that lovers can come and have a private moment at your home based restaurant. You will be surprised at how fast your business would grow just by doing this.

8. Advertise

Advertising is the sole of business. That sounds very cliché though. You already know that so why not start advertising your business vigorously at this point? Let your Facebook friends know that you are now a professional chef and you have a restaurant at home, inform your twitter followers, put it on your LinkedIn profile, create a business website, Just do whatever it takes to increase awareness of your services and boost patronage.

9. Send out your CVs

When you have gained enough experience and you are sure that you can handle being a professional chef, you should start applying for jobs as a professional chef, so that you can gain professional hands-on experience required to boost your career profile.

10. Get trained and certified

Yes, you are now a professional chef, hurray! That doesn’t mean that you should totally forget all about training and certification. When you have made enough money, go to school and learn more; so that you can compete with the best professional chefs’ anywhere in the world.

Resource: mytopbusinessideas.com

TOP 5 REASONS TO BECOME A CHEF COOK

Chef Career Overview

Chef Cooks and Culinary Chefs usually work in settings such as restaurants, cafes, and corporate cafeterias. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of Chef Cooks and Culinary Chefs is projected to grow from 2010 to 2020.

So what makes a career as a chef so much in demand? In one single answer: the love of food! Nevertheless, we bring you the top 5 reasons to consider a career as a chef cook or culinary chef:

Reason 1: Job Growth and Prospects

Chef cooks and culinary chefs held about 100,600 jobs in 2010. Nearly 20 percent of those following chef careers were in the younger age group, falling between the ages of 16 and 19 years old.

The median annual wage of chef cooks and culinary chefs was $40,630 in May 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $23,260, and the top 10 percent earned more than $70,960.

The level of pay for chef cooks and culinary chefs varies greatly by region and employer. The pay is usually highest in upscale restaurants and hotels, where many chef cooks and culinary chefs are employed, as well as in major metropolitan, tourist and resort areas.

Reason 2: Unleash your Creativity

If the smell and sight of food moves your senses, if you enjoy picking up the spoons and the ladles, if you love the clink of the pots; then a career as a chef might just be your calling. This career pays you for using your creative culinary skills and for you to use this creativity to experiment and create recipes that are a treat for the senses- sight, smell and taste.

Reason 3: Enjoy the Prestige of Being a Chef

A well experienced and creative chef can become well recognized all over the world. This may take time, skill and experience. However, once you reach that stage, the prestige, praise and recognition is quite exciting. There are some chefs who opt to cook for movie celebrities and top politicians. Chefs can make life long impressions, and are becoming a major part of the parties of the rich and famous, get-togethers, marriages and many other important events.

In the hotel industry, a top chef is valued very highly; he/she is highly paid and respected. Chefs, unlike so many other professions, get almost instant credit and praise.

Reason 4: Opportunity to Travel all over the World

Many famous culinary chefs travel all over the world to taste, experience and learn the culinary specialties across the world. Many top five star hotels and resorts invite chefs, on a regular basis, across the world. Chefs can participate in various cooking contests and conduct cooking shows in various television channels across the world, the list is endless! There are even culinary and chef cook schools that run exchange programs with similar schools across the globe, to give you that international culinary exposure.

Reason 5: Professional Satisfaction

If you have a passion for using your culinary skills to cook up a dish, you would know that the ultimate satisfaction is to see someone devouring your creation and to get immense pleasure and satisfaction seeing their faces.

However, the work schedule and hours for those in the culinary field can be taxing, extended and grueling. The shift schedules for chef cooks and culinary chefs include early mornings, late nights, weekends, and holidays. Most chef cooks and culinary chefs work more than 10 hours, as they oversee a lot of food handling and ordering activity apart from the cooking. If you feel that it is all worth it, this career option is definitely for you!

Resource: http://trainingfyi.com/

Chef Skills List

Chefs oversee food production at places where food is served. They might work in restaurants, private homes, or hotels. Chefs are responsible for directing the cooking staff and making numerous decisions related to everything from food production to administrative issues.

Chefs have to develop a variety of skills, ranging from hard skillsrelated to cooking to soft skills related to working with and sometimes managing a team.

Below is a list of the top 10 most important skills for a chef, as well as a longer list of other skills employers seek in candidates for chef jobs.

How to Use This Skills List

You can use these skills lists throughout your job search process. First, you can use these skill words in your resume. In the description of your work history, you might want to use some of these keywords.

Second, you can use these in your cover letter. In the body of your letter, you can mention one or two of these skills, and give a specific example of a time when you demonstrated those skills at work.

Finally, you can use these skill words in your interview. Make sure you have at least one example for a time you demonstrated each of the top skills listed here.

Of course, each job will require different skills and experiences, so make sure you read the job description carefully, and focus on the skills listed by the employer.

Also, review lists of restaurant skills, server skills, skills listed by job and type of skill. Be sure to prepare yourself for your interview by going over typically asked interview questions for chefs.

Top Chef Skills

Attention to Detail
Cooking is a science, so a chef needs to be precise. Every ingredient and measurement must be exact. Chefs need to be precise in others ways as well: whether ordering food products or figuring out what time to cook certain items, a chef needs to have an eye for detail.

Business Sense
A good chef is also a good businessman. He or she should always be thinking about how to make delicious food while also being cost-effective.

Cleanliness
Chefs need to know how to keep the kitchen sanitary. This is very important in a restaurant, where unsanitary conditions can affect the quality of the food, and can even force a restaurant to shut down.

Creativity
Working in the food industry requires creativity. Chefs must be open to incorporating new food items into menus, and improving older recipes. Creativity and imagination will keep customers coming back to a restaurant.

Culinary Expertise
The most important hard skill chefs need is an ability to cook, as well as knowledge of the kitchen. This broad skill includes a variety of smaller skills, including knife skills and tasting skills. Chefs need to be able to cook precisely and efficiently. They also need to be skilled at recognizing flavors, and judging the balance of seasonings.

Fast-Paced Decision Making
A chef should be able to make decisions quickly and efficiently. The kitchen is a fast-paced environment, and a chef has to make numerous decisions at once.

Motivational
A good chef will motivate those working in the kitchen. He or she should be able to keep everyone working at a fast, efficient pace.

Multitasking
In the kitchen, a chef is always working on multiple tasks at once. He or she might need to address staff issues while also working on several elements of a meal. A chef must be able to complete all of these tasks at the same time, and efficiently.

Organization
Chefs must be very organized in the kitchen. Often, they have to work on a variety of tasks at once, and must do so while keeping the kitchen organized. They must create order and structure in the kitchen so that the environment is not chaotic.

Team Player
A chef is part of a team, and must be able to work well with others. Not only must he or she work with the cooks in the kitchen, but he or she must also be able to work effectively with staff and management.

Chef Skills List

A  - G

• Administrative Tasks
• Attention to Detail
• Baking
• Baking Techniques
• Banquet
• Budgeting
• Business Acumen
• Business Sense
• Catering
• Cleanliness
• Commitment to Quality
• Communication
• Computer
• Concepts
• Consistency
• Cooking
• Control Labor Costs
• Cost Control
• Cost Reduction
• Creativity
• Culinary Expertise
• Customer Service
• Demonstrate Techniques
• Fast-Paced Decision Making
• First Aid
• Flexibility
• Food Preparation
• Food Pricing
• Food Safety
• Food Regulations
• Food Science
• Food Service Management
• Grilling

H – M

• Handle Pressure
• Heat Control
• Health and Safety
• Hiring
• Hotel Kitchen
• Hygiene
• Ingredient Selection
• Initiative
• Interpersonal
• Inventory Management
• Inventory Rotation
• Kitchen Management
• Kitchen Safety
• Kitchen Tools
• Knife Control
• Knife Cuts
• Knife Skills
• Leadership
• Local Foods
• Management
• Measurements
• Menus
• Menu Planning
• Motivational
• Multitasking

N – S

• Nutrition
• Ordering
• Operations
• Organization
• Organizing
• Passion
• Pastry
• Planning
• Portion Control
• Preparing Various Cuisines
• Precision
• Presentation
• Product Selection
• Problem Solving
• Recipes
• Restaurant
• Safe Food Handling
• Safety
• Sanitary Practices
• Sanitation
• Seasoning
• Sense of Humor
• Service
• Source Ingredients
• Supervision

T – Z

• Team Building
• Team Player
• Teamwork
• Techniques
• Temperature Control
• Time Efficient
• Training
• Well-Tuned Palate

Resource: http://jobsearch.about.com/

Road to the chef

Qualities of a Cook

Before you become a Chef, you will be a cook until you can take charge of the whole kitchen. The cook is the person who works for the Chef. 

All successful cooks have many qualities or commonalities, but the two things that come out the most are their dedication to improve their culinary skills and the tenacity to stay the course even in highly stressful situations. 

People skills are one very important asset in your toolbox as a cook. You will have to sell yourself to employers, customers and coworkers for the rest of your career. A person that is social, open minded, giving and out going is often a good candidate for a culinary career. It is absolutely crucial to be able to say you screwed up when you do, because you will screw up, trust me. 

Knife skills are extremely important because you won't be able to go very fast unless you know how to use your knives. When I left school and for the next few years, every time I would start a new job, I would always slash one of my fingers on my first day and have to look for a Band-Aid.

Speed of execution is going to be your second best quality. Just get things done and move on to the next thing - employers will love that attitude.

A word of advice: If you ever end up with a huge mise-en-place list, a cranky Chef, and not so much time, the best place to gain time is on the kitchen floor, not on your cutting board. What I mean by that is, once you are already cutting as fast as you can, it's pretty hard to go even faster without chopping one of your fingers off. So between jobs, you can walk faster to get the food from the fridge for example, and/or always carry food back once you go pick something up. Don't work harder, work smarter!

A sense of humor will come in handy for the cook when the Chef starts laughing at you because you forgot the basic ingredients of a classic Mornay sauce. At the beginning of your career, you will be laughed at a lot, so grow a thick skin and learn to laugh at yourself. Everyone makes mistakes - just learn from them.

Initiative is a great quality to have in the kitchen. If you can foresee problems, you will always be ahead of your competition. Don't be shy to make a decision; employers should support you, as long as you don't burn the building down. Making decisions is something that you get good at once you practice, so be the decision maker every time you can.

Flexibility, and I don't mean to be able to touch your toes! The ability to adapt to your team's needs at any specific time is priceless. From the grill to the pastry station, or from the saucier to the dishwasher, be the one to save the day, and you should have a prosperous career.

Listening and concentration skills will be very important. If you concentrate on your work, and listen to what is happening around you, you will really be able to help your team score big. For example, I use to work at this small restaurant, and I knew that the Chef de Partie in charge was my ticket to a promotion. So, I would make sure that during service time he never had to wait for my stuff. I was on vegetables, and I was always ready a split second before he needed me. I got my promotion and eventually got his job. A word of advice: keep your private life outside of work. It should help your concentration and performance. It's pretty simple, while at work you talk about work, and while at the pub you talk about whatever you want!

Punctuality is important, because the customers will not wait for you to show up. Your job's future will be very much dependant on you showing up on time. 

Being a quick learner is a must. Without it you cannot advance fast enough to keep ahead of your coworkers' progress. Don't be shy to say you don't know something, and make sure to tell everyone you want to learn it right now!

Qualities of a Chef

The Chef gets to wear the tall hat and give directions to the cooks. Ultimately, though, the buck stops at the Chef!

Leadership qualities are going to be necessary to advance your career. It is an extremely important quality to be able to lead, even in a tough situation. Once you are the girl in charge at the front of the pack, every eye will be looking at you, so you will have to be composed, or at the very least look calm.

Diplomacy is a key factor in any Chef's toolbox. The art of firing someone politely is priceless. It's like being able to find a way to tell a customer that the reason his main course did not taste like lobster is because it was crabmeat, not lobster! 
I've got to tell this, it's a great example. It's the winter of 1987 in Montreal, the evening was just about over, we have just fed the last table, and so like every night, I send one of my cooks home. She leaves and comes back inside a few minutes later to tell us that one of the cars in our parking lot is running, but no one was inside. I thought that she was playing a joke on me because I made her do the Orange Tart on the menu where you need to zest 30 oranges and make a confit out of it. No, she was right, there was an empty car running outside. My partner and I play the rock-paper-scissors game and I lost, so a few minutes later in the half empty dining room..."Excuse me sir, your Jaguar is still running outside". His answer is, "Yes I know! I don't like to get in a cold car, so I left it running!" And suddenly the dining room looked much more full to me - every table around heard him talking and I felt very stupid. It was one of those Chef days where diplomacy was useful, but I still looked stupid.

People skills are also a must for any Chef. Everyday you will be put in situations where your ability to use your social skills will be tested. Keeping an open mind and having the right attitude is going to get you out of trouble throughout your whole career. For example, the ability to listen to an employee's serious family issues is extremely important, even if it does not interest you at all. This is how you will gain the trusts and respect of your team members. Reading your team skills and knowing how to talk to people so they get the job done is a must in a Chef position.

A sense of humor for the Chef is also a must, especially when your cooks forget the basic ingredients of a classic Mornay sauce. If you lose it instead of laughing at them, it won't make your cooks learn the ingredients faster. Laughing is the second best stress relief on the planet.

Work Experience should be acquired before taking on too many responsibilities. Even if responsibility is thrown at you, I strongly suggest that you work at 3-5 different stations in 3-5 different establishments before taking on to much responsibility. Think of it like a good wine that needs to sit for while before achieving peek stage... as you get more experience, you are becoming a more complete Chef.

Creativity is the part that makes you want to be a Chef, so just use it! Read and stay in touch with the trends, find your groove and perfect it during your first 10 years in the kitchen. Go out and see what others are doing - it will open your eyes to the world and make you a better Chef. Shop at open markets every time you can, it's very inspiring...

Techniques will get you out of a jam more than once. Learn your trade, be all that you can be and join the front of the pack. There is nothing worse than a Chef who only knows one way of doing something. 

Business sense is a funny one, because you can function without it as a cook, but as a Chef you need it to see financial trouble before it happens. If you ever have your own business, make sure that you know about every dollar spent. 

A word of advice: The garbage will be your worst enemy, so make sure you don't over feed your worst enemy. Wastage greatly affects direct profit. Keep an eye on your cooks that throw away $3 of food on every shift, as it adds up to $1000 of dollars at the end of the year. Learn about the business world through examples, courses and books; trust me it will pay off at the end, in dollars. 

Resource: thechefinstead.c