Getting Started in a Cooking Career

If you want a cooking career, and you are not particularly aggressive, you may want to start small. Take out your recipe cards and rev up your imagination. Try new twists on old recipes and dishes you like and offer them to friends and family. Over time you will build a small library of favorites you can use as your signature dishes.

Some aspiring chefs cook for a small catering company to hone their skills. Keep in mind that if you want to do that, you will need recipes that translate into portions large enough for 25-300 people and perhaps even more. Catering can be stressful in that the turnaround time is often short and meals must be heated and reheated for some venues. Not everything translates well into a traveling catering menu.  

Before you take your first paid cooking job you should have a good handle on how to schedule dishes to be ready on time and, where necessary, to be ready at the same time as another meal with a totally different entrée or side dish. Start small, in a restaurant that is not the busiest. Take your time and take notes on things that work and do not work. Learn the ropes by interacting with staff, asking questions and getting involved in ordering supplies and ingredients. These skills will serve you well as you progress in the culinary arts.

When you graduate to a larger, busier restaurant, think carefully about the head chef and the staff. Be sure you can learn from them and, ideally, that the head chef can mentor you and train you. If the chef looks at you as competition or does not respect junior chefs you are not likely to learn from her/him and you will be frustrated. When you interview, be honest about your desire to learn from those with more experience. Take a job where you can get this on-the-job training. You will not be sorry. Someday, you too may be the respected chef, passing on your knowledge to others and pursuing your passion for cooking!