So You Want to Be a Chef

Cookbook

Chapter One Excerpt: Exercises
from So You Want to Be a Chef?

by Lisa M. Brefere, Karen Eich Drummond, and Brad Barnes

1. At the website of the National Restaurant Association ( www.restaurant.org ), click on "Careers and Education," then on "Get Advice." Click on "job possibilities" to see a listing of all sorts of restaurant positions. Which position(s) are you most interested in exploring, once you complete culinary school?

2. Using the Career Path Guide (page 2 of the book) and Education Path Guides (pages 21-22), map out a possible career and education path for a chef in a cutting-edge restaurant or a corporate chef in a multi-unit restaurant, including:

Number of months in each job
Each place of employment
How and when you would complete your formal education
How and when you would complete skills and competencies

3. Find two articles in recent restaurant-oriented publications about culinary trends. Summarize each article in one paragraph.

4. How would you rate the job outlook for culinary jobs in restaurants: excellent, good, fair, or poor? Explain briefly.

5. Would you consider working in restaurants? Why, or why not? If yes, what type of restaurant would you like to work in, and where?

6. Look at the job listings at the National Restaurant Association website (www.restaurant.org). Click on "Careers and Education," then on "Job Bank", click "Find a Job." Print out two job listings that sound exciting to you and that you could interview for while you are in culinary school or once you graduate. Look closely at the Required Skills and Experience section to see if you meet, or will meet, these requirements.

7. Working in restaurants is stressful, the hours are long, and you have to work many nights and weekends when most of the world is off. What would you do to ensure enough personal time to prevent burnout?

8. Go to the library and find five periodicals that relate to restaurants. List the name of each one, and compare and contrast them.