Careers: So You Wanna Be a Chef?

So you want to be a chef? Being a chef is a great job, but like everything there are good aspects as well as negative ones. Here are some pros and cons for you to consider when thinking about a culinary career.

Pro: Career flexibility
Chefs are needed all over the world. You can relocate anywhere and be able to find a job. If you can cook any type of food you can move around to different restaurants as well until you find the one that best suits you. You could also work as a personal chef, a catering chef or even a television chef.

Con: It's grueling
Many people think cooking all day is easy work but that's not the case. It can certainly make you sweat. Just think about it. You're around hot burners and steamers all day long, that heat all build up and after combining it with the pressure to make food quickly to get out to customers on time and it can be exhausting.

Pro: You make people happy
Food, good food, makes people happy. Think about it. What is it that many people reach for when they're depressed, food. We use food as a comfort and even when it's not being used as such it is a vital part of our daily lives. Good food makes people happier. It improves their day and they are genuinely thankful for it.

Con: You may put on a little weight
Unless you have really strong self control you might put on some extra weight as a chef because you need to test the food you're serving. Now that doesn't mean you sample every plate before it goes out, but if you're making a new recipe or aren't sure if you seasoned something enough or too much you should sample it. No chef likes having their food sent back and receiving poor reviews. You want to be proud of your work and thus you might be eating more than you normally would.

Pro: You have great salary potential

While when you first start out you might not be making a ton of money, as you go along and prove your skills you'll be able to be hired at higher class restaurants and possibly even become an executive chef one day. Some executive chefs at four and five start restaurants can make over a quarter million dollars a year. Now that can buy a lot of groceries.

Con: You'll most likely work a lot of nights
Most chefs want to work at restaurants where the prime time is the dinner hour. So, as a chef you'll be working a lot of nights and weekends. You can work at some places and only do breakfast and lunch service but you'll also likely make less money for these shifts.