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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Food Service |
What is a good way to get my foot in the door as a cook? |
I have very little experiance as a cook (just a few months as a cafeteria cook about 3 years ago.) But I have recently discovered my love of cooking and I really think I would enjoy a career in cooking. The only problem is I dont have any idea how I would go about finding a cooking position with no experiance. I understand I need to start at the bottom, but Im not sure where the bottom is, so any advice about good places to work or what i can do to make me more appealing as a cooking candidate would be great. The very bottom is at a fast food joint. Although you won't learn much but it'll get your food in the door and you can work to different jobs from there. At least you'll have the experience in the industry. However, both my mother and stepfather worked in the food industry as chefs/cooks for a long time. They train newbies all the time. Just be willing to take near minimum wage and you will have no problem. Your best bet is to go to a school. Some community colleges offer degree/certificate programs so check them out. There are also high end $$$$ schools and that does matter b/c it'll get you in the door much quicker. Just apply. Don't go for 4-5 star restaurants but try some chains or franchises or similarly sized restaurants. They'll start you chopping vegetables but then as you prove yourself they'll give you tasks with increasing complexity. My mom started as a waitress and she found out they needed help in the kitchen and her boss said okay. They ended up training her a lot even though she had the basics. My stepdad trains people who don't even speak English and have no cooking experience. In the kitchen they prefer the English speakers b/c they can interface with management and the rest of the staff better. Not to mention understand customer requests. It'll help if you practice at home too. That'll help convince them to hire you when you can talk technique with them and it'll help you progress faster. I was never in the food industry. My mom and stepdad always talked me out of it. However, more than once their bosses asked me if I would be interested in doing it. Also I worked as a cashier at a grocery store through high school and college. One day one of my bosses asked me if I'd like to learn to bake... I said, "I have no experience." She said, "We'll train you and I'll give you $2 extra an hour." I declined b/c I didn't like the hours (conflicted with college). Check around and see if anybody near you is offering an apprenticeship. Lots of places don't care if you've been to culinary school, as long as you can do the job. Up above me there, with a slightly different take, Eric L is absolutley right as well. You can apply at retirement homes where you will learn alot very fast. It is an excellent place to start and see what all the aspects are. Give it a try. There are restaurants out there that are looking for people just like you-- people hwo love to cook, but don't have their own set way of doing things yet. This gives a chef an opportunity to train you the way the restaurant would need you to be trained. Some great places to go and talk with a chef is : Houston's, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Friday's. You want to go some place that does anwhere form alight to heavy crowd and is well known. some place might give u a commis 1, and some require you to start from commis 3. pick the establishment u think u can learn alot.simply go into a restaurant and have a meal, check out their menus and enquire about that. and yes, starting from bottom means overworked and under paid. since u got some experience b4, i hope u honed them always and at home is the place to do for the moment. dont go to fast food restaurant. im a culinary student, graduated, worked at fast food. i quit, bcoz freedom of creativity is limited. The bottom can be fast food but that isn't always true. You can get a dish washing job at a fancy place. Most will train the dishwashers to be prep cooks and then move them to the line when openings happen. Just walk into any restaurant during the afternoon when it's not busy and ask if they are hiring. August is a good time to look with everyone going back to school. If you know any cooks, as them about jobs where they work. It's really hard work but if you love it, it is the best job in the world!! Many happy years in the back of the house |
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