/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.11214094]

Any ex-professional cooks/chefs on tonight? I could use some advice.

I have been working in kitchens for 11 years and I don't think I can take it much longer. I have done everything from street food to fine dining to pubs. I want to get out but cooking is pretty much my only marketable skill and I have no idea what to do with my life if I do. What do you guys do for a living now? Are you glad you got out or do you regret it? Anything you miss about professional kitchens?

[Anonymous No.11214098]

>>11214094
I sign up for Publishers Clearing House every month, but am still working in kitchens.

[Anonymous No.11214152]

>>11214094
I didn't do professional cooking for as long as you have amigo, less than 6 months actually, but as far as exiting that job market and moving to another, it's definitely rough but doable. The main thing you'll want to invest in is someone to go over your resume or have someone help you craft your resume in such a way that the skills you learned can be translated to another career field.

Yeah chopping garlic or fileting a fish probably doesn't sound like a marketable skill outside of Foodservice, but you can phrase your experience in such a way as:

-Responsible for high pressure customer service environments
-Able to multitask in fast-paced, dangerous environments.

And so on, basically you need to rebrand your experience for a new job. You may have to go back to school to get into positions outside of entry level, but with your wide variety of foodservice experience, have you thought about trying for more of the "hospitality" side of things? Like restaurant management, or stuff further along the supply chain, like working for a specific food supplier or test chef for a major company like Kraft or something? There are ways, but starting with your resume will be your critical first step.

[Anonymous No.11214246]

You could also ask this on real forums like cheftalk.com or kitchenknifeforums.com

[Anonymous No.11214459]

>>11214246
Or reddit.com/r/Chefit/

[Anonymous No.11214633]

>>11214152
This is your best bet. Go entry level into anything you can spin customer service and being able to work alone and in groups in a high pressure environment with rapidly changing demands. Detail oriented. I don't think you could spin it into much more than that, but I've seen a good work record, conflict resolution skills, and the ability to calmly deal with hotheads from all socioeconomic statuses get you in the door in a variety of paraprofessional fields that pay for education.

[Anonymous No.11214639]

>>11214098
What is that? I always assumed it was a scam.

[Anonymous No.11214675]

>>11214094
Are you willing to go back to school or just looking to transfer out into a different career right away?

If it's the latter, you could always go into sales, kitchen equipment sales specifically. That doesn't necessarily mean regular retail, you can be selling to/ outfitting professional kitchens. That can be good money if you know your shit and are charismatic.

[Anonymous No.11214680]

>>11214094
On a side note, I'm going to a golf shop today to apply for their snack bar cook position. I have no experience cooking. So this will be interesting.

[Anonymous No.11214724]

>>11214094
At 11 years, unless you specifically hate food and not restaurants themselves, you shouldn't throw the experience away. You could get into any area of food production from farming, factory production, distribution, etc. People eat every day and there are hundreds of jobs related to it so your skills are more applicable than you think.

I'm an ex-cook still in a kitchen since I'm now at a bakery but its extremely different than a restaurant where you have to do service on the line. If you love food science it's a great way to change pace.

If you never want to look at food again I understand that as well, but if you have passion anything like me then its easy to redirect your focus to what you want to be making with your own two hands and it will probably make you a much stronger cook.

[Anonymous No.11214813]

>>11214094
Go into sales or back to school for something. Your 'soft skills' are fantastic but they won't get you in the door in most places. There are very, very few jobs outside of restaurants and retail that offer any sort of in-house training. Employers expect you to come to them more-or-less ready to go on day one. That requires specialized education.

Or just go into sales.

[Anonymous No.11214816]

>>11214724
>I'm an ex-cook still in a kitchen since I'm now at a bakery
Psssst. I have a secret for you. Baking is cooking.

[Anonymous No.11214829]

>>11214816
I agree but OP listed street food and fine dining both of which imply cooking to order. So I'm simply suggesting he cook in another environment (because all I can say is that it's at least different), or apply his knowledge of food service in a non-cooking way. Production cooking where you know what you're doing a day ahead of time is a lot less instantaneous stress. Although if you're trying to point out that I'm still a cook, I'd agree, but people would still rather call me baker than pastry chef right now.

[Anonymous No.11214833]

>>11214816
>Psssst. I have a secret for you. Baking is cooking.

speaking of secrets, in service industry jargon, cooking and baking are two separate things despite the fact that they both fall under the pedantic definition of cookery.

[Anonymous No.11214844]

>>11214094
Get you a cushy warehouse 9-5 so you can still cook the things you love. I've been in restaurants for awhile and the reason I couldn't stand it anymore is I don't enjoy making food for ungrateful people. You can make a dish that 9/10 people fucking love and that one 1/10 will be the loudest most obnoxious piece of shit about it. I love cooking but I don't like my cooking being shit on daily