Working as a chef in the kitchen is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, but this satisfaction does not come without sacrifice.
Anyone who works as a chef, and anyone working to become one, will know these sacrifices all too well.
As tough as the job is, being a chef is still seen as glamorous and many on the outside dream of quitting their office gig and swapping the fax machine for a sous vide cooker.
Any chef will know the conversation well. You meet a person, they discover what you do, and tell you almost immediately that they’d love to be a chef. What a cool job it must be – what a laugh…
Below are 10 of the questions every chef finds themselves asking these people, and only if they answer yes to them all should they proceed into the profession.
1 - Do you have any idea just how much hard work it takes to become a chef?
2 - How tough are you? Sick days are non–existent in the kitchen? You can also forget your weekends.
3 - What about the hours? Can you hack 60 hours–plus a week? Maybe more.
4 - Are you ready to start at the bottom? Even if you have a shiny new culinary degree, the kitchen is hierarchical – you will almost always start at the bottom.
5 - Can you handle the heat? The job is hot – very, very hot.
6 - Are you ready to watch servers take home a fatter pay slip for dishing out the food you create?
7 - Are you ready for the burns, the cuts, the aches and the throbs? The physical strain of being a chef is never considered.
8 - You do know you’re not going to be the superstar chef you see on TV – right?
9 - How are you with stress? Working in a restaurant is classed as one of the most stressful jobs around.
10 - Can you work on little sleep? Chefs finish late and start early.
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