Career in Culinary Arts
Cooking is a basic skill that everybody should learn to live independently and freely. There’s an exciting career waiting for you in the store for those who got an extra passion for cooking and culinary arts. If you have an interest in knowing about the different cuisines, presentation, and preparation of food, table manners, and in short, anything and everything about the culinary arts, do not hesitate to choose a career in this field. Some of the prominent career opportunities in this field are analyzed in detail below:-
- EXECUTIVE CHEF
- CHEF MANAGER
- BAKER
- FOOD CRITIC
- FOOD SERVICE MANAGER
- CATERER
- PASTRY CHEF
- FOOD BLOGGER
Now let’s analyze each of these jobs separately.
EXECUTIVE CHEF
Specific Skills
An executive chef needs to have excellent communication skills and creativity. You are the one who is supposed to give instructions to your staffs to prepare food according to your customer’s needs. Understand the restaurant business thoroughly. Prepare budgets, cross-check all the accountings daily, and make sure you are doing a profitable business. It’s the case when you are running your restaurant.
Executive chefs need excellent dexterity. Must know the proper usage of knives and other kitchen tools. Leadership skills are another major plus point. As you may have to work long shifts, and without day-offs, you need to have physical stamina. A keen sense of smell and taste and time management skills are required.
Qualifications
Work experience and brilliant culinary skills are the basic requirements to be an executive chef. To work in high profile hotels, you can pursue diplomas in culinary arts, hotel management, or bachelor programs in food science.
Available Positions
- Head cook
- Sous chef
- Private household chef
Job Outlook
The hospitality sector is witnessing rapid growth like never before, and it is the right time to pursue a career in the culinary arts field.
Salary
An executive chef’s salary differs based on the hotel’s profile he/she is working in and the experience. The average salary in India for an executive chef is 42k per month.
CHEF MANAGER
Specific Skills
Leadership skills, ability to cope with stress and to manage high-pressure work is a must needed quality for a chef manager. Excellent culinary skills, along with creativity and the ability to multitask, are required. You are doing many jobs like oversight of food preparation, creation of menu and pricing, food and staff budgeting, and a handful of similar jobs that requires your specific skills.
Qualifications
Kitchen experience as a chef is necessary to be a chef manager. As your duties include a restaurant kitchen’s daily operations and its staff, you need to have experience in that area. A culinary degree or any associate degree and certification in safety procedures can land you a job as a chef manager.
Available Positions
- Foodservice manager
- Kitchen manager
Job Outlook
Like any other career in culinary art, chef managers’ demands are also going to increase in the coming years. With the correct sets of skills and experience, you can build a prosperous career as a chef manager.
Salary
The average salary of a chef manager in India starts from 25k per month, and it can increase up to 72k based on your experience and qualifications.
BAKER
Specific Skills
You should have excellent cooking skills and an eye for detailing. Over baked or under-baked cakes and pastries will ruin your credibility and authenticity among customers. Be extra careful while baking your products and decorating your cakes and pastries creatively, in a minimalistic style. As you have to mix recipes and weigh ingredients precisely, basic skills in mathematics will help you.
Qualifications
There’s no need for formal education. Training combined with the correct sets of culinary skills and passion will help you sustain this competitive field. Attending schools or classes related to baking or cooking in general will make you more authentic. You can pursue programs that cover the basics of baking, food safety, basic math, and nutritional knowledge right after your school level education.
Available Positions
- Commercial baker
- Retail baker
- Chefs and head cooks
- Food preparation workers
Job Outlook
Employment opportunities for bakers are projected to grow 5% over the next decade. People of this generation are fond of baked goods, and the population and income growth will work an advantage for bakers.
Salary
The starting salary of a baker in India is 72,000 per annum, but as a senior-level baker, you can earn up to 6.9 LPA.
FOOD CRITIC
Specific Skills
A food critic must have excellent presentation skills and communication skills. While writing about a particular dish, you have to consider many factors such as presentation and decoration, smell and taste, overall ambiance, service, location, price, and so on. It is a field where you can exhibit your journalistic skills combined with a passion for culinary. With the correct platforms and combined skills, you can achieve more in this field. Sufficient networking skills are also important.
Qualifications
Anybody with passion can become a food critic, but formal education will help you kick start your career. In most cases, a bachelor’s degree in journalism or culinary technology is enough. However, a diploma in hotel management or a bachelor’s in the same related fields will be an added advantage that will make you familiar with your job.
Available Positions
- Food journalist
- Freelance food writer
- Food blogger
- Food taster
Job Outlook
Many media agencies, restaurants, food publications agencies, and food production industries hire food critics to write for their websites and all. So with proper educational background and knowledge about the field, you can outlast in this field as foodies will always look for authentic reviews from credible sites.
Salary
With the correct set of qualifications and recognition, you can earn up to 3.2 LPA. It is not consistent if your job is not permanent. Otherwise, you will be paid on an hourly basis that is approximately 335 rupees per hour.
FOOD SERVICE MANAGER
Specific Skills
As a food service manager, you will be coordinating kitchen and staff activities, so you must have brilliant business skills. It will be an added advantage for you when you are running your own business. To give exact order to staffs and deal with customers, work on your communication skills. Customer satisfaction is all that matters in any hospitality sector, so customer-service skills are a must. Leadership skills, along with organizational and problem-solving skills, will help you to run the business smoothly. Also, pay attention to details and be physically fit to work under any circumstances.
Qualifications
A four-year college degree or diploma from culinary schools, hotel management fields will land you a job as a food service manager. Along with that, several years of work experience in the foodservice industry is also a requisite. You can gain your knowledge by working as a cook, waiter or waitress as you prefer.
Available Positions
- Chefs
- Head cooks
- Lodging managers
Job Outlook
Foodservice managers are projected to grow slightly slower than the average of all other occupations in the field. An executive chef or head cook can do all the jobs a food service manager does if trained correctly and experienced. That is the factor that limits the growth of this occupation. Still, there will be a 1% projected growth.
Salary
A food service manager earns 4.2 LPA on an average scale.
CATERER
Specific Skills
You need to maintain good connections all along, so work on your communication skills. Provide fantastic customer service by establishing a team that is goal-oriented and have team spirit. Always keep high standards of hygiene because your customers expect that from your service.
Qualifications
Bachelors or master’s degree in hotel and restaurant manager will help you grow as a catering director. Work experience is an essential criterion, so work in any mid or high profile hotels in the field. Along with these, you can complete certificate courses in food security, quality management, or anything to be more professional.
Available Positions
- Hotel manager
- Catering manager
- Restaurant manager
- Food technologist
Job Outlook
Over the next few decades, there will be a 10% increase in job opportunities for caterers.
Salary
In the early stage of the career as a caterer, an average of 3.9 LPA can be expected.
PASTRY CHEF
Qualifications
Chefs who aspire to work in high profile hotels as a pastry chef can do programs that exclusively focus on cakes, baked goods, bread, rolls, etc. Your opportunities and scopes are based on the size of the kitchen you are working at. You can attend culinary schools or an equivalent course in food technology to work in a casual setting.
Available Positions
- Executive pastry chef
- Sous pastry chef
Job Outlook
According to statistics, the scope varies as per the setting you are working in, but there will be a 9% growth over the coming decade in chefs’ and bakers’ employment opportunities.
Salary
In his/her early career, a pastry chef can earn 3.5 LPA with an experience of 1-4 years.
FOOD BLOGGER
Specific Skills
Food blogging is a field where you can portray your love for food and passion for writing. When it comes to blogging, your technical knowledge should be thorough and have strong photography skills to present the dishes and everything in the right angles and shots. Come up with interactive and innovative ideas and entertain your audience. Use social media extensively to reach out. Work on your demerits constantly to give out the best.
Qualifications
A background in literature or journalism will help you develop the right set of skills to observe and write content for your blogs. An additional education, maybe a certificate course in any of the culinary field, will make you understand the technical terms and things you will need to know.
Available Positions
- Food critic
- Food taster
- Food journalist
Job Outlook
When you achieve the reach you aimed for in your blogs, many media agencies, restaurants, food publications agencies, and food production industries will hire you to write for their websites. So with proper educational background and knowledge about the field, you can outlast in this field as foodies will always look for authentic reviews from credible sites.
Salary
Starting maybe a little trouble, but you can expect to earn 25k and more per month once you are an established food blogger.
