How to Become a Chef: Culinary Career Overview for 2022

Last Updated: June 26th, 2022 by Noah Shaw

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In the past decade or so, the culinary arts field has received lots of positive mainstream attention. Celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and reality TV shows like Top Chef have made it cool to become a chef, leading many to pursue this as a career path.

Being a chef is not always as glamorous as it looks on TV. Most of the time, you’ll be working on your feet alongside a kitchen team to produce high-quality meals for your customers to enjoy.

This guide will show you everything you need to know about how to become a chef. You’ll discover the path it takes to get there, as well as the responsibilities and rewards that come with the role.

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Job Description

The job of a chef goes well beyond cooking meals. You must plan menus ahead of time according to your kitchen’s budget and access to ingredients, for starters. In some cases, you’ll be designing new menus daily or at least once every few months.

The menus you put together are based on existing recipes or the ones you’ll develop specifically for that restaurant and its diners.

Day-to-day, you’ll also spend time sourcing and ordering the freshest ingredients and ensuring they arrive on time. When they do, you’ll then inspect them to ensure that they’re up to your standards.

Last but not least, you’ll lead a kitchen team and coordinate them to ensure that all your diners receive high-quality meals on time.

Read our related article, How to Become a Chocolatier. Chocolatiers create and produce the finest chocolates around the world. Here’s how to get started!

What Does an Average Day for a Chef Look Like?

As a chef, the most hectic period of your day will be meal service. That refers to the time around breakfast, lunch, and dinner when customers pack the restaurant and orders start flooding in.

Still, there is plenty to do outside of those hours, as well.

Here’s what an average day will look like for you in this role:

Manage Inventory

Early in the day, a chef must manage the kitchen’s inventory. Firstly, that means receiving supplies and ingredients needed later in the day.

Besides that, you must also count and store all available ingredients to ensure enough for diners’ meals until the end of the day.

Shift Briefing

Kitchen staff typically work in different shifts. Therefore, before each shift begins, you must hold a briefing to ensure that everyone is prepared for the day ahead.

For instance, if a menu item is not available, you must notify all team members so that they’re aware.

Your team members will not have time to raise questions mid-service. So, the briefing also gives them a chance to ask you important questions.

Mise-En-Place or Preparations

Most food items are made to order only when a diner requests them. In the meantime, however, the kitchen must prepare ingredients for those orders. This is known as ‘mise-en-place’ and includes preparing sauces, cutting vegetables, and more.

That way, the ingredients will be ready for when they’re needed during the breakfast, lunch, or dinner service.

Conduct a Service

Next comes the moment of truth. That’s during breakfast, lunch, or dinner service when customers fill up the restaurant’s seats and waiters collect their orders.

With so many meals to prepare at once, you as a chef must coordinate team members at different stations to work together.

Mid-service is when tensions run high and the kitchen is the busiest. As a result, it’s also the most physically demanding part of your day.

Post-Service Cleaning

Once service is over and customers have gone, you must then coordinate the cleaning process.

For starters, the dishes and kitchen equipment must be washed. At the same time, you’ll help your team to deep clean the cooking surfaces, fridges, and other areas.

Lastly, you must make sure to label and store any leftover ingredients and supplies for use the following day.

How Do I Start to Become a Chef?

One of the most important things to remember when learning how to become a chef is that there are several paths you can take.

Unlike some other career paths, you don’t necessarily need a 4-year degree to work in a kitchen. The industry is full of stories of people who started off as cooks and dishwashers who work their way up to become successful executive chefs.

Still, you have the option of pursuing higher education to support your career, no matter your age.

However you choose to approach this line of work, here are a few stages you’ll go through as you learn how to become a chef.

1. Get a High School Diploma

Most employers require you to have at least a high school diploma or its equivalent to work in their kitchen.

If you’re in high school and you plan on becoming a chef, a few useful classes you can take are:

Culinary arts
Food and nutrition
Health and wellness
Business management

Taking these kinds of courses will give you a head start in your career as a chef.

2. (Optional) Pursue Higher Education

These days, an increasing number of tertiary education institutions offer culinary arts courses. In addition, you can find culinary arts courses in culinary schools, community colleges, universities, and vocational schools.

You can also choose to pursue a culinary arts course at the certificate, diploma, bachelor’s degree, and master’s degree levels.

When you pursue these chef courses, most of your time will be spent developing your technical skills in the kitchen. That includes food preparation techniques as well as working with knives and other kitchen equipment.

A minor portion of your course will focus on classroom learning. There, you’ll learn the theoretical and managerial topics a chef must know like business management, accounting, human resources, and more.

Most employers will not require you to have a 4-year degree to work in their kitchen. In the long run, however, having a degree will help you advance in your career.

Since a degree isn’t a requirement to work as a chef, you can pursue it before you start working or at any point during your career.

3. Gain Hands-On Work Experience

The most important aspect of learning how to become a chef is getting hands-on experience. Most, if not all, chefs start from the very bottom. Some begin their careers as dishwashers, fruit peelers, and line cooks to learn the basic skills.

Then, they work their way up the kitchen hierarchy to positions like Sous Chef (the number 2 position) and Chef (the lead position).

As you begin your career, you can pursue this experience in a number of different ways:

First-hand experience – As we saw earlier, many chefs started off in entry-level kitchen roles and learned their skills first-hand. Then, they work their way up the hierarchy.

Culinary arts internships – College culinary arts programs typically have internship components as a graduation requirement. The institution will also help with placement to get you roles at restaurants, hotels, and other facilities.
Apprenticeship programs – Think of an apprenticeship as a combination between a paid job, an education course, and a chance to earn credentials. You can find many of them through The American Culinary Federation (ACF) and the US Department of Labor.

READ MORE: Restaurant Jobs. Start your career path to becoming a chef with one of these restaurant jobs.

Find A Chef Job Near You!

Are You Suited for a Chef Career? Skills, Credentials, Tools, and Technology

The work of a chef requires several skills and physical abilities. To successfully learn how to become a chef, you must also develop the following skills and proficiencies:

Personality and Skills

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) highlights physical stamina, teamwork, and communication skills as some of the most important for this line of work.

As a chef, you’ll be on your feet in a hot kitchen environment most of the time. That’s especially true during busy periods like breakfast, lunch, and dinner service. For that reason, physical stamina is a crucial ability to have to succeed as a chef.

Chefs don’t work alone, either. Instead, they function as part of a brigade, with each person focusing on different aspects of food preparation. With solid teamwork abilities, you’ll help your team deliver high-quality meals to make diners happy.

Those abilities go hand-in-hand with strong communication skills, which are also critical. So, not only are they essential for the kitchen to work smoothly, but it also ensures that all of your team members can work safely.

Credentials and Proficiencies

Besides the necessary skills, developing the necessary proficiencies are also crucial when you learn how to become a chef.

The Occupational Information Network (O*Net) lists culinary expertise, food production, and administrative knowledge as some of a few crucial proficiencies to have for this line of work.

For starters, a chef must possess a level of culinary expertise about different types of cuisines as well as kitchen equipment.

Besides that, a deep understanding of the overall food production process is also critical. Not only do you prepare meals to make customers happy, but you’ll also have to do that safely and efficiently.

Lastly, chefs must also know how to run their kitchen from an administrative perspective. Kitchens must order ingredients and other supplies while maintaining all necessary documentation like invoices and receipts.

How Does a Chef Find Work?

Chefs have plenty of options when it comes to finding work, because you can learn how to become a chef anywhere that prepares food. However the challenge is in finding a place that suits your work style.

For example, if you’re independent and prefer working at your own pace, you can choose to start your own food business or work at smaller food outlets. Those who prefer a challenging climb up the ladder can work at restaurants and hotels instead.

Still, it’s important to remember that not all employers can offer you the salary and career advancement you want.

For the best opportunities, you should apply for open positions in industries that pay well and offer advancement opportunities, like:

Larger restaurants, whether it’s fine dining or casual dining.
Traveler accommodations, like at hotels and airport facilities.
Food and beverage outlets, like at amusement parks or other recreational facilities.

Catering facilities, like those in retirement homes, colleges, and large companies.

When employers consider you for roles in their kitchen, your culinary skills, hands-on experience, and ability to work alongside others carry the most weight. So, be sure to highlight these qualities.

Academic qualifications still matter, especially when it comes to long-term career advancement. Still, this is a line of work that values your abilities and skills more than academic credentials.

Find A Chef Job Near You!

How Much Do Chefs Get Paid?

On average, chefs earn $53,380 a year. That’s based on the most recent information by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The same statistics show that on the higher end of that average, the top 90th percentile of chefs earn $90,790 a year. The bottom 10th percentile, however, earn $30,300 a year instead.

The BLS also finds that chefs can earn the most in the following 5 states:

New Jersey ($83,700 a year)
Hawaii ($74,150 a year)
Rhode Island ($73,950 a year)
California ($67,400 a year)
Massachusetts ($65,850 a year)

The two best ways to increase your earning potential as a chef is to develop your skills and work at more upmarket establishments.

For example, developing your skills and reputation as a fine dining chef will increase your average earnings. That’s because these roles demand a higher level of quality that you can only deliver if you improve your culinary skills.

Chef Job Growth

The future is bright for chef careers, as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates a 25% growth in this role between 2020 and 2030. The BLS considers that growth rate to be ‘much faster than average’.

Top 5 Popular Job Paths for Chefs in 2022

The food and beverage industry is one with unlimited possibilities for chefs. Here are 5 of the most popular job paths that you can pursue in this line of work:

1. Restaurant Chef

For chefs, the traditional job path is still one of the most popular.

Many chefs today still build fulfilling careers in restaurant kitchens. That includes standalone restaurants and places like hotels that serve many different cuisines.

2. Catering Chef

Many chefs also prefer working in the catering sector, where they prepare menus and cook for large groups at a time. Typically, these chefs focus on cooking for weddings, conferences, and other crowded events.

3. Personal Chef

Chefs who prefer to avoid the fast pace of restaurants and catering kitchens can also serve wealthy clients instead. You’ll create menus and prepare meals for wealthy clients and their families at home in this role.

4. Celebrity Chef

In the past decade, we’ve seen the rise of the celebrity chef. These chefs have built a reputation for themselves in the industry and in the public eye alike.

As a celebrity chef, you’ll share your cooking knowledge by writing books, teaching lessons, and performing demonstrations to members of the public.

5. Food Truck Chef

Another rising trend in the food and beverage industry is the food truck. Instead of opening a traditional restaurant, you can start a mobile one.

The food truck is your kitchen, and you can choose to work wherever and whenever you want.

Top 5 Most Popular Chef Specializations

As you continue learning how to become a chef, you can also specialize in preparing specific kinds of food. Some of the most popular chef specializations these days include:

1. Pastry Chef

Also known as a pâtissière, you’ll specialize in preparing baked goods like pastries, bread, and other desserts.

READ MORE: Desserts & Sweets Jobs. Have a knack for the sweet side of culinary life? Check out these desserts and sweets-focused jobs.

2. Sauce Chef

Restaurants that are more traditionally European also have sauce chefs. As the name suggests, you’ll specialize in preparing sauces. Besides that, you’ll also work on stews, hot starter items, and more.

3. Fish Chef

Menus with a lot of fish items will also require the expertise of a fish chef. Here, you’ll be responsible for preparing fish items as well as the sauces and condiments that go along with them.

4. Meat Chef

Meat chefs specialize in cooking techniques related to meat items. That includes roasting, broiling, braising, and more. You’ll also specialize in butcher skills necessary to prepare different kinds of meat for cooking.

5. Cuisine-Based Specialist Chefs

Chefs can also choose to specialize in specific cuisines. For example, you can focus on traditional French cuisine or the many unique Asian cuisines that come from all over the continent.