What it’s about:

Culinary arts and chef training programs prepare you for a career in the food service industry as a chef, executive chef, pastry chef, restaurant manager, food and beverage director, food service director, or restaurateur. Chefs today are managers of people, products, and facilities. They have a responsibility to provide quality food and experiences in a safe, sanitary environment.

What the study of this major is like:

Training to be a chef requires discipline. The filed demands a strong work ethic; empathy; a dedication to excellence; and self-assessment, organizational, multitasking, and timing abilities. A successful chef is good at following through on projects, always aware that the job must get done.

Like many academic programs, programs in culinary arts require dedication to research, reading, writing, and computation. However, as a chef-in-training, you must work long hours, under the critical eye of instructors and the dining public. Most colleges insist you follow the conservative uniform and grooming standards of the industry. In chef training programs, you work with others, performing as part of a team, and you are evaluated and receive critiques as a group member. At most colleges you will spend 15-40 hours a week in the kitchen (depending on the semester), beginning as early as 5 a.m. and often working into the evening. At the same time, you must complete assignments for courses in cooking, liberal arts, and management.

Training programs include internships that can be anywhere in the country. Traditionally, internships are paid positions, although some are not. Most students use these real-world experiences as a way to obtain permanent jobs after graduation.

Many colleges offer degrees in culinary arts and related services. As you investigate the schools you are considering, keep in mind their philosophies and methodologies. Most programs require hands-on experience, although some emphasize it more strongly than others. In some programs, general education course are optional. Other programs include both cooking and liberal arts courses.

Recently, some colleges have started offering bachelor’s degrees in culinary arts. Besides stressing the technical skills that can make you a successful chef, they encourage you to be a decision maker, team builder, manager, and leader.

If you think you’d like to be a chef, you should pursue a balanced education. A chef must understand the finances of an operation, be well read and able to design restaurant menus that match a profiled guest, know how environments affect human behaviour, and be a good communicator.

Career options and trends:

Cook; sous chef; executive chef; food and beverage director; restaurant manager; restaurateur.

Increasingly, serious chefs are seeking certification through the American Culinary Federation as chef de cuisine, executive chef, pastry chef, or master chef. A certificate in sanitation from the National Restaurant Association is also useful.

Since dining out has become essential to the American lifestyle, the culinary business continues to grow, even during tough economic times. Job opportunities are expected to be about average through 2018. Finding a position should not be difficult, although many positions are part-time, resulting in high turnover rates as people leave the profession for full-time positions. Competition should be keen for jobs in the top kitchens of higher end restaurants which pay better but have low turnover.

A bachelor’s degree is becoming the standard for positions at the chef level, and within the next decade or so, a master’s degree may be necessary. The major companies are winning the battle for customers, so even though 80 percent of the restaurants in the United States are privately owned, restaurants chains have the ability and cash flow to reward their employees. The chains are therefore likely to offer the most career opportunities.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors