| By chefita on Friday, February 23, 2001 - 01:23 pm: Edit |
i've just graduated from culinary school and i am in the process of getting a job as a pastry chef. i have had several interviews in hotels and restaurants, but i can't decide which environment is best. if you have worked in both places, which did you find to be better? so far, it seems that benefits and salary are better in hotels.
i'd appreciate any advice or anecdotes, even.
thanks.
| By Yankee on Friday, February 23, 2001 - 02:03 pm: Edit |
It really depends upon where you want to go with your career. Hotels and restaurants both have pros and cons, the biggest of which you have already found: compensation.
What you really need to do is find a chef that will make a good mentor. Try and get some advice from the chefs at your school.
Personally, I have worked at only one hotel, and it was a great experience. But it was overseas and nothing like what I have seen over here. Every situation is different, and I think your best bet is to check out as many places as possible.
Good luck.
| By W.DeBord on Tuesday, February 27, 2001 - 07:45 am: Edit |
chefita I was reading the interviews with chefs at the site "chefs at work" this morning.They thought hotels were about numbers period, not people. Restaurants were about people, people like themselfs (who are not well rounded riding heavily over young people like yourself). Any intelligent person would read those interviews and run as fast as they could from any job in the food industry (in my opinion).
There has to be more meaning in/to life than put forward from those chefs minds.?
Why write this....isn't it better to have said nothing. I feel so bad for all the young kids who really don't understand and take literally how hard this business can be on you life.
We have lists of the best companies to work for. We hear how hard it is to find employees. We do nothing to make this a good industry to work in! We hold a few chefs up on our shoulders and wait for them to speak so we can learn.....and they exhale stupidity!
| By Yankee on Tuesday, February 27, 2001 - 09:58 pm: Edit |
"Ehale Stupidity"
That's a great one! LOL!
Funny, only one name come to mind: Bobby Flay.
I have always found it strange that people who provide so little for society at large are always the ones in the camera eye. If one were to erase Tom Cruise from history, would it really change anything? Meanwhile, thousands toil to bring a little joy and hope to the desperate, and are only thought of as charity at tax time.
This may be a brutal business, but it's much better than my last one. I used to go home feeling like an idiot at the end of the day because all I was really doing was contributing to the endless and stupid media clutter that is advertising.
At least now, even on a really bad day, I can say that I provided someone with a nice dessert before they headed back out into the world.
Sure, this business sucks, but there are worse ones out there too. Keep it in perspective and keep it simple.
| By W.DeBord on Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 07:49 am: Edit |
I do loose it from time to time. SORRY! I feel bad for the young kids out there who still have to face some of the idiots that run many kitchens.
You know doctors are really talking about the stupidity of the long shifts they endure. Granted saftey for the patients is at stake. I see similarities in our business because it doesn't make sense to treat your employees as non-human. You should read how stupid these guys sound.
One guys advise to young chefs is to "Tell your spouse that they're second and that's how it will have to be". Great advise, f- everyone else, that should help our young have happiness in their lifes.If I heard someone tell that to my step daughter I'd be furious.
Your right Yankee, it's only a job "keep it in perspective and keep it simple".Those are much wiser words to impart! I wish the "great" chef had said that as his advise to the younger chefs.
| By Yankee on Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 12:30 pm: Edit |
What's the address of that site that you found this uplifting discussion on?
| By Panini (Panini) on Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 05:15 pm: Edit |
Happy people work to live, not live to work. If you spend all of your time sweating the small stuff you'll never be happy. That's from the great Pillsburry Dough Boy.
| By chefita on Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 11:49 pm: Edit |
very nice, very nice. thanks for all your input. i went to that chefs at work site and it didnt really do anything for me. i've been thinking a lot about what kind of job i am going to take, and i am going with one that will let me be with family and friends close by, but working in a place where i think i can learn a lot. it's a hotel by the way...since that was my whole reason for starting this post. plus, my ultimate decision was made by a lot of different factors, one of which was just my gut feeling after meeting with the chefs themselves.
so once again, thanks!
| By psnini on Thursday, March 01, 2001 - 06:30 am: Edit |
chefita
Family is the key word, it seems that you have the right attitude to do well. You'll always be up against the old attitude that " you must pay your dues". I don't know, my peers think I'm nuts for shutting down at 3 pm, but if I couldn't pick up my son from school everyday and spend that time with him, what's the use?
| By Peachcreek (Peachcreek) on Thursday, March 01, 2001 - 04:01 pm: Edit |
My suggestion is to go where the need for experience takes you. Money might come later. But for right now, lots of work is the only way to gain the practice and repitoire you will need later on. Think of the next few years as a school that pays you to show up and learn to do it right. In my past I had to suck up to some chefs who I did'nt really care for as people, but they knew their stuff. I understand I could'nt have done it without them. Now I'm ammortizing those long hours with short days: I work @ 30 hrs a week. Nights and weekends off. The key is to know when to stop paying dues!
| By danno on Thursday, March 01, 2001 - 05:06 pm: Edit |
chefita. where do you what to be 10, 15 years from now? your first job is the first step that will help mold your skills, attitude, and knowledge which will help you be more successful 10, 15 years down the road