Posted by Jennifer on May 08, 1997 at 15:35:50:
In Reply to: Re: career change? posted by Gina on April 10, 1997 at 08:58:09:
: : Hi everyone,Here's the deal: I'm 31 and thinking of a career change. I'm currently a registered nurse working in an I.C.U., so I know about long hours, heavy lifting, hard work, and most of all STRESS. I will be attending career exploration for a week at C.I.A. later this year. But, I have tons of qustions. 1) Am I too old to start this? ( I hear you have to be in the kitchen twenty years before you can start to THINK about calling yourself a chef.) 2)Am I good enough?(I have NO experience of any kind in a professional kitchen. But I'm not exactly a dabbling hausfrau. Got the KitchenAid Pro mixer, in cobalt blue. Everyone raves about my cooking, but that's a far cry from chef - maybe I should just stay home impressing family, coworkers and the occasional stranger). 3)Are most chefs backbiting prima donnas?(I have an awful lot of those in my current job, so I'm sure I could take it, but it certainly isn't any fun). 4)Are those black and white checked pants for real? (And I thought nurses' uniforms were awful). 5)Cooking schools(What are the primary differences, are there some to avoid at any cost? I've gotten info from C.I.A. and Johnson and Wales. Pros/cons? Where else should I consider?) Etc.,Etc., Etc. This is something I've been thinking about for about five years and am just now starting to seriously look into. I can come up with as many reasons to talk myself out of it as into it. Husband says he'll support whatever choice I make, :) so he's no help in making up my mind. Any help with this mess would be greatly appreciated.
: : Thank you in advance
: : chef wannabe
: : H.A.
: Just Do It!! I'm 33 years old and started a part time culinary arts program in September of 96 and it was the best thing I've ever done. I am a production manager for a weekly newspaper and have no food service experience at all but I've always loved to cook. I think school is a good place to start. I go to school on Sundays for 8am to 6pm and we cook (and clean) all day! It's alot of work but I love and I know it is what I want to do. Will I ever be a famous or not so chef? Who knows, but I think it is important to do what love.
: Gina
Gina,
I am curious as to how you got into a culinary arts program w/out any food service experience? That's good news to me, because I don't have any food service experience as well, but would like to change careers (currently a chemical engineer...good money, but some disadvantages.) I haven't done much research, but I have looked into the CIA and from what I've read, it appears that you need some experience to even get into their culinary arts program...is this right? Also, do you only have classes on Sunday as a part-time student? I most certainly need to keep my job and steady income while pursuing a culinary arts education and, therefore, would only be able to attend school part-time. It does sound like hard work and I am certainly not against that...I enjoy cooking, cleaning, organizing and the like. I don't consider that stuff "work" in the fullest sense of the word because I ENJOY it!!! :)
Thanks! Jennifer
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