Chef Training Schools, Programs and Training

Cooking up a Career as a Chef

If you have a passion for food and cooking and a creative thirst for learning and hard work, a career in the culinary industry as a chef is for you. Although often glamorized by the media, working as a chef can involve long intense hours on your feet in a fast-paced environment. Depending on your specialty, employees look for qualified candidates with excellent technical skills, culinary intuition, time management, and organizational skills. Managers, including sous chefs and executive chefs, are also required to be skilled at managing a staff and have business training experience.

Chef Training Programs to Fit Your Needs

Chef training schools offering certificates, diplomas, or degrees in the culinary arts can set you up for success by offering the foundation needed to enter the industry with confidence and skill. Whether you focus on hospitality management, culinary arts, or baking and pastry, enrolling in one of the many chef programs available can provide you with a head start on your career:

A culinary certificate or diploma can be earned in approximately nine months, depending on the program, allowing you to begin working in the industry right away.

Earn an associate's degree in approximately two years, and experience a more in-depth program, including kitchen management skills, purchasing and cost control, menu development, recipe writing, and nutrition.

A four-year bachelor's degree refines your skills even further and can open the doors to management roles.

A master's degree in business, food studies, or a food-related concentration can lead you on your way to becoming an executive chef.

Chef Training School Pays Off

In 2008, the most recent year for which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has figures, there were over 100,000 chefs and head cooks working in the U.S. These individuals earned a median annual wage of $38,770, while the much larger group of food preparation workers earned a median wage of $28,970. The BLS predicts solid job opportunities for chefs, head cooks, and food preparation workers in coming years, with growth of about 6 percent by 2018. Competition should be stiff at upscale restaurants, so attending chef training school may be just what you need to stand out from the competition.