I’ve been in sales for the past 12 years and want to do something new. I’ve always loved to cook and want to learn/ evolve by getting a certificate of culinary arts at our community college. My hesitation is that I have a family and would like to work standard business hours (8a-5 or 6p, Mon-Fri). Is that possible? What are some of my options?
What kind of jobs can I land with a culinary or patissierie certificate from my local community college?
01
Mar
Jak
March 1, 2010 at 8:50 am
if you work as a pastry chef or a banquet chef, you may have some chance at normal hours. Pastry chefs generally work weekends as well as weekdays but often get to check out before 6pm, often well before. If you work or a catering company or for some commercial industrial type food plant, then you can also count on more standard business hours. Check out “Spiced” by Dalia Jurgensen for the real juice on the trade by someone who has already done what you are considering. Experience is a big deal when it comes to cooking though and unless you go to great culinary school like the CIA, it may be tough to get the job (and hours) you want until you have worked your way up. The pay is often pretty low and the hours are often pretty high. And just because you like cooking at home doesn’t mean you’ll like the regimented line of a professional kitchen.
In short 8-5 M-F is possible but by far the exception to the norm and you get to those hours by either becoming very successful, going commercial after paying your dues, or getting extremely lucky. If you work at a bakery or supermarket, you might be able to work early hours like 4am to 1pm but weekends included.