Cooking & Culinary Arts Schools - Culinary Career Options

If you love cooking, you could find a great career in the growing field of culinary arts. Job openings in all areas of the culinary arts are expected to be plentiful through 2012 (U.S. Department of Labor). A range of career options can suit your lifestyle and goals including:

• Chefs & Head Chef
• First-Line Supervisors/Manager
• Fast Food cook/preparation worker
• Cafeteria worker

Chefs
Qualified chefs can command a good salary and choose from a range of rewarding careers in hotels, restaurants, and cruise ships. You will need culinary arts qualifications to be a chef. Requirements range from a nine-month diploma to a bachelor’s degree from a culinary school.

The role of head chef is glamorous, exciting and well paid, but requires additional training in the culinary arts, several years of experience and a lot of hard work.

First line supervisors
If you are interested in the managerial side of cooking in restaurants and hotels, you could become a first line supervisor. You could start with an associate or bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from a hospitality or culinary school, or qualify in the culinary arts and work your way out of the kitchen.

Many parents and students choose fast food cooking for a convenient, part-time career. Salaries are low and turnover fast, but enthusiastic fast food chefs can undertake further formal training to move into management or more skilled areas of cooking.