by: Dilip Shaw
Preface: Preface: Want to join the food industry? Why not know your employment prospects before you finalize your decision to study in culinary schools.
Where do you want to go? The world of Culinary Arts is one of the fastest growing fields in the United States and beyond. Where you go is up to you and how hard you are prepared to work. The same applies to how much you earn. If you decide to stay in the local area you are likely to earn between $8-$14. On the other hand, a line cook in San Francisco earns $10 to $22 per hour. A chef in fine dining restaurant or hotel can earn in excess of $100,000 per year. (Please understand it takes many years of hard work and dedication to reach this kind of salary.)
You may choose to work in any of the following types of establishments:
Nursing homes, hospitals, hotels, catering companies, casinos, cruise ships, trains, country clubs, private clubs, restaurants, research and development labs, resorts (ranging from a summer resort to one of the Disney properties), and wineries to name but a few. You may decide to travel and look for opportunities abroad. Whatever you decide to do, the education you will receive in Culinary Schools will help take you to the future of your choice.
The employment prospects for graduates of this program are positive. Future employment growth is above average and it is expected that new graduates will experience little difficulty finding work in the food and beverage industry. These are considered to be active recruitment occupations.
The restaurant industry employs 11 million people, making it the nation's largest employer outside of the government. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the restaurant industry's growth will be 30 per cent over the next two years. Industry professionals and owners indicate that the biggest challenge facing the industry is finding educated, competent, and well-trained management personnel to handle this growth.
In the next decade, the travel and food industry will be a leader in creating new jobs, in generating more revenue, in paying out more salaries and wages, and in offering great professional opportunities.
What are your interests? Owning your own restaurant? Chef? Food Buyer? Restaurant Manager? No matter what your interests are, a career in the food industry offers challenges and variety.
Many different segments of jobs exist in the food service industry. Excellent opportunities exist for individuals at all job levels in department store food service; airline in-flight food service, school, college, and university food service; hospitals and nursing homes; city and country clubs; business and industry; parks and recreation; and the military services which employ civilians to manage clubs and other food and lodging facilities. Food Service is the single largest segment in the industry.
Because the food industry serves the needs of the public, the majority of people working in this industry are in constant contact with customers. Its a people-oriented profession. Individuals preparing for careers in the Food Industry must understand that their responsibilities are likely to include daily interaction with customers. Social skills and the ability to communicate effectively with others are important assets for anyone planning such a career. An interest in meeting guests’ needs and solving their problems is a primarily requisite for success in this field along with reliability, dedication, and willingness to work hard.
Career opportunities are bright for the food industry. Since this is one of the fastest growing industries, trained and knowledgeable managers are in demand. For the person who is dedicated, outgoing, and willing to work odd hours, promotions come easily. We invite you to share the bright picture of the future of Food Service as it continues to grow, expand, and create tremendous new opportunities throughout the nation. There has never been a better time than now for people to enter the Food Service Industry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Culinary Artist - Specializes in French & Thai Cuisine
Date Posted : 14 - Feb - 2005
Website : http://www.best-cooking-school-culinary-arts-schools-classes.com
Culinary Employment Prospects
Career Goals and Stress
by: Debbie Brown, MSM, MSW
Career Goals and Stress:
How to Achieve Goals and Maintain Your Sanity
Deborah R. Brown, MBA, MSW
____________________________________________________________________________
"Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time."
Max Ehrmann
"Desiderata"
When it comes to career success, direction and focus are crucial. But beyond direction, how effective is it to have goals?
Requirements for Effective Goal-Setting
Much has been researched and written about the effectiveness of goal setting.
The findings say that :
Difficult goals lead to higher performance than easy goals.
Difficult goals lead to higher performance than "do your best" goals.
Setting specific goals results in more precise performance than setting "do your best" goals.
Just having the goal is not enough. You must develop a strategy to make it happen. What are the activities you need to perform everyday? Plan those activities, but also stay alert and open to new ways to achieve your goals as they present themselves.
There are three critical requirements that dictate how well goal setting will work:
Commitment to your goals.
Periodically reviewing where you stand regarding goal achievement (getting feedback).
Belief that you can achieve your goals (self-confidence and self-efficacy).
You need to genuinely desire the goals you set. If you don't like your job and don't want to be there, then it is difficult to be committed. It's also crucial that you believe that you can achieve the goals you set for yourself.
Stress and Goal Setting
Goals create striving which results in more stress. So how do you deal with this stress?
Since I am notoriously poor at pacing myself, I created a structure to help me with this process. My plan includes eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, but also not scheduling clients on Fridays. I never work past 8 p.m. I plan vacations and weekends away, and schedule social events with friends at least once per week. Part of my stress management program also involves not over-booking myself with social activities so that I have time to retreat for rest and recuperation.
As I approached graduation from college many years ago, I wrote a poem about goal setting which I titled, "My Brook and I."
I remember the brook
streaming though the woods;
spending hours around it,
building forts, wiping the mud off me with skunk cabbage.
I remember the brook on sunny days;
Water babbling over stones and rocks, pieces of wood;
making the water ripple the way it did.
I wondered what happened to the brook
traveling away from my yard.
I had a goal for my brook
to flow to the ocean...but then what?
I see goals for myself
thwarted, rearranged, fulfilled.
But the goal for my brook;
What happened to it?
Deepak Chopra, in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, says that if we want to have a successful career, we should first center ourselves and then release our intentions (our career goals) to the universe. We should not be attached to the way these goals develop, or to the exact outcome, but leave the details to the universe. We can get the same results through effort and trying, he says, but the result is stress, which can lead to heart attacks and other physical illnesses.
Sometimes we focus more on our unhappiness with our present situation, than on what we want to achieve. Chopra says that we should accept where we are now, be fully present in the moment and concentrate on our deepest intentions (goals).
Goals should be difficult, but achievable with persistent effort. Goals that are too extreme, such as doubling your income in one year, can only discourage you.
Goals work because you persist and focus your efforts in a specific direction.
Without that direction, we can find ourselves floating through our lives, more at the mercy of outside forces that are not devoted to our welfare or success. But we can manage our goals in a way that does not create undo stress by not being attached to the exact way they are achieved.
Having set goals the brook and I
build toward them.
The brook unable to know...
about a pipe in the ground, a seeping marsh, a dam.
Myself not knowing the course I will follow.
Knowing what I want,
yet finding it hard to grasp.
I remember years of competition, of struggle, of acceptance.
Then discovering what is real, important;
myself, my friends, expression;
a soft kitten purring on my lap;
peace.
Being more than a doctor, a lawyer.
Knowing comfort, relaxation.
Being myself.
Approaching the completion of one goal,
I set new ones.
But fulfilling them means going away, sorrow.
Like the brook moves on, streams to the river...
the ocean.
Saying goodbye to familiar things,
friends.
Facing a reoccurrence of similar past memories,
painful.
Conclusion
In my business I set performance goals for myself every year. I also set goals for relationships, finances, home, physical and mental health, as well as spiritual development. I can attest to the fact that the more specific the goal, and the more frequently I review that goal and focus on it, the more likely I am to meet that goal. It helps to write down your goals, read through them periodically, visualize them and keep a picture journal that represents the achievement of those goals. But it also helps to listen to the feedback from the universe, and make adjustments to those goals when necessary. We should have a career plan, but be flexible with how it unfolds.
I know a word...self-fulfillment.
Being vulnerable, can I take chances?
Being strong, grinding ahead through disappointments.
Being weak, letting go of crippled goals.
Like a brook who misses the river,
finding another happiness.
Being motivated, seeking what I am after,
But not too aggressive.
Being easy, tension-free.
Making it through the insecurity
Like cool water in a brook;
not knowing what will come.
Traveling through the seasons of time.
Molding myself to the environment like the brook
makes its path through nature.
Sliding over any obstacles
the brook continues over rocks, pieces of wood.
Freezing in the rough, cold spots;
melting in the warm.
Praying for a map free of dams to follow
in a steady, unchartered progression.
My brook and I.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debbie Brown is a career consultant and executive coach who works primarily with professionla, attorneys and entrepreneurs.
D & B Consulting
3475 Lenox Road, NE
Suite 400
Atlanta, GA 30326
404-240-8063 FAX: 678- 530-0661
www.DandBconsulting.com
Debbie@DandBconsulting.com
