Pursuing a job as a professional chef can be promoting and rewarding to those who enjoy cooking food. If you’re interested and have a passion for cooking, baking, and other culinary tasks, being a chef can be the right path for you. Also, you don’t become a chef for money. Here are the pros and cons of being a chef.
Pros of being a chef
1. Improve cooking knowledge: the big advantage of being a chef is significantly improving your cooking skills and techniques over time. While you might start with rather limited knowledge of cooking at an advanced level, soon you will become better. Therefore, through your colleagues, you can learn much more. The benefit of being a curious person who always wants to practice and learn new things and has the vision and ambition to improve, you can learn a lot every day. You can achieve all of this in a competitive environment where many ambitious people work in a kitchen with you.
2. Being familiar with different cultures: there are many different dishes you’ve probably never heard of around the world. Yet, those dishes often are quite delicious. By learning how to cook them well in the right manner, you will probably be in a position to offer your guests a unique culinary experience you have never heard of. Your guests will be very happy as they won’t often get the exotic dishes in most restaurants and will be more likely to visit again.
3. Impressing people in your private life: through learning how to cook for different people, you can transfer the knowledge and use it in your private life. Many people can’t cook at high-level standards, And if you are in a position to provide this high quality, the chances are that you will benefit and enjoy a high reputation among your colleagues. Your family and friends will be quite grateful for cooking tasty dishes for them. Also helping friends out for their birthday and making cakes and cooking for them in their party times. On many occasions, this will pay for you in the long run.
4. You will have the ambition to become better every day: being a chef will help you develop a passion for cooking. Working together with ambitious colleagues around you every day in a hotel with a better reputation, the chances that you will get better day by day. In return, this will push you to new highs, which will pay for you in the long run.
5. It’s crucial for the success of many restaurants: chefs have important roles in restaurants. Chefs have a great level of responsibility toward the success of the restaurants they work in. Especially being a leader, you will be the one who can make progress regarding the restaurant’s success. Doing a great job, customers will be lining up in front of your venue. However, your restaurant’s reputation will be at stake if you do a dirty job.
6. opening your restaurant: being an entrepreneurial type of person eventually will work for you one day. You can also just quit your profession and start your restaurant. Also, you don’t need to work as an employee forever. It is after a few years of acquiring knowledge.
7. Chef can be a passion: working as a chef is more than a job. You can compete with other cooks while comparing skills with the best. Therefore, you will develop a passion for being a good chef. You must make sure that you have a high level of interest in this job.
8. Chefs travel the world: people always want to eat tasty delicacies. Being good at what you are doing will secure you a job in almost every corner of the world.
9. Leading a kitchen crew: gaining seniority will help you often lead the kitchen. You will have many employees following your directions.
Cons of being a chef
1. Low salaries: the problem of being a chef is averagely low salaries. Working in restaurants, you are not in a position to save. You’ll spend all of it on basic expenses. You’ll not be able to afford many nice things in your life due to these low payments.
2. Working on weekends: most people get time to go to restaurants on Saturday and Sunday. You will be providing for them as they enjoy their leisure; this is quite not pleasing. It leads to serious family problems. You will not be able to make weekend trips with your loved ones in the name of your job.
3. Working for long hours: it is obvious that chefs work until late evening. Many customers, especially fancy hotels, will show up very late after work. It can take them to odd hours until the guests leave. It pushes you as you will be there attending to them.
4. Too much stress: you will have to prepare numerous meals under pressure. You are often being pushed against boundaries. Guests will always complain about the quality of your food, adding stress. You will not be in a position to handle this stress more healthily.
5. Problems finding a partner: People never want to be associated with cooks. Due to long and irregular duty hours, as a chef, you will often face problems maintaining relationships. It makes it difficult for you to maintain a relationship.
6. People always complain about your work: many will always find something to complain about you even when you think you’ve given your best. Some will even try to bring you down.
7. Minor accidents are rather common: every success comes through a price. You have to struggle. Burns and cuts are everyday adventures. You should be willing to make those sacrifices.
8. Being a chef can be dirty work: a chef is exposed to several kinds of foods all day hence smelling shitty. Therefore, You may not be comfortable.
9. Highly competitive environment: restaurants, hotels, cafes, and bistros always compete for guests. bosses always want to hire the best chefs. You always have to be creative, hardworking and dedicated to your work. Therefore, you are in fear of losing your job to someone else. You’ll have to be willing to extend past your limits to enable you to stand.
10. Exploitation from family and friends: after finishing your workday preparing meals and delicacies, the last thing you want is to prepare the same for the family. The reality is some will like to benefit from your work. At some time, you will have to indulge them.
