Synopses & Reviews
The ultimate career guide for student and professional chefsWhether you're starting fresh from school or changing jobs in mid-career, braving today's culinary job market can be bewildering. Where do you look? How do you target your search? How do you best present your education and experience? Where exactly do you even begin?
Luckily, now there's a guide that addresses these questions and many more. So You Are a Chef: Managing Your Culinary Career offers expert advice that covers the culinary job search from beginning to end. In a clear, accessible style, it illuminates important ideas with numerous examples, documents, forms, and other helpful features drawn directly from today's culinary industry. The only book of its kind, So You Are a Chef will enable you to:
Choose the right career path for your needs
Create a clear, well-organized resume
Prepare a portfolio that shows off your experience
Find and contact potential employers
Give a standout interview
So You Are a Chef also includes a free CD-ROM containing documents and worksheets to assist you in brainstorming and organizing your job-search approach.
Regardless of whether you just graduated or have been in the business for years, So You Are a Chef is your essential guide to finding, pursuing, and landing the culinary job of your dreams.
Synopsis
So You Are a Chefhelps readers determine which culinary career path best suits his/her needs, set career goals, write up a resume, prepare a portfolio, contact prospective employers and interview for positions.
Synopsis
Preparing a resume, putting together a job search portfolio, finding potential employers, interviewing, and generally advancing one's culinary career can be daunting.
So You Are a Chef helps readers determine which culinary career path best suits his/her needs, set career goals, write up a resume, prepare a portfolio, contact prospective employers and interview for positions. Students are walked through the process of all this in the hopes of helping them achieve career success.
So You are a Chef covers everything from getting potential job candidates pass the 30-second test and win interviews to networking and becoming an active member in professional organizations.
Each copy of the book includes a CD-ROM filled with helpful electronic tools, including
- Resume worksheet and checklist
- Resume templates
- Portfolio worksheet and checklist
- Job log
- Cover letter templates
- Thank you letter templates
- and goal-setting chart
Synopsis
So You Are a Chef: Managing Your Culinary Career, with CD-ROM is the ultimate career guide for student and professional chefs. Whether you're seeking a job fresh from culinary school or completely changing your career path, this book will make it easy for you to brave today's intimidating culinary job market. Find expert advice on the culinary job search from beginning to end. Written in a clear, accessible style, this guide illuminates important ideas with numerous examples, documents, forms, and other helpful features drawn directly from today's culinary industry.
About the Author
Lisa M. Brefere, CEC, AAC, is a Certified Executive Chef with over thirty years of experience. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, she is a member of the American Culinary Federation and the American Academy of Chefs and has been awarded the ACF Presidential Medallion for outstanding dedication to the profession. She has coauthored several books including Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals. With her business partner, Brad Barnes, she cofounded GigaChef.com, an online tool for culinary professionals.
Karen Eich Drummond, EdD, RD, FADA, LDN, FMP, is author and coauthor of numerous books, including Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals and The Restaurant Training Program, both published by Wiley.
Brad Barnes, CMC, CCA, AAC, is one of fifty-nine Certified Master Chefs in the United States. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he is a member of the National Certification Commission for the American Culinary Federation and plays a pivotal role in revising culinary certification standards. A cofounder of GigaChef.com with Lisa M. Brefere, he has also coauthored the American Culinary Federation's Guide to Culinary Certification, published by Wiley.
Table of Contents
Introduction.How to Use So You Are a Chef.
CD-ROM.
Resources for Instructors.
Acknowledgments.
CHAPTER 1 Write Your Resume.
Introduction.
Types of Resumes.
The Ingredients of a Great Resume.
How to Write Your Resume.
Edit and Proofread.
Scannable Resumes.
Everything You Need to Know about References.
Exercises.
Profile: LEE COCKERELL, Executive Vice President of Operations, Walt Disney World® Resort (recently retired).
CHAPTER 2 Put Together a Job Search Portfolio.
Introduction.
Do I Really Need a Portfolio?
Choose How to Organize.
Collect the Contents.
Get Supplies.
Put the Portfolio Together.
Evaluate Your Portfolio.
Use a Portfolio in an Interview.
Keep Your Portfolio Up to Date.
Exercises.
CHAPTER 3 Beyond the Want Ads: How to Locate and Contact Prospective Employers.
Introduction.
General Guidelines.
Search the Hidden Job Market.
Search the Public Market.
The Internet.
Following Up on Contacts.
Filling Out Applications.
Writing Cover Letters.
Exercises.
CHAPTER 4 Three-Step Interviewing.
Introduction.
Before the Interview.
During the Interview.
After the Interview.
Follow-Up.
Employment Testing.
Tips for Special Situations.
If You Get a Job Offer.
Exercises.
Profile: L. TIMOTHY RYAN, EdD, CMC, President, The Culinary Institute of America.
CHAPTER 5 Advancing Your Career.
Introduction.
Succeeding in a Professional Kitchen.
Setting Career Goals.
When You Leave a Job.
Mentors.
Professional Organizations.
Certifications.
American Academy of Chefs.
Lifelong Learning.
Exercises.
APPENDIX A Culinary Professional Organizations.
INDEX.