11 Amazing Chef Benefits (Personal Experience)
A chef’s job includes many perks that might push you considering a chef’s career, and in this article, I will reveal the best of the best perks that I personally enjoy as a chef!
Before we begin, I want to make sure that you understand that not everything about a chef’s job is perfect and glamorous. Still, there are considerable cons about the chef’s profession, but pros will prevail when weighing the pros against cons; the chef’s profession is totally worth it! Let’s get started!
Contents
- 1. Multiple Career Options
- 2. Nearly Endless Advancement Opportunities
- 3. Potential For Decent Income
- 4. Implement Creativity
- 5. Everyday Is Different
- 6. Interaction With Others
- 7. Networking Possibilities
- 8. Various On The Job Perks
- 9. Maintain Your Fitness
- 10. Little Experience Required
- 11. You Get To Do What You Love
- Conclusion
1. Multiple Career Options
The great thing about being a chef is that there isn’t just one type of restaurant you can apply to. There are nearly endless possibilities that you can choose for your own preferences.
Whether you want to work in a busy restaurant crafting beautiful meals, work in a huge catering restaurant that makes large quantities of food, or be a personal chef for someone, you can pursue whatever you want!
The best way to find out what you want is to reflect on your personality and trying different workplaces. Below I have listed some ideas of where you could pursue your career as a chef but remember that the ones below aren’t all!
- A la carte restaurants
- Lunch restaurants
- Fine dining restaurants
- Fast food restaurants
- Hotels
- Cruise Lines
- Cafeterias
- Country clubs
- Bars
- Casinos & Nightclubs
- Spas
- Supermarkets
- Government institutions
- Prisons
- Schools & Universities
- Tv shows
- Airport Lounges
- Private Person
2. Nearly Endless Advancement Opportunities
Whether you start your career as a dishwasher or a sous chef, there is much to look forward to. You can always advance further in your career alongside when your skills get honed, and you might think that there is a limit, but there really isn’t.
Let’s take an example. Gordon Ramsay has achieved nearly everything in his career from tv shows to multiple Michelin Star restaurants, but even a man like him can take other projects and add them to his schedule.
It is extremely rare and unlikely that you become the next Gordon Ramsay, but if you do, there are advancement opportunities even then!
3. Potential For Decent Income
Chefs can earn between $20,000 per year to +$2 million per year, depends what you are doing and where you work. However, the chances are that you are most likely to earn somewhere between $39,420-$71,350 because according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary for a chef is $53,380.
However, as a starting chef, it is highly unlikely to achieve a $50,000 salary from the start, so don’t place your expectations so high. As the years go by and you get more demanding tasks, your salary will rise with it.
Read also: Can a Chef Be Rich?
4. Implement Creativity
The number one thing why people pursue a career as a chef is passion, and if you choose your place of employment well, you can fulfill your passion like never before!
When working in the kitchen, you can craft beautiful meals, have a say on the menu, try different things (not too far from the recipe), and really craft your personality on that plate.
However, some restaurants don’t really offer the chance to implement creativity, which is why I said you should choose your workplace with thought. The ones that do offer are usually restaurants that craft the dish to a plate, such as a la carte or fine dining restaurants.
5. Everyday Is Different
One of the best things as a chef is the differences between the working days. For example, another day you know that many people are coming, which is great, you can really show yourself that adrenaline speed and tempo which really makes you feel great, and you get that feeling of accomplishment.
Whereas on another day you know that it’s going to be a relaxing day when you can clean a little something and make everything far easier than those Saturday nights!
The key takeaway from this is that it isn’t the same every day with a monotony working routine and steps you can see in your sleep. It’s more changeable, which keeps the job more interesting!
6. Interaction With Others
Work would be boring and even horrible without precious coworkers that can really turn into lifelong friends. I know this because I have my 2 closest friends are my former workmates from two different restaurants.
And even if they aren’t in your age group or have similar points of interest, they can still be a lot of fun to work with, in addition to the company and working harmony that every commercial kitchen needs!
After all, interacting is really important for us humans and as a chef, you can get it as much as you need!
7. Networking Possibilities
With interaction, you can get valuable networking. That is extremely important, especially in the restaurant business, because most restaurants in the same area know each other and may even collaborate and lend supplies and items from time to time. Hence, it is important to know and have good relations with everybody.
This opens many doors for you for the future, so if you want to change restaurants, advance to higher positions, or keep all your roads clear for the future, then being social and networking with others is a must.
This comes really automatically as well so there isn’t really nothing you need to worry about with this!
8. Various On The Job Perks
You are rewarded for being a chef on its own in many ways, and often, an employer plans some entertainment ideas for the restaurant and staff to really motivate the employees. I have listed some great perks that you often are entitled to as a chef.
- Free break meals
- Free drinks as you work (coffee, soda, sparkling water)
- Discounted prices for your time off
- Recreational days
- Goal bonuses
- Insurance
- Gym membership
- Healthcare
9. Maintain Your Fitness
It goes without saying that a chef’s work isn’t the easiest of jobs for your body; hence you stand nearly all your shift, often walk +10,000 steps per shift, lift heavy ingredients, and do 100 squats as you clean the cabinets in addition to the heat and constant movement.
With these things in the mix, you can really hold your fitness level or even enhance it, depending on your current condition. If you monitor what you eat on top of the job, you can get into shape in no time. However, many chefs do snack constantly and drink 5 sodas per day, which is the antidote for getting in shape.
It really depends on you but know that as a chef, you have the opportunity to be in constant shape.
10. Little Experience Required
The entry-level for a chef’s job isn’t that high, especially when compared to some other professions. However, the culinary school could be worth it because it really opens the doors for you to any direction you want to specify into the restaurant business but there are a ton of self-taught chefs out there as well!
Know that if you don’t want to culinary school and want to become a chef, it is highly likely that you need to start as a helping hand in the kitchen or as a dishwasher because you really can’t be a chef with no experience even if you are a good home cook because it differs too much from home cooking.
I have a great article about maximizing your chances and minimizing the time to become a self-taught chef working in a real kitchen. I highly recommend reading the article.
11. You Get To Do What You Love
In the end, isn’t being a chef really about practicing your passion by building delicious meals, feeding customers with your doing, and doing a job that you really love? If you get excited about these things, then a chef’s career is definitely the right choice for you.
For me personally, I love to get appreciation back from the customer to the kitchen and hear how they liked their meal, and even better is if they tell what in particular they loved. I also like the tempo and different tasks because that really isn’t boring at all, which is why I pursued a career as a chef in the end.
Conclusion
As we can see, there are various great perks to chefs profession, and whether you are already one, or are thinking about a career as a chef, it is a joy to work as one even when there are some disadvantages that can be annoying from time to time.
I hope that this article was helpful to you and you have a clearer sight of your future after reading these steps that can really help you in your personal day-to-day life.