Chef/cook

Chefs and cooks oversee the preparation and cooking of food and meals for organisations such as hotels, restaurants, canteens or hospitals. In large restaurants, chefs are organised into teams with different responsibilities.

Also known as:

Caterer

Work activities

Chefs work in all kinds of places, from pubs to cruise ships and from schools to the armed forces. In some places, for example, schools, they might be known as cooks. Their job is to prepare and cook meals. In some kitchens (for example, in a small pub), the chef might work alone or with the help of only one or two staff. But some kitchens (for example, in major hotels) are huge, and might have dozens of staff, with a number of specialist chefs working under a head chef. Chefs working in the armed forces, or for companies providing catering for outdoor events, will sometimes work in “field” or mobile kitchens.

There is so much variety in the catering industry that it is impossible to generalise about a chef’s typical working day. For example, some chefs specialise in vegetarian cooking, while others specialise in an ethnic style (such as Thai or Indian). Also, there are different types and levels of chef. In a large kitchen, there could be a:

Chef pâtissier (pastry chef).
Chef saucier (sauce and main meal chef).
Chef poissonnier (fish chef).
Chef entremetier (vegetable chef).

What each chef does depends on what kind of chef they are. A fish chef will order new stock, inspect it on delivery and prepare it for cooking. Meat and fish chefs need to be prepared to gut and clean animals. Vegetable chefs might have to do hours of scraping and chopping of vegetables. However, trainee chefs and kitchen assistants tend to do these more routine tasks. The cooking of a dish could take a few minutes or a few hours, so timing and teamwork are critical. Chefs also have ranks. There is the commis chef (trainee), the chef de partie (section leader), the sous chef (deputy head/second chef) and the chef de cuisine (head chef). There are also chefs patron – these are chefs who own their own restaurants. The higher-ranking chefs supervise the lower ones and might have other duties, including things like book-keeping and budgeting, organising training and stock control. Menu planning and recruitment are normally done by the head chef. The chefs at the lower end, especially the trainees, will do a lot of the preparation of food, as well as tasks such as cleaning floors and emptying bins.

In a small kitchen, where there are only one or two chefs, they tend to do all the preparation and cook a range of dishes, right through from starters to desserts. They also do more of the administration. The same can be true of chefs patron, who’ll need good business skills as well as cooking ability. Whatever kind of place it is, though, it is the menu and the standard of cooking that will make people want to eat there. So, chefs take account of current eating trends, food fashions and nutritional information, to put together menus that will attract customers. They follow strict health and safety and hygiene regulations.

Kitchens are hot, busy and noisy (especially the larger ones where lots of chefs are shouting instructions at once). Head chefs usually demand very high standards of work from their staff. Chef/cooks usually wear overalls (known as “whites”) which they might have to buy for themselves. They might also have to buy their own set of knives.

Personal qualities and skills

As a chef/cook, you need:

To enjoy cooking and cope with the kitchen heat.
A lot of stamina.
The ability to stay calm under pressure.
To be well organised and quick thinking.
To take a long-term view, as the training can be lengthy.
To work well as part of a team.
Good communication skills.
Creativity and imagination to think of new menu ideas and food presentation.

The following skills shortages have been identified in this industry:

Teamworking skills.
Communication skills.
Food safety management skills.
People management skills.
Financial management skills.

Pay and opportunities

The head chef can expect to earn between £22,000 and £40,000 per year. Live-in accommodation is sometimes provided for chefs who work in hotels.

Chefs/cooks work 40-45 hours a week, which could include shift work, split shifts, early starts, late finishes and weekend work. Overtime is usually available.

Chef/cooks are often required to work on public holidays.

Part-time, temporary and seasonal employment is possible.

Employers include hotels, restaurants, pubs, work and school canteens, hospitals and the armed forces. Conference centres, cruise ships and other leisure operations also employ chefs/cooks. Some vacancies are with contract caterers, who provide food for a range of different customers.

Opportunities for chefs/cooks occur in towns, cities and rural areas throughout the UK.

Self-employment opportunities occur for experienced chefs/cooks to open their own restaurant; however, this requires considerable financial investment.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised in local/national newspapers, in trade magazines such as Caterer and Hotelkeeper, and on the Government’s Find a Job service. Vacancies can also be found through specialist recruitment agencies and on job boards such as Caterer.com.

Many of the larger catering establishments (such as chains of hotels and restaurants) have their own website, and usually advertise vacancies as they arise.

Entry routes and training

To become a chef, you could choose a college course in food preparation and cooking or professional cookery. At some colleges you can specialise in patisserie and confectionery. If you prefer to learn through work, you may be better suited to one of a number of apprenticeships in this field of work:

Commis chef (level 2 / intermediate)
Production chef (level 2 / intermediate)
Chef de partie (level 3 / advanced)
Senior production chef (level 3 / advanced)
Senior culinary chef (level 4 / higher)

Alternatively, if you find work as a kitchen assistant or trainee chef you might get support from your employer to study for a part-time course alongside your main job.

Once you start work, you would develop your skills by working alongside more experienced chefs or going to college part-time. Short courses like a food hygiene certificate might be required initially. If you later decide you want to develop specialist skills in bread-making, butchery or sausage-making, for example, then you could take a short course.

Chefs are needed in restaurants, hotels and cafes, but also the NHS, schools and the armed forces. Experienced chefs could move into head chef or head cook positions. They might also move into lecturing or teaching, training people in areas such as nutrition or food technology. Some chef or cooks develop an interest in the business side of catering and move into hospitality management. Others may start up their own restaurant or catering business.

Qualifications

If you wish to enter this career through an apprenticeship, you will need:

GCSEs in English and maths to take an intermediate or advanced apprenticeship, although it may be possible to work towards these alongside your job.
Two A-levels to do a higher apprenticeship, as well as GCSEs in English and maths.

An Edexcel (BTEC) level 2 First qualification in hospitality might also be useful for entry to this career. If you are applying to do a course, you must be able to demonstrate your motivation and commitment to the catering industry.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

There is a wide range of college courses in cooking and food preparation that can be taken on a part-time (day or evening) basis, at local colleges of further education (FE). Colleges will usually consider applications from candidates who don’t meet their usual entry requirements. You should check the admissions policy of individual colleges.

Candidates may be able to apply to the Savoy Educational Trust for financial support for study of courses related to the hospitality industry.

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