Whether you’ve just recently been swept up by the culinary craze created by chef superstars like Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, and Emeril Lagasse, or you’ve always been a whiz in the kitchen, culinary arts schools give you the skills that will have you on your way to running your own kitchen, managing your own hotel, or creating the perfect pastry.
But the job possibilities for cooking and hospitality program graduates don’t end there. In addition to the traditional cooking, catering, and management career paths, there are lots of other interesting opportunities open to skilled culinary professionals.
If you’ve got a passion for a specific delicacy, you may be able to make a career out of it. Got a sweet tooth? Earn your living as a chocolatier. If you’re a caffeine junkie, you could get paid to sip coffee all day as a master roaster. Or bring home the bacon by sampling the delicious treats of others as a taste tester!
And what would a great meal be without the perfect wine to accompany it? Sommeliers are experts at pairing wines and foods – an incredibly difficult skill that is continually mastered and refined through years of training and experience. Certification courses at professional cooking schools give aspiring wine experts the confidence and credentials to begin their career. (LA Times)
Other jobs combine gastronomy with artistic or literary talent to keep the nation’s bookshelves full of well-researched and beautifully presented cookbooks and magazines. Food stylists are responsible for making food “camera-ready”, preparing and arranging gourmet treats and artfully selecting the appropriate plates, silverware, and accessories to create visually appealing and technically correct images for catalogs, books, television, and more. (CIA) Food editors and writers test recipes for cooking magazines and other food industry publications, drawing on their culinary arts training to make necessary refinements.
It’s clear that a culinary degree is the key to many doors, but still the most popular career path for graduates goes through the kitchen. Even then, you have a lot to choose from. You can focus on a specific cuisine, like French, Italian, or vegetarian, or go for a broader education.
No matter what direction you choose, rest assured that there will always be demand for food professionals: The restaurant industry currently employs 12 million people, making it the largest private-sector employer in the United States. (SBTDC) It has experienced continued growth for more than a decade, and the trend is expected to continue for at least the next few years.
Sources:
Los Angeles (LA) Times
Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC)
