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Aspiring to become a master chef? Passing the test is a measure of accomplishment and lead to further advancement and higher-paying positions. |
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Formal culinary programs, which may offer training leading to a certificate or a 2- or 4-year degree, are geared for training chefs for fine-dining or upscale restaurants. |
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Job openings for chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers are expected to be plentiful through 2014. |
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| (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, Fashion Designers) |
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| Degrees in Culinary Articles :: Culinary Schools |
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| Culinary Degrees to Satisfy Your Educational Appetite |
| by Amanda Fornecker |
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You've always loved cooking but never thought of it as more than just a hobby. But what if you could turn that passion into a culinary career? Is it really possible to find a job you love and have fun doing? Meet Shasta Bunnell, who, when deciding to switch her career, did just that.
After the events of September 11, Bunnell realized that its effects had a large impact on her job as a travel agent. After 12-15 years of hard work, Bunnell, 52, decided she needed something more. Her three daughters were grown and out of the house. "It was time for me to take a step back and look at what I didn't have," she says. "Cooking was always a passion."
Bunnell started her culinary career working for a company that cooks for fraternities at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE). She cooked two to three meals a day for 90-120 men at a time. And she did it all on her own. While the prospect of cooking for so many college-aged guys seems like a frustrating job, Bunnell has no regrets. "It was awesome," she says of her frat house chef days.
Meanwhile, Bunnell felt she needed more than what she could get out of her current experience. Though she loved it because the guys were so good to her, she knew she needed a culinary degree to further her culinary career. As a result, she began researching colleges and specialized schools that offered Culinary Degrees . After speaking with quite a few culinary career school representative, she found a home in the Scottsdale Culinary Institute (SCI). "I made a connection with the admissions rep there," she recalls. And the program they offered through Le Cordon Bleu was prestigious and "synonymous throughout the world," she says.
Once enrolled, Bunnell took basic culinary techniques to various types of international cuisine. But the best part of earning culinary degrees to Bunnell is the great interest Scottsdale Culinary Institute took in her as a student. "They helped me prepare as a career-switcher into an industry that is mainly made up of 18- to 25-year-olds," she says. "And they polished me off into an industry I already had a passion for."
Culinary degrees are essential to anyone who looks to advance in the field. With culinary degrees, one can prove they've had formal training and practice in the profession. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that jobs through 2014 should be abundant for chefs. However, competition will be fierce for those looking to work in higher paid jobs. As a result, those with formal training, such as culinary degrees, are most likely to get the jobs. In May 2004, the BLS estimated the median hourly wage of chefs to be $14.75.
At the end of her curriculum, Bunnell completed an externship, in which she was the personal chef for an entertainer whose R&B group searches for new talent. She also works to further her culinary career at her own catering business. She says the whole experience before, during, and after earning culinary degrees has been surreal for her. "It's one of those unique experiences you read about in magazines and see on television," she says. "You rarely get the opportunity to live it." Check out the innumerable possibilities of earning culinary degrees today. Follow Bunnell's example and live the dream.
About the author:
http://www.collegesurfing.com/content
Amanda Fornecker is a staff writer at The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school that's right for you.
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