Cookery field is one of the dominant careers in the world. It is a kind of career that will never end since everybody needs food and not just food, it well-prepared food. The field was there before and it will be their centuries to come. The people who are in this field are generally known as the chefs who are of different levels depending on experience and education. There are many areas where these chefs can be employed, they include big hotels, restaurants, outside catering services and transportation field like airlines. It is a wide career with a great pay in Australia. Professionals in this field can be self-employed.
For individuals drawn to the culinary arts and with a hospitality background, there is a remarkable opportunity to elevate their careers. You can turn your hospitality skills into a Cert IV in Kitchen Management, a qualification that opens doors to higher-level responsibilities in the industry. It serves as a stepping stone for those looking to lead kitchen teams, manage culinary operations, and excel in the dynamic world of food service. This qualification makes various career opportunities accessible, including the ones below.
Big Hotels
It is one of the places where most of the Chefs are employed. It is a great place where these professionals can greatly grow their skills and experience. In such an environment, the chefs meet different people and of different nationalities. These factors force them to be able to cook all nature of foods that the world can think of. In case of a mistake, there are other cooks who are highly experiencing hence help the juniors in some situations. It is also one of the fields which the cooks are highly paid. People who are employed in the big hotels can grow their careers at a very fast rate due to the environment around them which is full of new and advanced techniques every single day.
There is a hierarchy of chefs in these hotels from the top rank to the lowest rank. The highest person in the rank is the executive chef who gets a pay of $100,000 pa. The next chef is the sous chef who gets an annual pay of about $70,000. The third person is the chef de partie who can get a pay ranging from $35,000 to $65,000. The rank continues to the demi chef who gets an average of $45,000. Commis chef follows making an average of $30,000. There are the pastry chefs who get an average of $4500 monthly then followed by the person at the lowest rant who is the assistant cook who gets a pay of about $18,000 annually.
The head cook who is the executive cook does not get involved in cooking foods in this industry. His/her main responsibility is to oversee the kitchen and give instructions while he/she reports back to the general manager or the foods/beverage director.
Restaurants
There is no big difference between a Hotel and a restaurant. The main difference here is size. In this context, restaurants those mid to small industries. People who are employed here don’t get a good pay compared to the big hotels. The hierarchical positions are also not as big compared to big hotels. Some restaurants gave a couple of cooks who can even be one or two. In terms of career advancements, people who are employed here don’t get the expected experience since the exposure is also limited.
Working as a chef in a restaurant, a big hotel, or a catering business each has its own set of benefits and challenges. In a restaurant, chefs often have more creative freedom to design and change menus. Successful restaurants can help chefs build their personal reputation and brand within the culinary industry. A well-regarded restaurant can enhance your career prospects. Moreover, chefs can interact directly with customers, receive feedback, and adjust dishes based on their preferences.
As indicated earlier, the hierarchy in this industry varies. There can be an executive chef who can also be acting as the sous chef and chef de partie. The group that doesn’t lack here are the assistant cooks. Some restaurants provide services to a small village region which explain the low income providing less than average pays. The assistant cooks can get an average of $8,000 annually. The chefs and cooks report to the owner or an employed general manager.
Catering or Retail
Catering involves outside services to the client, unlike hotels. In this field, chefs are employed to cook in different places which needs catering services. People who are employed in this area have a high chance of growing. Grow is determined by the rate of exposure one gets. When one gives services to different regions, one will learn what other people like and dislike. A chef will be forced to get to know how to cook different kinds of foods to satisfy different clients.
There are different factors that determine the pay of people employed in catering fields. The determinants are the areas operated which can be either urban or rural, type of business or the size of the catering firm. The average pay is $35,000 to $75,000. The lowest pay is around $22,000 and the highest being $200,000. The executive chef gets an annual pay of $45,000 while a sous chef gets $35,000. Commis chef gets an annual income of $27,000 while a chef de partie $30,000. Demi chef makes an annual pay of $30,000 followed by an assistant cook who gets around $22,000. In this field, there are also the food preparers. The executive chef reports directly to the general manager.
To aspire to own a catering or retail business, one must acquire knowledge in essential business management areas, including marketing, finance, and operations. Business courses or hospitality management programs can help delve into budgeting, accounting, and market analysis. A well-structured business plan is essential, outlining the concept, target market, pricing strategy, marketing approach, and financial projections. The same is true with building strong marketing skills, understanding customer segmentation, and creating a robust online presence will help attract and retain customers.
Transportation Sector and Social Services
There are many job opportunities in the public service field. They include being employed in prisons, hospitals, schools, airlines etc. the experience in such places depends. The chef in airlines has a better experience compared to another chef in a school. The one in airlines has interacted with many people hence gets to know different tastes over time.
The hierarchy varies but it is not as long compared to a hotel. The different levels include executive chefs, head and assistant cooks who in most scenarios are paid per hour of service. ($15 per hour). There is the kitchen manager followed by the catering manager and food preparer. The average pay for the cooks is $22,000.
Career growth in different sectors.
Part B
One of the most important areas of hygiene in commercial catering services is the personal hygiene. If the cooks and the chefs don’t have a good state of their health, there can be a problem in the whole industry. The cooks are the first people who can easily contaminate the foods hence need to be clean.
Facilities hygiene should also be looked upon. Facilities include the kitchen and latrines/toilets. These areas are very sensitive hence should be cleaned regularly with detergents.
There are utensils used to cook and there are some foods that are eaten raw. The two should be cleaned and rinse with clean water.
The FSANZ has its guidelines on how to prevent chaos which are brought by poor hygiene. There are guides on the labelling of foods which can avoid confusion, date marking, providing of nutrition information and standards on food safety. All these guidelines act as preventive measures ensuring the hygiene is high and the foods are safe for consumption (McSweeney 2).
There are the seven principles of the HACCP which are done by the HACCP team and later implemented by the management (Wallace 226).
- Hazard analysis. The principle involved conducting an analysis that will determine the areas that hazards are likely to occur.
- Critical control points. It’s a procedure to reduce or eliminate food hazards. The HACCP team uses the CCP decision tree to get critical control points available in the process.
- Critical limits. It is the value from the three states processes parameters that can be coordinated at the CCP. It helps reduce, eliminate and prevent food hazards. The values can be PH, weight etc.
- Monitor CCP. The team gets the procedures to monitor the measurements of the critical limit from the CCP.
- Corrective Action. Procedures followed when there is a deviation in critical limits. The team comes up with ways to prevent food hazardous from getting into the food chain.
- Verification. Involves with making sure the system operates accordingly. It can include CCP auditing among others.
- Recordkeeping. Information recording is a must done the activity. It is used to show that the food as safely produced.
In conclusion, food is a very critical thing hence should be handled carefully. If the foods are well prepared, they can affect a very large population while consumed which can lead to hospital admissions or even deaths. All guidelines should be followed to make sure the food produced is safe for consumption.
Work Cited
McSweeney, P., J. Calvo, and H. Billman-Jacobe. “Food safety program design for a food manufacturing process–Case Study.” (2016). 1-2.
Wallace, C. A. “Food safety assurance systems: Hazard analysis and critical control point system (HACCP): Principles and practice.” (2014): 226-239.
