Tips for Culinary School in your First Year!

If you are creative and have a passion for food, you may consider a degree in the culinary arts. There is a wide range of jobs to choose from depending on your skill set and key interests. Some careers include becoming a chef, personal chef, caterer, restaurant manager or food stylist.

After earning a culinary degree, you could have a diverse choice of directions to follow. You may choose to work in:

• Restaurants
• Hotels or resorts
• Cruise ships
• Off and on-premises catering companies
• Hospitals
• Retirement homes
• Corporate dining services
• Schools

While in culinary school, there are several things you can do to prepare yourself for your future career.

What to Expect from Your First Year in Culinary School

A career in the culinary arts is both rewarding and challenging. The same can be said for culinary school, especially the first year. It’s important to be aware of the ups and downs as well as the emotional and physical challenges.

• There’s a big difference between a professional kitchen and your home kitchen. A professional kitchen has sharper knives, hotter stoves and a faster pace.
• Be ready to hit the books. You might think you'll spend all of your time in the kitchen, but you will be reading and studying as well.
• Getting a degree will not make you a chef. Getting a degree in the culinary arts will teach you the basics, but you will need to show your own creativity in order to become a chef!

Preparing Yourself for Culinary School

The best experience you can get before and during a culinary program is to get hands-on experience by working in the food industry. Even starting out at the bottom as a busser or host will give you key insights into the culinary world with real-life experiences. It will help you to work customers as well as other team members and managers.

Nothing compares to real-life experiences but attending a culinary arts program will make you a more desirable new hire.

Many that attend culinary school are not prepared for the business side of cooking and find the business courses challenging. Culinary students typically learn:

• Business skills: Learning how to budget and set prices and manage a culinary venue/restaurant.
• Communication skills: Knowing how to communicate clear instructions to your team is critical to ensure that guests' orders are properly prepared.
• Leadership skills: As you move up in the culinary field, you will need to be able to motivate your staff and develop a constructive working relationship and mutual respect.
• Time management skills: One of the most important tools you will learn from your culinary education is how to effectively manage your time.

Culinary School Challenges, Getting Through the First Year

Preparing yourself for the challenges that go along with an intense learning program can be difficult, but just remember, many have graduated before you and with some creativity and organization, you may be surprised at what you could accomplish. However being aware of those challenges ahead of time can help you stay on the right track.

• You will spend a lot of time cleaning. From the dishes, pots, pans, and utensils you use to thoroughly cleaning the kitchen.
• You’ll be cutting a lot of potatoes. Before you even look at a roast, you will hone your knife skills on vegetables like carrots and potatoes.
• You will need to learn math. Not all classes are in the kitchen. You will see the inside of a classroom before you see the kitchen. You will need to know how to calculate the costs of a finished dish as well as assess purchase costs and budget in order to maintain a profitable business. Not to mention how to make sure you have the right ratio of ingredients in your dishes.
• You will have to taste everything you make. You will be expected to taste each dish you make, which means you will have to know how ingredients should taste, even if you don't particularly care for them.

Are You Ready to Start Your First Year?

Interested in going to culinary school? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts, ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia offers this program at an accelerated pace. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions advisor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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Gainful Employment Information – Culinary Arts - Associate’s

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