Chef needs Career Change Advice

  • Thread starter Jay The Chef
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Jay The Chef

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Hi All ,
I've been working as a chef/Head Chef/Manager for the past 22 years and I'm only 38. Now that I have a 1 1/2 year old son and one on the way I would love the opportunity to change career to something a little more family friendly,as the hours I work are crazy and to be honest I have lost my passion for the whole chef thing.I am living in Cork
Now I have a vast array of skills and my knowledge is in food and hospitality and really love working and training others (but tutor/instructor jobs are very scarce).I would truly love to change my career direction as to what I am unsure but I don't mind further training ,starting at the bottom but need a decent starting wage due to mortgage and mouths to feed.
I have a strong interest in Counselling/working with trade unions/company liasing etc and the like and I would love the opportunity to do something there but in all honesty I would love to try anything.
I have a master degree in Reiki and Secheim (complementary health)
Worked briefly with Siptu and have done numerous Health and Safety course,as well as cooking there is a lot more to a chef job like stock ordering,haccap,product development,Gp's , team building ,management etc etc.
So if anyone out there has any pointers ,help or advice
please please please help me as I am at my wits end and really want to leave the chef world behind me.
Thanks all
Jay
 
not sure what to say about the change of direction, but perhaps you could start a catering business, home parties that sort of thing, with your experience I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in hiring you. It may help you financially while you retrain at something else, if thats the road you decide to go down, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to be your own boss either!
 
Get professional advice. A good guidance counsellor will help you identify your skills and strengths and careers/courses that you may be interested in.
 
Hi Jay,
I changed from Nursing to IT - (looking back I dont know why!!!) - but what I did was I contacted a local university - they have career guidance people who specialise in this area - and basically I went to one privatly...
 
Thanks for your help ,any more would be greatly appreciated too.
 
I think you need to sit down with the piece of paper and work out firstly what you definitely have no interest in. From there you may come up with some idea as to where your interests lay. Have you any access to a career guidance teacher , they would be able to help steer you in the right direction but to be honest you should try and work out yourself where your interests lay.
Then contact your local VEC, Cork Institute of Technology and UCC on all the courses available to mature students because you definitely won't earn the same wages as a chef /manager without training.
You mentioned that you have Health and Safety Training, if you have a cert. as far as I know, UCC run a diploma course for those that have the cert. Maybe something in Food Hygiene with the H/S with all the years in the industry might be something to consider. Consider the people you dealt with in the industy who inspected your premises and their qualifications. Also you said you did ordering and inventory.......maybe get qualified in purchasing and inventory management. Call to Fas and see whats on offer.
I'm sure you've thought of all this yourself , however just be aware that it's difficult to change career, take your time , and best of luck .
 
Well according to some beliefs ,We are all masters and creators of our own reality as we all have lessons to learn and tasks to accomplish in this life.

It is your personal opinion to write that Leeds University is not " REAL" ,as it is mine to find your reply to be both unhelpful and non proactive advice.
I would appreciate a more helpful and proactive approach especially from an administrator .
Isn't that what this site is about after all,putting in a post to seek advice,to be helpful to those we can with our knowledge and experience.
 
Well according to some beliefs ,We are all masters and creators of our own reality as we all have lessons to learn and tasks to accomplish in this life.

It is your personal opinion to write that Leeds University is not " REAL" ,as it is mine to find your reply to be both unhelpful and non proactive advice.
I would appreciate a more helpful and proactive approach especially from an administrator .
Isn't that what this site is about after all,putting in a post to seek advice,to be helpful to those we can with our knowledge and experience.


You tell him....Seems like it's get clubman day :)
 
Congratulations on your Masters....don't worry about the unhelpful comments...:)

Spending some time with a Life/Career Coach might help you to examine what you are good at, what you would like to do. Let me now if you would like a recommendation in your area.
 
Congratulations on your Masters....don't worry about the unhelpful comments...:)
It's hardly "unhelpful" to point out that this "masters" is not what most people would understand as such a qualification from a "real" university/college.
 
It's hardly "unhelpful" to point out that this "masters" is not what most people would understand as such a qualification from a "real" university/college.

Yes but its not helpful either considering what the OP wants to achieve.
 
Given your experience in catering perhaps you might check with Fas and or Cert to see if they have any teaching posts in catering. Or what they would require in terms of qualifications and /or practical experience to move into this field. In addition to the guidance counsellor route you might also want to check with a recruitment company to see what they might suggest to you regarding your options.
 
Well according to some beliefs ,We are all masters and creators of our own reality as we all have lessons to learn and tasks to accomplish in this life.

It is your personal opinion to write that Leeds University is not " REAL" ,as it is mine to find your reply to be both unhelpful and non proactive advice.
I would appreciate a more helpful and proactive approach especially from an administrator .
Isn't that what this site is about after all,putting in a post to seek advice,to be helpful to those we can with our knowledge and experience.

Well said. What a rude comment to have thrown at you.

I would agree with other posters who recommend seeing a career guidance expert. Its always helpful to have someone who can get you to really look at things objectively and tease out a situation from all angles. I hope it works out and you get the work/life balance you want.
 
It's hardly "unhelpful" to point out that this "masters" is not what most people would understand as such a qualification from a "real" university/college.
MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm Master degree not Masters as you mentioned and when you said ,"Really? from what institution?"
I would assume that you are not familiar with the practice and principles of Reiki/Secheim and also that you are not aware that there are 3 degrees to becoming a Reiki / Sechem Master.
Hopefully now that you are informed that this will help you in your education and thus clarify what a Master is when speaking of Master Degree in Reiki and Secheim.
Have a nice day and be happy
Ps Thank you to all those who have been proactive,helpful and courteous.
 
It's hardly "unhelpful" to point out that this "masters" is not what most people would understand as such a qualification from a "real" university/college.

My opnion is that your comment was unhelpful to the OP
 
Thanks Lauren you're right he/she was being unhelpful to me.

I hope that the feedback and ideas has helped to clarify your thinking and best of luck with your career change. I feel that ClubMan's point, though blunt, was not unfair - you said you had a 'degree' and a degree is generally viewed as a qualification from a university or accredited third level institution. What you seem to have is a qualification - accredited or not I have no idea as it is not my field of expertise, but it does not sound like a university degree to me.

If you think about it, far from being unhelpful, this is actually useful feedback - if i saw such a qualification on a CV I would be quite positive towards it - if the qualification was described as degree I am afraid the CV would go in the bin.

You seem to have plenty of skills, so it is a matter of making a good choice and going for it.
 
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