5 Steps to Becoming a Cook

Becoming a cook requires more than just enjoying making meals now and again. It requires determination, focus, and patience. If you would love to become a cook, check out the 5 steps that we have set out below to get yourself on the road to becoming a professional cook! 

• Use a Professional Resume

Cooking is a crowded occupation, with many dreaming of making their culinary hobbies a reality. Therefore, when the opportunity comes, it is crucial to have a well-structured resume ready to be used. You can use a free resume template from ResumeHelp to ensure that you create an easy-to-read and straightforward structure! 

• Find Your Specialty

To be a cook doesn’t necessarily mean you have to love cooking every type of food. For example, perhaps you love Asian cuisine and would like to work in an Asian restaurant. After you have studied the basics of cooking and understand the fundamental knowledge required of cooks in all restaurants, you can use your desired specialty as a goal to work toward. 

• Practice

Similar to any skills-based occupation, practice makes perfect. Pursuing a job as a cook will require you to improve your skills continuously, but you don’t need to wait to get started on growing this skill set. The great thing about cuisine is that you can practice from your home, and incredible recipes are available to you, courtesy of all the great chefs in your desired specialty. Use this to your advantage, and build a portfolio of dishes so that you can present this to a potential employer in the future. 

• Attend a Culinary School 

Although it isn’t a requirement for all cook jobs, attending a culinary school will ensure that you have an advanced level of knowledge and skill, which will appeal to hiring managers. The current best culinary school in the United States is the Culinary Institute of America. Here, you can study culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, food business, wine and beverage management, and food studies and sustainability. This specific culinary school isn’t an expense-free option, but it would guarantee you an incredible experience and a career in cooking. 

• Gain Experience Working in the Food Industry

Before being offered a job as a cook, it would look great on your resume if you had previously worked in the food industry. Work experience will help you gain confidence and skills to succeed in this profession. Although you may not want to work as front-of-house staff, this will be a great stepping stone for you. This experience will help you gain first-hand knowledge of how a restaurant runs and form relationships with the kitchen staff and cooks, who can offer you advice and tips on entering the cooking side of the food industry. 

You can go straight into the kitchen, too. But, this will be an entry-level position. For example, you will likely start as a prep cook, helping assist a sous chef by preparing ingredients they will be cooking with. You can work your way up the ladder if you impress your teammates and head chef, being promoted to a line chef, and so forth. 

There is no right or wrong way to become a professional cook, and you can either choose to go to culinary school or work your way up in an established kitchen until you reach the cooking status. However, whichever route you take, you will not become a professional cook overnight and will need to apply determination to your professional journey that could take years to complete. Which, let us tell you now, will be worth it!