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If you can be quick on your feet and you're not not afraid of heat and knives then you may want to consider a job as a chef. Do you imagine yourself being on Masterchef or dream of running your own restaurant? You should probably be prepared for the fact that a chef's life is not necessarily a life of glitz and glamour. Cooks and chefs work in potentially dangerous environments and spend most of their time covered in whatever food they happen to be cooking. That means if you work at a seafood restaurant you'll probably go home smelling less than fresh.
Combine that with all the cleaning and disinfecting you'll be doing and the demanding hours and you're starting to get an idea of whether this job is for you or not. Keep in mind that almost 33 percent of chefs and cooks work part time, so there is room for a life too. It might have be on weekdays though...

Responsibilities & Skills

It all depends on where you sit in the scheme of things. Prep cooks spend their time getting food items ready for the other chefs. They perform tasks like chopping vegetables, preparing meats and weighing and measuring ingredients. Line cooks are responsible for cooking the food along with the sous chefs, who are second in command to the head chef. Sous chefs cook and help out the head chef whenever needed as well as standing in for the head chef while they are away.

• Ability to keep a cool head in stressful situations


• Being organised and able to structure and prioritise tasks


• Ability to communicate and delegate effectively within a team

Required Qualifications

• Certificate IV in Hospitality (Commercial Cookery)
• Certificate IV in Asian Cookery
• Certificate IV in Patisserie

Useful Links

• How to become a chef
• Chefs - Career advice and salary guide
• Chef Career Centre