• 3 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • My career path has been far from the norm. I’ve had about 15 years experience in kitchens, but that was broken up with periods in Retail and Fundraising.

    If I had focused on getting a a management/leadership position, I’d say 2-5 years experience would be a reasonable expectation. Keep in mind you’ll need to take the initiative yourself. No decent Kitchen Manager will be upset you’re trying to expand your skills.

    And yes, the hours are not for everyone. It was quite common for me to get home at 4-5am if I was closing. Try to get the Afternoon/Over shift. You start just before lunch service, and leave after dinner.




  • The time demands in this industry are easily the hardest part to adapt to, or cope with. My approach has been to “keep my side of the street clean”, as the saying goes. Make sure you have backups prepared, towels, fresh sanitizer, and set things up the way you like it. Keep calm at all times, and communicate clearly with your Expo and/or Board Caller. People are going to yell at you, but you need to remember they aren’t actually mad at you. There’s simply no time to be nice.

    It took me a good 10 years before I really understood all this. What I’ve found is that other cooks notice that I don’t freak out during a rush, and begin to do the same. Over time most of the lines I’ve worked on are fairly calm and orderly, but it takes several strong leaders to make it happen.

    That said, I do still have bad days. When I do I focus on my other hobbies. I have a firm rule of keeping my Professional and Personal life separate, it helps me not bring baggage from one to the other.

    Also, weed and video games.