Career Discovery Ladder | Executive Chef

Culinary Arts Careers at a glance:

As an Executive Chef you are part of one of America's largest and most prominent industries, the Restaurant and Foodservice Industry. This Industry is broken into two different segments, commercial and non-commercial, and we've got good news! Executive Chefs are needed in both of those segments. You see, the Restaurant and Foodservice industry is big business. With annual sales of $550 billion dollars it has an enormous impact on our country's economy. Let's take a look at some numbers:

There are more than 970,000 restaurant and foodservice eating and drinking places in the US.
The industry employs almost 13 million people (9% of America's workforce)
80% of restaurant owners said their first job in the restaurant industry was an entry-level position.
The industry expects to continue to grow over the next decade, with 14.3 million jobs by 2022
Technology and Nutrition are among the mega trends in the restaurant and foodservice industry.

So if you like to cook, to work with people, to be a leader and to make people happy the Restaurant and Foodservice Industry most certainly has a job for you!

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Executive Chef

The last step of your climb up the Executive Chef Career Ladder. The Executive Chef is in charge of the entire kitchen and sets the tone for the entire foodservice operation, stamping his or her signature style to the menu. Planning and executing menus, hiring and supervising staff, and controlling budgets are all in a days work for the Executive Chef. Through countless hours and determination the Executive Chef has gained the knowledge and skills to get to the top of his or her career ladder.

Congratulations! You have completed the Executive Chef Career Ladder!

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True or False

Most Chefs that Chef Murphy knows have 2 or 4 year Culinary Arts degrees.

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True

False

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Sous Chef

The Sous Chef works directly under and is the assistant to the Executive Chef. The Sous Chef assumes responsibility for the kitchen in the Executive Chef's absence. Being second in command, the Sous Chef is a versatile chef who is knowledgeable in all cooking stations. Sous Chefs create recipes and prepare meals. Some Sous Chef responsibilities include directing the work of other kitchen workers, estimating food requirements, and ordering food supplies.

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True or False

Chef Claisse started his career in this industry
as a dishwasher.

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True

False

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Chef de Partie

Otherwise widely known as the line cook, you're well on your way to working your way through the executive chef career ladder ranks. Line cooks oversee and excel in one particular station in the kitchen. For example, they may only be in charge of cooking the fish or working a cold salad station. The Chef de Partie strives to master each particular station in a kitchen in order to be well versed throughout the kitchen slowly but surely taking on new roles and responsibilities.

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question 1 of 2

Multiple Choice

Jordan provided this tip for students
starting internships:

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Do 100 push-ups a day	Willingness to learn
Watch a lot of television	Don't work on weekends

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Commis Chef

ProStart has prepared you for your first kitchen job and a commis chef position is probably where you will get started. Similar to an apprenticeship or internship, a commis chef can work closely with other chefs in the kitchen learning different cooking techniques and methods. While you probably won't be developing menu items or preparing fine sauces you will instead be doing a lot of prep work, chopping vegetables, peeling potatoes and scrubbing pots.

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True or False

Jillian's internship taught her that she definitely wants to pursue a career in this industry.

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True

False

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Culinary Arts Student

The ProStart culinary arts classroom is the first step of your Executive Chef career. In High School, ProStart culinary arts classes will teach you the fundamental skills needed to run a successful kitchen or foodservice operation. Take a look at Jillian as she tells you about her high school experiences and how it helped her get to the next steps in the career ladder.

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Fish	Sandwich
Sauces	All Answers

Sous Chef	Pastry Chef
Culinary Student	Line Cook

Taught her fundamental kitchen skills	She became a waitress

Got her a job as an Executive Chef	Nothing

Executive Chef

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True or False

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Multiple Choice

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Sous Chef

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True or False

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Multiple Choice

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Chef de Partie

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Multiple Choice

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True or False

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Commis Chef

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True or False

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Multiple Choice

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Culinary Arts Student