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Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers | 
 enlarge | Author: Irena Chalmers
Publisher: Beaufort Books, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $12.86
You Save: $7.09 (36%)
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 36301
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 7 x 0.9
ISBN: 0825305926
Dewey Decimal Number: 647.95023
EAN: 9780825305924
ASIN: 0825305926
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
Do you want to turn your passion for food into a career? Take a bite out of the food world with help from the experts in this first-of-its-kind What Color Is Your Parachute? for food related careers. Maybe you're considering culinary school, maybe you're about to graduate, or maybe you're looking for an exciting career change. How can you translate your zest for flavor into a satisfying profession? Should you become a chef or open a specialty foods shop, write cookbooks or try your hand at food styling? Culinary careers are as varied as they are fascinating--the only challenge is deciding which one is right for you. Filled with advice from food-world pros including luminaries such as Alice Waters, Chris Kimball, Betty Fussell and Darra Goldstein, Food Jobs will set you behind the stove of your dream career. In this tasty, nourishing book, food industry veteran Irena Chalmers offers profiles of food jobs by the dozen--everything from the traditional (maitre d', caterer, dietician) to the behind-the-scenes (restaurant consultant, kitchen designer, hotel promoter) to the holy-cow-I-can-get-paid-for-that? (yacht chef, tea taster, fortune cookie message writer). Chalmers provides essential information for getting started and succeeding in your chosen culinary role including job descriptions, candid musings on what the job really entails and who it's really for, and testimonials from the best in the field (Bobby Flay, Todd English, Gordon Hamersly, Francois Payard, Danny Meyer, Anthony Bourdain and more). The book also presents an array of resources on where to find more information to put you ahead of the competition. Bursting with real-life wisdom from those who've been there, Food Jobs will expose you to the myriad of different food jobs available and guide you to the one that's right for you.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
I made so many notes I lost the text! January 6, 2009
Leif C. Halverson (Scottsdale, AZ)
As a culinary student and industry professional, I find this volume exceeds its editorial notes. It is indeed a reference for the those who find their jobs mundane or lacking, as well as for those looking for options to grow into. I made a system of "dog-earing" those professions that interested me, only to find upon completion that I had noted nearly every page! Moreover, the author backs up these fantasy jobs with hard references and a place to start. This work truly got my mind spinning about new possibilities. Bravo!
"Don't be an ant on an anthill" -- an interview with Irena Chalmers November 18, 2008
Yasmin Fahr (New York, NY)
Reading her book and listening to her advice is like being helped to brush away the confused worries about your future. Like cobwebs, the fears, doubts, insecurities and just plain junk slip away. You can think clearly. Excitement, motivation and a flood of ideas rush to replace the depressing and over-analytical thoughts that slow you down. If you are stuck in what Irena Chalmers calls a WOMBAT job (Waste Of Money Brains And Time), or just confused about where to start, then this book will help you figure out the next step. Food Jobs is not a self-help book or motivational career guide; instead, its purpose is to "match what people love to do with what they can do." Using her experiences and the stories of her friends and students at the Culinary Institute of America where she teaches, she tells of lifetimes of careers in food.
Chalmers' career tells of a woman who is not afraid to take risks and put herself out there - even if she has no idea what she's doing. Her career began as a nurse in England and brought her to America in 1962 to teach courses in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. When her teaching visa ran out, she stayed and ended up in Maryland. At the annual Delmar Chicken festival in Delaware, she was picked to replace the girl who fries the chickens on stage because the festival wanted someone "ordinary looking" and the fried chicken girl was too beautiful. Perhaps they were worried she'd distract people from the chicken? Who knows. Chalmers lands on stage with absolutely no idea how to fry a chicken and then somehow ends up assisting a cook from Le Cordon Bleu for the rest of the weekend.
These things do not happen to everyone. Not many people are picked to be the chicken frying girl and then become a cook's assistant with absolutely no experience. But it does happen to people with the ability to take advantage of the situation. Perhaps she mentioned to someone earlier that she would like to go on stage and fry a chicken, thus making her a logical replacement. In her book, she says to have a speech prepared at all times because you never know who you are standing next to in an elevator. Try to summarize what it is you do and want to do - maybe the person can help you. "Networking is the most important thing because that is where you will find your next job." When you apply to a job online, you become depressed when you don't get it, "why didn't they like me?" But you don't become upset when you don't win the lottery, do you?"
Chalmers' career continued, after a brief stint at Le Cordon Bleu, in North Carolina where she opened a cooking school. Realizing that not many women knew how to cook, she watched Julia Childs and taught them. As a shrewd business woman, she saw that it was the pans and not the cooking that excited the women most about the class- so she began to sell them. Her eventual move into writing cookbooks came from having lots fondue pots to sell and no one knowing how to make fondue. Writing pamphlets with recipes and instructions, she connected with other fondue pot sellers and sold her pamphlets. Her career has taken many twists and turns but perhaps the most fascinating one was her time with restaurateur Joe Baum.
After meeting him at a party, he invited her for lunch and they began working together. She wrote menus, restaurants scripts and eventually became a speech writer with no training in any of it. She emphasized that this is why it's so important to have a speech prepared. She described Baum as a man who did what he wanted and became so successful because he could read the market. A story of a New Year's Eve dinner party that one of his restaurants hosted every year makes her case. She divulged that the restaurant basically committed grand larceny in the prices they charged because they needed to cover the slow month of January. Although usually sold out, one year it was only half-full. So someone draws up an elaborate ad for the Times describing all the fabulous food and events that will take place. Baum looks at it, takes a big black pen, and crosses it out writing SOLD OUT. "Print that." No one could argue with him and the ad ran. That day the phone was ringing off the hook with people trying to get in, "I've been coming to the Rainbow Room for 30 years" (they hadn't been open that long), or "I'm the wife of the former chef" and on and on. They were placed on a waitlist and told they would be called if there were an opening - the dinner was completely sold out. Joe knew the market: this was New York, and he couldn't have pulled it off anywhere else.
Chalmers regaled us with other stories of her time with Baum, a particularly hilarious one involving a Martha ____ in the food world. Visit Chalmers's blog at foodjobsbook.com and convince her to tell you - it is well worth it.
While on her website, look at the many different "food jobs" that she has experienced. She has done it all. Her advice? Follow your dreams and passions to get a job. Doing something conventional is going to be incredibly competitive. When looking for a job, you need to be creative and read the market. Find a niche that isn't filled yet. When the term locavore began, that was a niche someone could fill and write about. Now, it is redundant. Diverging to lighten the mood with some of her humor, she continues on - she admits that she will go on and on if not stopped - to talk about the recent vote in California concerning free-range poultry. She says it's a dangerous idea, "I don't know why you have to turn chickens into humans... it's like having a free-range boyfriend, you never where he's been."
Returning to career advice, her friend once advised her, "don't be an ant on an anthill." A mantra she repeated to us several times. If you have a specific love or talent, find a way to incorporate into your career. One of her students at the CIA told her that she loved making those little flowers on cakes and "could make them all day long." Chalmers suggested going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens because a lot of weddings take place there. She said to coordinate with the events planner and perhaps offer her services so that the bride can have seasonal flowers on her cake. These are the connections and possibilities that Chalmers opens up for you in her book.
She'll give you realistic and practical advice - it might not be what you want to hear - but it will motivate you to find something new. There is a world of food jobs available; in fact, she filled a rather large book with many of them. Her advice may seem obvious and simple yet it is contrary to what most of us do and aim for in our career goals. She'll give you advice that others won't. When I took a food writing course at the French Culinary Institute a few years ago with Alan Richman, he told us that every food writer must follow the New York Times dining section, the New York Post and other food sections. For keeping updated with the market, Chalmers recommends avoiding magazines such as Gourmet, Food & Wine, etc., and suggests reading Specialtyfoods.com or other trade publications. She personally reads the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and says that the New York Times is good for business and international sections, not as much for their dining.
After describing the career, ambitions and personality of this woman, do you have a picture in your mind of what she looks like? On the day we met, she walked inside with bright blue eyes, short, styled white hair, a slightly red nose and was unbuttoning her thick jacket. Standing before the class, she wore a loose ankle-length black cotton dress, a black cardigan and a thin scarf colored with blends of turquoise, green, navy and beaded ends that she wrapped once around her neck. She spoke softly in a British accent, almost like a whisper and seemed like the magical British aunt you always wanted as a kid. The one who would tell you the stories you weren't suppose to know but was also wise, warm and inspiring. Smart with a witty sense of humor, she was a treat. At 73, she said she has never been happier. Hopefully, we will all be that lucky.
Just in the nick of time! October 26, 2008
Joyce M. Vergili (Kingston, NY United States)
Everyone's career has ebbs and flows, ups and downs. I, a dietitian, happened to have been in professional "trough" when this book came out. After reading just a few pages, I immediately felt inspired and energized to work toward another "peak." Food Jobs is full of practical tips and creative ideas on how to make my next dream come true - from people who've been there, done it, and done it well. The answers to all the pertinent questions (career outlooks, salaries, how to get started, etc) were presented in an exceptionally easy to read and fun format. Thank you, Irena Chalmers - your book came out just in the nick of time!
Another Brilliant Book From Irena October 15, 2008
Jenni Robinson
I tried to view this book objectively and not have a bias of knowing Irena affect how I saw this book. Even so, I found the book fun, interesting and having a wealth of knowledge. So much time and research went into this book and it shows.
Like many reviewers here, I also attended and graduated from the CIA. While it is a very good school to go to, they present only the most common food jobs in the industry. So if you love cooking but want to persue the lesser known careers, you have a very hard time finding your niche in life.
Unless you have this book. With this book you can combine love of all things food and eating with an interesting career you wouldn't normally hear about or even think to go after (like a Futurist, page 224, or food site blogger, page 195- which I happen like to dabble in)
No matter what you are or where you've come from, if you're looking for something in the food world, this is the absolutely best place to start.
Who would known October 13, 2008
Pat Roosa (Hyde Park, NY)
As one of Prof. Chalmers students at the CIA, i thought i knew all the food industry jobs there were out there. Boy was i wrong. I now know that the food world is even bigger and i can do almost anything when it comes to food. Her passion and drive that i see every week show through this and her other books. She is inspiring not just her students but anyone who has the slightest interest in food. Thank you Professor Chalmers.
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