What Is It Like Being A Chef? An Honest Interview

Have you ever considered becoming a chef? There are thousands of chefs in the UK who can take the heat and you could be one of them. They may not earn the biggest salaries but they have an important job that showcases both skill and creativity.

Inspired by my own confused career thoughts, I decided to explore a few careers and share what I found out with you. I’m twenty and I still don’t know where I see myself in five years’ time. The only thing I know for sure is I want to be happy. That is all I ever want for me and the people I care about. Right now I am interested in project management as a potential career but I haven’t tried it out yet so who knows whether it will be for me. I really like media, so that could be my path.

Realistically, I would like to be renting a flat of my own (or with friends or a boyfriend, who knows) in London. I would probably stay in South London, maybe south west somewhere. I don’t know what career I see myself doing. I do know I want to be earning a relatively high salary though. I love money!

So back to today’s topic: being a chef. It goes without saying that is hard work. Stressful days where a second doing nothing is too long a break, not to mention there are standards and health and safety regulations that must be adhered to at all times. However, cooking all day long could be a dream. Creative control over the food, demonstrating a high skill level and working in some of the most prestigious places in the world.

I spoke to a female chef, Sabrina Harrison (my big sister), about her experience so far. She has ten years of experience under her belt and she gave me a very honest interview (as written below):

Why did you become a chef?

I love cooking and I wanted to learn the tricks of the trade.

So what do you like most about being a chef?

When people appreciate your food. It’s when you do all of the cooking and you get people giving you big praise because they love the food, they can’t get enough, they want you to make more. That’s the best thing about it.

What’s the biggest challenge you have to face?

Sometimes the hours. Most of the time that can be strenuous, but more than anything it is the heat.

What’s the best place you’ve worked at? You’ve worked at a lot of amazing places.

It’s across between two. One was the Royal Society of Medicine. I got to do a lot of different things and sometimes even got to cater for weddings. So that was good. The second one is actually the school I am working at now. Technically I am the main cook there, so I am the head chef, which is the best thing about being in charge because I know exactly what I am doing.

Describe a normal working day?

My job now, I start at 7:30am. I go in, check the menu to see what I’ll be cooking. Then hours’ worth of prep, cooking and dishing up everything. Making sure everything looks neat and tastes nice and is ready to be served by 12:30pm. Then it’s basically just cleaning until I finish at 2:30pm. At RSM it was normally hectic. I would often be making one hundred quiches, one hundred kebabs, salads, all sorts of things. There was rarely a set time but you’d have to get it all done by the end of the day. I started at 8am and finished at 4pm. Sometimes when it was very busy I’d end up working later than 4pm so I could get it all done before the next day.

Wow, too much cooking for me. What do you think it takes to succeed in the industry?

Strive, passion, willpower and thick skin. A lot of people will try to criticise you or what you’re doing, especially if you get a lot of praise. It’s like they don’t want to see you get the praise so they’ll tell you “I don’t like that, I don’t think that tastes too good” and keep knocking you down, especially if they’ve been there for years and not got the praise they wanted. So you basically have to be able to shrug it off and accept these people aren’t your friends as they want you to fail when it comes to your food.

Okay, so in conclusion, do you have any advice for aspiring chefs?

Only do it if you’re dedicated. It’s certainly not an easy job, definitely not for a woman unless you’re working in a school. Otherwise, it’s hard because you come across so many men who think they’re better than you so you always have to work that much harder to prove you’re a good chef. If it’s not for you, it’s not worth putting yourself through all the hard work.

She then said to look out for her business, which she will start (eventually). I hope that gave you a good idea of what it is like being a chef. Personally, I don’t like cooking so I can’t think of many worse careers. I am so glad there are people who like cooking though. Imagine having to cook for large groups of people. Iceland frozen meals will have to do.

This is the first of my career posts. I will be looking into a lot more careers over the Summer so do keep connected.

TTFN

Shanice x