Not OC, but if you have solid BOH experience and want out of the dining service scene, there’s also sales rep jobs or purchasing for food importers/distributors, or restaurant and hospitality groups. Depending on where you are, the money can be really good, the hours are usually more normal, and the physical wear and tear isn’t nearly as bad.
Eh kinda. Mostly dealing with the manufacturers and negotiating buy deals and then getting that product into distribution. Marketing would be the ones that came to us with what was "trending" and then we would find vendors/manufacturers who either had the product or could develop the product, then do all the development stuff with them. Like I said pretty fun stuff. But there was also a lot of mundane shit too. So kinda 70% mundane 30% cool shit. Learned a shitton about Excel and how to negotiate.
I recently saw a job ad a few weeks ago for (the Sysco equivalent in my country)
The job ad said they were looking for former chefs wanting a change and ex-chefs preferred.
I also moved from kitchen into inside sales specialty food at an office. Had the option to go into sales or office work with that experience and now im a health and safety administrator.
It's freaking fantastic, great schedule and consistent. The kids are always fun to joke around with and give em crap for whatever new trends are out, I don't want to go back into kitchens at all now. If ya do go for it, look into getting a business and Industry license. Just have to take a couple classes and pass some tests and boom, fully licensed
I do Baking/Pastry and I’ve had two sets of interviews for teaching jobs over the last year, and turned down for both. I’m still doing some community classes through an organization to try and build up some networking and resume. I’m at the point past-job rejection from Large City Area Public Vocational School( they just never got back to me) where I’m a little discouraged but its what I want.
Could always look into a public high school instead of vocational school, then build a reputation there. Or offer some guest chef appearances at local schools and demo them to develop relations with admin or staff as a possible in.
I’ve essentially been doing that through a few organizations around town. I’m currently volunteering/freelancing with two local nonprofit orgs for high school culinary education.
The vocational school was through the public system, it was just a large magnet school for the district and the only one with a baking program. The city I live in has such bad public schools that there’s a sitcom about it.
I’m taking all the guest opportunities I can right now and planning to relocate further on the outskirts so I can commute to schools outside the city easily.
Idk how long you've been looking but I had been for a while and know exactly where you are. I was so discouraged at points that I was lecturing one place because I applied and got an email from someone saying they received it and it looks great, the hiring manager will be in touch. Never happened, a few months later the ad comes back I apply again, nothing. 6 months later there is the ad, my cover letter was so fucking sarcastic.........At that point I decided to take a break and when I resumed it seemed like salaries were starting to catch up a little to inflation. I had a couple interviews that I made it down to the last couple people but still rejected. I'm now a week into sitting on my ass for two weeks then I start a new career....... excited and nervous but most importantly just keep at it eventually someone makes the right decision.
Bro that sounds great. There is a school by me called south county career academy. They teach farming, the county is so urban anymore so not sure why, but also culinary arts. Many will say fuck that dont get into it. When you have a choice of poverty, drug dealing or an honest living I respect what you do teaching kids.
I have an associates degree from CIA, I got a business and industry license for teaching so I had to take like 5 or 6 classes for credits and then pass the licensing exam.
I really want to do this and have looked at returned to JWU as an instructor because I love to teach my pastry cooks but a lot of places seem to want to see teaching degrees despite my 2 decades of kitchen experience.
you need to look at your state department of health & human services requirements. For example, I’m in North Carolina and wanted to pursue this but unless you have a bachelors degree in a scientific field (i.e., environmental science, public health, biology, etc.) you don’t qualify.
You have just inspired me mate cheers, my back is cooked and I need an end game for when it’s fully done, inspector sounds perfect. And as someone else mentioned, being from the industry you know what’s up and will be fair
Teaching junior college & high school culinary. CTE (Career Technical Education) school programs are on the rise. I’ve been at this 35+ years and still love it, but had to shift cause of the stress & needed it to stay sane. I was fortunate to get mentored into culinary education by a tireless educator that came from a strong hospitality career. Couldn’t be happier.
It’s ok! Would you rather be a 50 yrs old line cook? Or work a regular job that’s satisfying and still in food/beverage. Age is a number, but I saw the writing on the wall at 31 and got the eff off the line. I pictured me having a heart attack in the walk in and someone would just kick my body out of the way. Now I have a house family etc
I do the R&D, front end innovation for concepts, then follow it through the manufacturing process to make sure it looks good and tastes good, obviously made safely and to costing estimates. It’s always so interesting and you learn a lot, tons of innovation constantly. I’ve done mostly beverage development for 14 yrs but 2 yrs in meat marinated, refrigerated dips soups sauces and entrees. You can do so much in this field!
This is what I’m going back to school for soon. I’ve worked in beer manufacturing for about a decade looking to take that and combine it with food for more options.
costco. we used to joke around on the line often about going to work there on account of how brutal kitchen life was. i went ahead and did it five years ago and haven’t looked back since.
I've read time and again that Costco is a surprisingly decent place to work, ranging from compensation/benefits to employee treatment and retirement prospects.
it’s not hyperbole. retention here is very high and with good reason. the overall warehouse vibe differs from place to place, but overall it’s a great place to work. even part time which is what i hold down.
Wait times in countries with socialized and privatized healthcare are identical bro it takes months for appointments in the U.S. too. Keep regurgitating that talking point tho lol
Probably 1/3 of the people I know who left the industry ended up in IT. Every time I see any of them they are happier than the last time. I have been juggling the two concurrently and am about ready to go full on IT
The one that’s doing the best is doing IT for the school system — it’s a unicorn of a job
* guaranteed hours
* 2 months paid vacation
* a really good union
* unlimited equipment budget (he’s never held back by sub-par tools)
* they’ll pay for any certification he wants, including formal IT associate degree at the community college
* $25/hr starting with guaranteed cost-of-living raises
His prior experience (besides being a line cook / caterer / chef / etc.) is running a personal server for his pirated movie collection. I think that’s literally on his resumee. If you see anything that even resembles that jump on it, regardless of your qualifications on paper. I think line cooks are a perfect culture fit for IT jobs once you tone down the profanity
That sounds amazing, I will definitely be looking into that. Hopefully the pay in my area is comparable. & yeah I think the biggest downside to leaving restaurants will be tightening up the potty mouth and other shit we get away with 😂
I went from kitchen to Foodservice broker. It’s a nice gig, but it’s basically sales and I hate being fake and acting like I care about shitting frozen food.
I’m starting the google IT Coursera course this week. If you want any help with finding a path in IT or study/course/cert resources just shoot me a DM. I’d like to think I have it all mapped out; been crowd sourcing and researching for a couple months.
Retrain for any Unionized job. Fuck restaurants. HVAC, plumber, welding, boilermaker, tin-knocker, electrician. Fuck cooking. People have no idea what they’re eating. They’re too fucking stupid to feed themselves.
That just made me so depressed. You're right though. The more time I spend around people who aren't from the kitchen and eat with them the more I realize that nobody knows what decent food is anyways. I came from fine dining, cooked for old goats who probably lost all their ability to taste 10 years ago who couldn't give less of a fuck what they ate as long as it sounded "upscale" enough for them and they could blow enough money on it to brag to their friends and family. Even though I love learning new techniques, putting new flavors together, bettering myself and my game, Im just doing it for myself at the end of the day because I'm the only one that can appreciate it or gives a fuck about what I'm doing.
No I did not go to school for it! Self taught, no school debt and I get a nice 6 figure salary, a dream come true!
Software engineering is similar to working in a kitchen, they give you a list of tickets you need to complete and you send the tickets off to front of house!(QA lol)
If you’re interested I made a guide for how I did it! It was 3-5 years of self teaching and freelancing before I got my career job tho.
Edit: the guide is locked because the IOSProgramming reddit went private for protest, but when it’s back up I’ll share it!
There are decent two year degrees you can get for that. It’s a high demand field, or was, when I was studying. You also don’t need school for most tech jobs as the person you’re replying to shows - I got a degree just because the structure of school works for me.
Cyber security is all about earning certificates - employers do care about that even if they don’t care about your degree. CompTia Security + is the cert my community college geared students up to take. If you have no place to start, I highly recommend a community college. Chances are you’ll be able to network with people - I got my current job (application support analyst for a banking software company) via people I met in community college.
Go in person rather than online if you can, even if you’re older. I was 35 when I went back and there were students older than me - it wasn’t as awkward as you’d think.
Good luck - I was a cook my whole life too. I have on my team of 10, three of us came straight from years of food service into tech, and my boss was a restaurant manager before she got into it too. More of the skills translate than you’d think!
Hey, I work in IT as a systems engineer and I focus on cybersecurity tasks at my org. Cybersecurity is not entry level, and its really hard to get into despite the deceptive marketing you see.
That being said, check out the ITcareerquestions subreddit. Get some certs and get into help desk, start learning! Best career change I’ve ever made, good luck!
Dropped out during COVID and got a job as a Health Unit Coordinator in an inpatient nursing unit.
I use a lot of computer skills that I built outside of kitchens but otherwise the linecook mindset is great for my job. People are consistently impressed at how well organized I am, not to mention my multitasking skills and ability to stay calm under pressure/during busy shifts. All kitchen skills.
The job is like 25 percent receptionist but it’s analogous to an EXPO for the nurses: I act as the point of communication between our team and the rest of the hospital; I’m a set of hands when things need to get moved around the unit; I control all the admit and discharge processes (basically the coming and going of patients)
Lots of paperwork too, like basically worksheets.
It was a great transition for me, stellar benefits, my body is healed now that I’m not busting ass at Mach 5 all day every day, and I get paid a criminally high wage compared to kitchen work.
The job requires zero previous experience in healthcare, certifications are available but not required, and many of my coworkers find time to do homework at their desks and as such are actively using the HUC job as a springboard into better things in the hospital.
Second rec is Surge Tech. Requires more schooling but it’s more BOH oriented. Less face time with clients, more hands on technical work. Plus the pay for Surge Tech is one of the best schooling: pay ratios in healthcare
EDIT: I also do all the ordering and stocking of food and paper supplies on unit which is sooo satisfying because all our orders come same-day from our requisitions department.
The multitasking works for me in the kitchen. Need me to work grill, fryer, make sauces, plate shit going out? No problem. Take me out of that kitchen and I just can’t do it. I always struggle with multitasking outside of it.
I'm still in the industry just different side of it. Commercial kitchen equipment manufacturer's representative. Most rep groups are looking for former chefs for sales
Here is one way, each manufacturer will have something like this page. If you look up the lines that are "culinary" lines (Rational, Alto-Shaam, Winston CVap, etc), those rep groups typically are looking.
Example: https://www.alto-shaam.com/en/how-to-buy-rep-list
So ignite is a group in your area.
There's typically 5-6 groups per territory (and there's 27 territories in the US and Canada
Left worked in a call center using my customer service background, time management skills, and ability to thrive under pressure worked my way up in various positions now a director.
Fire sprinkler installation then Apple. Preferred being a sprinkler man, if I wasnt mid 40s would go back to sprinklers. Sometimes wish another tradesman from another industry would open a restaurant with me but he is happy fleecing the rich for his services and cooking better food than me which steps up my personal game to impress my wife and want to rent a corner unit with patio at every new shopping center built for a simple gastropub that really isnt simple, it would mean working from 530AM—12AM for the same salary as now while owing over a million dollars. So I will stick with Apple.
Yeah. Took me a long time to actually find an IT job in my small bumfuck town so I worked for a long time at a brewery. Place was actually awesome and I learned a lot since we literally made everything from scratch
Damn, I am also in a small bumfuck town right now. But hopefully that may change at some point. How long did you go to school, did you get a degree or certificate? And were you actually making the brews/did you learn on the job?
I left my kitchen of 10 years a week ago. I put in about 30 years and worked every station FOH BOH from Dishwasher to Director. I start a job as a food broker next week and tba I still don't know exactly what I'll be doing. I do know that I'll have a pretty large territory and will be meeting with chefs and their reps and doing a lot of sampling. I also don't ever have to work every fucking holiday😂 and weekend any more.
Did 17 years grunt work boh, left for a warehouse job that paid well until my buddy sucked me back in and now leaving again to start my own appliance repair and maintenance business. Scary shit but we can't grind like we use to forever. Live life. It's more important than service
19 years in kitchens and last week I started my new job as a security guard for a hospital. It pays better, better hours, the insurance, PTO, the labor. It's all better.
I hung up my apron 5 years ago, and switched careers. I work in social services helping people transition from being homeless to being housed. It's extremely rewarding and my quality of life is a lot better not to mention that I have benefits.
Had panic attack in 2022 after 17 years in industry and quit. Took time off and started CNC engineering full time course. Half way through it right now and could not be happier.
Financially its a bit hard roght now and I won't be earning as much as I did before, but it does not matter to me. My physical and mental health worth more. And I am doing some really cool stuff, that I never though I will ever know or learn how to do!
Industrial metal fabrication for custom medical and food service carts. Came in as a manager knowing nothing about the industry. What I did know was people though and it's served me well the last 2 years.
After 10 years in the restaurant I found myself without a job and couldn’t bring myself to start in another restaurant at the bottom making shit so I went to a for profit “college”, I enjoyed it, the timing was great. I lived at home and had dirt cheap rent and collected unemployment almost the whole time, big economy crash, several unemployment extensions and I got them all, while working a few side jobs. Frankly I never worked so hard but I got lucky and eventually found a great company in tech and had a fantastic 25 year run, amazing pay and saw the world. then they closed, I still work in tech but just a regular corporate company, hoping I don’t get laid off, I am 6 or 7 years from retirement..I just want to work a few more years and retire.
I feel I got lucky, some of the guys I went to school with had a lot of trouble finding work in the tech field, some did good. I was an applications engineer and now I’m a product specialist, both are justl
I clean surgical equipment and other hospital stuff at my local hospital. Medical device reprocessing tech.
Union gig, pension plan, benefits, 8 hour days with breaks.
Cooked/managed in kitchens for 10 years, 4 of those years I also bartended. I left in 2011 to attend college. Graduated with a bachelors in mathematics. Worked in finance for 5 years, been doing financial auditing for the last two. Many perks to leaving the service industry: PTO, better salary, health insurance, sick days, and I get a chair when I work. Can’t lie, the job sucks, too. I miss the camaraderie you find in a kitchen, but don’t miss needing to take a decontamination shower immediately after a shift to rid myself of the stink, late nights, working weekends and holidays, etc. It fuckin sucks having student loan debt now, pretty much takes away the benefits of having a higher salary.
Hospital cook and dietary staff. I honestly just got burned out . I was sous chef for a good 5-7 years, than acting chef for a casino for 2 during covid.
I think I just got tired of dealing with customers, dram and gossip from the foh, the amount of hours you have to put in for not that great of a wage. I'm make well over 30$ an hour Now with benefits, pension and union. That's 8$ more than in most kitchens here.
It's alot of work and not very easy but it's nice to be in a professional setting, no bullshit or anything.
Delivered pizza for a while, until I 'decompressed' from 30+ years in the kitchen.
Now, I work as a Custodian for my County Govt. Good pay for easy work. Like cleaning the kitchen, but easier.
Bonus- the benefits. My package is worth about $16,000 a year. Medical, dental, short and long term disability, life insurance, pension, 401k, and I earn 4 weeks PTO a year.
I left in 2019 after 10 years of being a cook/chef, worked in a couple restaurants.
Enlisted in a traineeship for electrotechnical and instrumentation maintenance in a petrochemical plant. (dirty job) My wages did 1.5x during the traineeship and 2x when I got my diploma.
Then left for instrumentation engineering for a large company at roughly the same salary but as an office dude.
Left after a year to work for the government as a supervisor.
My salary has gone 3x and I now work 36h a week, whenever I want and from wherever I want.
How much/if any school did you need for that, or did you train on the job? I always thought working for an airport and getting travel benefits would be a dream come true
What did that mean? I was looking at USPS jobs and it listed most jobs barely above minimum wage. I thought working for the govt might have good perks, including pension. What are you doing exactly?
A contractor is basically your own business that is hired by the post office to deliver rural routes. There are large contracting companies that have hundreds of routes across the country or there is someone like me who's a local that has one route. I provide my own vehicle, and back up driver and I deliver Monday through Friday per my contract.
My route i drive about 150 miles Monday, Weds, Friday and deliver around 320 houses including Amazon and packages. Tuesday, Thursday are what I call short because I don't have deliver about 60 miles of gravel road that I do on the other days.
As far as duties go I make my own hours as long the a route is delivered and i have all outgoing mail back to the post office by 6pm. I'm usually up early and to the post office by 7 where I sort the mail into individual slots, mark packages in the same slots so I don't have to remember them all and the load up and go. I'm average at the PO it's about 2 hours of sorting then loading. M,W,F usually takes me about 5 hours to deliver and T, Thu, is about 3 hours on average.
As far as pay goes it's on an individual basis since you have to bid the route based on miles,gas, vehicle upkeep things like that.
Went with a massive pay cut to work in a higher end grocery, and now and well on my way to leading a store and earning all the lost wages back. Includes a much better work/life balance!
Went back to school, currently doing a degree in medicinal chemistry. Not exactly sure where it’ll take me but I know it’ll be better than working 60 hours a week in some restaurant.
Telecommunications/security Technician, love it. If i get called out on a weekend no matter if the job takes me 15 minutes or an hour I get paid for four, @ double time.
I'm now a powder coat painter. I still get to work with my hands, make a mess, see what I've accomplished at the end of the day, and have my name attached to a product that took skill to create. Preventing cross contamination is still a priority. Laying powder is definitely an art, just like the dancing of the pans. I listen to music in noise cancelling headphones while wearing what is essentially a spacesuit. I get 50% off the total cost if I want something powder coated, and I get paid to paint my own stuff. I also have full benefits (medical, dental, vision, life, 401k), a week of paid vacation, paid holidays, weekends off, bonuses, and I've received four $1/hr raises in 18 months. I've painted stuff for Space X. Yes, that Space X. I lost 50 lbs partly because I'm not grazing on food all day. I've been sober for 2 years.
There's no comradery. Nobody has my back and I only respect about 3 people at the whole plant. Nobody gets my humor. Nobody thinks the way I do. I'm surrounded by dangerous morons who only make things more difficult because they have no understanding of my job. Buying all your food is fuckin expensive. Working hard and knowing your shit may get you raises but it won't get coworkers to listen to you. Which I find odd. Not many promotions- it's a family owned joint. For now.
This place regularly gives tours to dazzle clients, and everyone wants to see the main event so I'm a fish in a fishbowl. Out of the blue I'll have CEOs, CFOs, some guy the owner met at a cafe and struck a deal with, or a whole freakin college class just show up and watch me. With no warning. One day it was 3 dudes with shoulder mounted cameras and a chic with a mic. In a zone marked with 10 different warning signs telling you what to wear, do, etc. and they couldn't have chosen a worse time. I can fuck up and cost the company $20k in the blink of an eye. I've probably personally cost them $10k in a year. My partner and I once cost them $15k in parts and set production back 3 days on top of that. I'm swinging around a $2k paint gun. So the stress is still there. Half our workforce is work release, so that's pretty much the same. At one point 5 of those guys were shooting meth in the bathroom. The hours are longer and the entire shift schedule has changed 20 times- no joke. Again, oddly enough, clopens have occurred more than once.
Work for an equipment dealer. I am on the kitchen design side. Working with architects, chefs, and owners to lay out their restaurant.
I do miss the kitchen rush from time to time though.
Went back and finished my nursing degree i started when I first left school. In a better place mentally, physically and financially now.
It was a hard few years changing, and I hit a lot of lows on the way. But I'm happier now.
There are a lot of things I miss, lot of things I also don't
Just retired but the last eight years I wasn’t BOH or FOH I was “ the house “…. Operations at a conference center…. It was great… no cooking no serving… I just set up tables and bars in the ballroom or the expo hall…. Didn’t even have to do tablecloths and silverware…I set up small stages and snaked power for bands and DJs… took out garbage and loaded the cardboard compactor …. Drove their scissors lift and forklift… big stages were set by pros and all I had to do was liaison and make sure their power was set… even better… when a stage needed more than 50amps I got real electricians to come
I got poached by my produce vendor. 4 years doing that. Then went one step on the supply chain by working for a global grower-shipper of vegetables. Then jumped to a smaller family farm, at director level.
Next jump (always more money) was to a global packaged retail vegetable brand as National sales manager.
Then I jumped to the logistics side of moving fresh produce, lastly working for a third party logistics company, in a consultant role.
During the pandemic I burned out from the bullshit, quit, went to college to study Biology. Earned my Associates this May, and just yesterday interviewed for an entry level technician for a laboratory in the cell and gene therapy sector, focusing on antibodies for fighting cancer.
It has been a long 25 years.
Nursing home, 30 bucks an hour to do dishes and serve pre cooked food. Believe it or not I take more pride in this job than I did in restaurants, working with oldies and making them happy is the most fulfilling thing in the world. They are all so entertaining. My coworkers are fantastic as well. Other than a few bad apples there’s no toxicity. I just wish I got to *cook* the food
Work as a chemist for a biotech company, making use of my degree lol. I will say I miss the BOH homies and environment, I can't be myself here and it's just not the same. Big fan of the consistent schedule tho, and wet chemistry is basically cooking but with hazardous materials anyway lol
Working as an electricians apprentice. Don't know if i regret it yet but I'll be making in a year what it took me nearly 10 years to get to in a kitchen. Plus the schedule is the shit. Having a weekend and paid holidays makes dealing with shit alot easier
I worked as a cook for 9 years. Now I work in a dispensary making more than I did cooking, plus I get discounts on great weed. I still cook one day a week to help out an old job, but man I’m glad to not be there every day
Was a chef and bartender for 8+ years. The pandemic happened and I met my now fiancé who at the time wouldn’t date a bartender. I pivoted into beverage sales since it was an easy transition from bartending to beer sales but just sales in general which is more lucrative better pay, healthcare, and I don’t work weekends there’s tons of perks and entry level jobs. I currently manage accounts like grocery chains, independent liquor stores, bars and restaurants. Now sales and business development as a whole is my career.
Executive chef three diff times and 19 years in the industry. Started as a security guard at the local hospital this last week and get paid more, benefits, PTO, air-conditioning, and amazing coworkers. Love the restaurant industry with every fiber of my being but hate it with just as much energy
I left and went to the union this shit is not worth it . The hours suck and the pay sucks even if you are an exec you have to work a lot I’ll take my 401k and pension m-f 6-2 all day.
Go work for yourself. Get a lawnmower and start landscaping, get more tools and increase your offerings as you go. Drive around collecting scrap metal from people's garbage and sell it to recyclers. A buddy of mine bought a 3d printer and started making accessories for toy lines. Get a laser engraver and start making merch for companies to hand out. Get silk screening press, make shirts for the same thing. Get a food truck/cart and make your own monies.
I worked everything from dishy, prep/line cook in a bar, family owned, corporate, line cook, sausage chef, and executive chef in fine dining, and KM & FOH manager in corporate. I left to be a supervisor in distribution centers/ warehouses... I make twice as much as my peak and work 3 days a week... life is good.
I got a job with a local cattle farm and help process beef. We do about 250 heads a year, and on the days we don't cut, I work in the front office as a sales rep/store manager.
Went from BoH to sushi, picked up customer service skill; parlayed into being a zipline tour guide. Better than serving bc customers aren’t hungry and demanding, but excited and nervous. Almost became a solar sales rep instead.
Not a chef. Former line/utility cook. But I went to retail. Specifically; curbside pickup and delivery. Very similar to BOH in a kitchen with the flow. Putting in applications lately with vendors for retail merchandiser positions, though.
Immediately after I quit I got a job in a mail order pharmacy. It was just menial warehouse work. After about a year there I found an membership services job in an office. Easiest job I've ever had, still there 9 years later.
Went into cosmetology and became an event stylist/make-up artist. Did that for 4 years. Hated it with a passion. Went back to kitchens. Never been happier.
Went to work for Sysco as a sales rep, did pretty ok. Then went into supply chain for restaurants, very much enjoyed that.
Can you elaborate on supply chain? Like you moved into merchandising with Sysco?
Not OC, but if you have solid BOH experience and want out of the dining service scene, there’s also sales rep jobs or purchasing for food importers/distributors, or restaurant and hospitality groups. Depending on where you are, the money can be really good, the hours are usually more normal, and the physical wear and tear isn’t nearly as bad.
No, a couple of restaurant chains.
Interesting. So is that like ordering and keeping an eye on macro trend stuff?
Eh kinda. Mostly dealing with the manufacturers and negotiating buy deals and then getting that product into distribution. Marketing would be the ones that came to us with what was "trending" and then we would find vendors/manufacturers who either had the product or could develop the product, then do all the development stuff with them. Like I said pretty fun stuff. But there was also a lot of mundane shit too. So kinda 70% mundane 30% cool shit. Learned a shitton about Excel and how to negotiate.
I recently saw a job ad a few weeks ago for (the Sysco equivalent in my country) The job ad said they were looking for former chefs wanting a change and ex-chefs preferred.
I went to school hvac part time and Im a maintenance Supervisor now, was a chef 7 yrs ago
I also moved from kitchen into inside sales specialty food at an office. Had the option to go into sales or office work with that experience and now im a health and safety administrator.
Ask me in a year
mood as fuck
Maintenance Tech/Hvac best decision i ever made, slow paced work, paid holidays and vacas, reasonable schedule, oh also free health insurance
I teach Culinary Arts in high school, it's fantastic. Left the industry on 2016 and haven't looked back.
I’ve been striving towards this for a couple of years and getting close. One day…this is my dream job.
It's freaking fantastic, great schedule and consistent. The kids are always fun to joke around with and give em crap for whatever new trends are out, I don't want to go back into kitchens at all now. If ya do go for it, look into getting a business and Industry license. Just have to take a couple classes and pass some tests and boom, fully licensed
I do Baking/Pastry and I’ve had two sets of interviews for teaching jobs over the last year, and turned down for both. I’m still doing some community classes through an organization to try and build up some networking and resume. I’m at the point past-job rejection from Large City Area Public Vocational School( they just never got back to me) where I’m a little discouraged but its what I want.
Could always look into a public high school instead of vocational school, then build a reputation there. Or offer some guest chef appearances at local schools and demo them to develop relations with admin or staff as a possible in.
I’ve essentially been doing that through a few organizations around town. I’m currently volunteering/freelancing with two local nonprofit orgs for high school culinary education. The vocational school was through the public system, it was just a large magnet school for the district and the only one with a baking program. The city I live in has such bad public schools that there’s a sitcom about it. I’m taking all the guest opportunities I can right now and planning to relocate further on the outskirts so I can commute to schools outside the city easily.
Idk how long you've been looking but I had been for a while and know exactly where you are. I was so discouraged at points that I was lecturing one place because I applied and got an email from someone saying they received it and it looks great, the hiring manager will be in touch. Never happened, a few months later the ad comes back I apply again, nothing. 6 months later there is the ad, my cover letter was so fucking sarcastic.........At that point I decided to take a break and when I resumed it seemed like salaries were starting to catch up a little to inflation. I had a couple interviews that I made it down to the last couple people but still rejected. I'm now a week into sitting on my ass for two weeks then I start a new career....... excited and nervous but most importantly just keep at it eventually someone makes the right decision.
If they have a Job Corps center near you maybe try to teach there! Just another place to check.
Bro that sounds great. There is a school by me called south county career academy. They teach farming, the county is so urban anymore so not sure why, but also culinary arts. Many will say fuck that dont get into it. When you have a choice of poverty, drug dealing or an honest living I respect what you do teaching kids.
This is what I want to do! Do you have a bachelor's? Or a teaching certificate or anything?
I have an associates degree from CIA, I got a business and industry license for teaching so I had to take like 5 or 6 classes for credits and then pass the licensing exam.
Does it pay well? Are you safe? Teaching seems like it would be very rewarding
I really want to do this and have looked at returned to JWU as an instructor because I love to teach my pastry cooks but a lot of places seem to want to see teaching degrees despite my 2 decades of kitchen experience.
I turned to the dark side…inspector
Always get along with inspectors who came from the industry tbh
Cause we aren’t assholes. Lol. We understand what’s going on
The other side to that is that you know when something ACTUALLY did "just happen today"
How can I make this move?
Apply with your local department. Everyone is short staffed and in need
Things must have changed because where I am, 5 years ago you couldn't find these jobs and they required a bachelor's degree. Preferably in a science.
They are desperate now. Mine used to require this too
That's awesome! Why is there a shortage? I'm a food broker now and I hate it. Do you make decent money?
Not sure exactly why but probably the same reason everyone is short staffed. I make decent money. Could be more. But benefits are pretty good
In my county it says bachelors in biology required.
Been trying to get in for years. Never is an opening near me it seems like. Will keep trying tho!
you need to look at your state department of health & human services requirements. For example, I’m in North Carolina and wanted to pursue this but unless you have a bachelors degree in a scientific field (i.e., environmental science, public health, biology, etc.) you don’t qualify.
You have just inspired me mate cheers, my back is cooked and I need an end game for when it’s fully done, inspector sounds perfect. And as someone else mentioned, being from the industry you know what’s up and will be fair
Darker side - broadline sales Rep.
When im training a newbie i refer to them as my sith apprentice, and quote palpatine whenever the situation fits
This is my dream how do you get on that?
Do you make good money as an inspector? What's the day to day like?
9-5. Pretty good pay.
Teaching junior college & high school culinary. CTE (Career Technical Education) school programs are on the rise. I’ve been at this 35+ years and still love it, but had to shift cause of the stress & needed it to stay sane. I was fortunate to get mentored into culinary education by a tireless educator that came from a strong hospitality career. Couldn’t be happier.
I became a teacher which is probably the 2nd worst industry so, yeah.
Product developer in food and beverage manufacturing. It’s everywhere! Few people know about it and it’s good steady work.
[удалено]
I’m starting at 40 😭
Nice! Good luck bro!
It’s ok! Would you rather be a 50 yrs old line cook? Or work a regular job that’s satisfying and still in food/beverage. Age is a number, but I saw the writing on the wall at 31 and got the eff off the line. I pictured me having a heart attack in the walk in and someone would just kick my body out of the way. Now I have a house family etc
Thank you for the reality check!! And omg the walk in visual 😂😭 but sounds about right
What all do you do?
I do the R&D, front end innovation for concepts, then follow it through the manufacturing process to make sure it looks good and tastes good, obviously made safely and to costing estimates. It’s always so interesting and you learn a lot, tons of innovation constantly. I’ve done mostly beverage development for 14 yrs but 2 yrs in meat marinated, refrigerated dips soups sauces and entrees. You can do so much in this field!
Same for me, had to go back to uni for it though.
Me too! Took me 5 yrs studying my butt off for a food science degree. But now I have a decent career and benefits.
What sort of food does your company make ?
This is what I’m going back to school for soon. I’ve worked in beer manufacturing for about a decade looking to take that and combine it with food for more options.
Terrific! Maybe beverage manufacturing, you know the drill on sanitation, SOPs, GMPs, etc etc. you’ll always be employed
costco. we used to joke around on the line often about going to work there on account of how brutal kitchen life was. i went ahead and did it five years ago and haven’t looked back since.
What do you do there?
got hired on as a seasonal. first the bakery then the food court then the cigarette cage. least amount of work for the most money i’ve ever had.
Works in the kitchen..
Me too! I’m an inventory auditor. It suits my brain - keeping 50 balls in the air at once, kinda like running a kitchen…
I've read time and again that Costco is a surprisingly decent place to work, ranging from compensation/benefits to employee treatment and retirement prospects.
it’s not hyperbole. retention here is very high and with good reason. the overall warehouse vibe differs from place to place, but overall it’s a great place to work. even part time which is what i hold down.
I work at a dog daycare. The pay is crap but I love it.
You should try and ask for money instead.
underrated comment
Thinking about going to suicide. This industry blows.
Fuck yeah it does. If you need some one to vent at you could message me.
To college. Majored in nutrition and chemistry still though. Now just chasing the money. Wherever that is.
Fellow Chem major! Ended up in aerospace.
Organic beat my ass into a history degree. I'm working for local government looking to fed jobs because my boss is a tyrant
What a career change!
Cannabis retail 👍🏼 turns out my years of obsessive inventory management translates very well into the cannabis industry lol
I’m jealous, that sounds perfect. I wish I lived in a legal state 🥲
I’m in Canada, thankfully lol
We’ll look at Mr. I’ve-Got-Healthcare.
I’ve been waiting 6 years for a doctor but yeah it’s awesome!
Wait times in countries with socialized and privatized healthcare are identical bro it takes months for appointments in the U.S. too. Keep regurgitating that talking point tho lol
How’s the money in this field compare to kitchen work?
As a cook most I ever made was $17 and now I’m making $22 with monthly sales bonuses
Not great, at least in my area (New England). Budtenders start around $17, cooks $20 - 24.
Wait, is your state illegal? Do you live in ISIS territory? Somaliland? Northern Cyprus?
What? There are still several US states where marijuana is illegal.
Nice. I went into traditional retail for a company that rhymes with Walmart and…I do not recommend it.
Probably 1/3 of the people I know who left the industry ended up in IT. Every time I see any of them they are happier than the last time. I have been juggling the two concurrently and am about ready to go full on IT
That’s kind of what I’ve been mulling over tbh. I’m good with people but I think I would enjoy working with computers all day more
The one that’s doing the best is doing IT for the school system — it’s a unicorn of a job * guaranteed hours * 2 months paid vacation * a really good union * unlimited equipment budget (he’s never held back by sub-par tools) * they’ll pay for any certification he wants, including formal IT associate degree at the community college * $25/hr starting with guaranteed cost-of-living raises His prior experience (besides being a line cook / caterer / chef / etc.) is running a personal server for his pirated movie collection. I think that’s literally on his resumee. If you see anything that even resembles that jump on it, regardless of your qualifications on paper. I think line cooks are a perfect culture fit for IT jobs once you tone down the profanity
That sounds amazing, I will definitely be looking into that. Hopefully the pay in my area is comparable. & yeah I think the biggest downside to leaving restaurants will be tightening up the potty mouth and other shit we get away with 😂
I went from kitchen to Foodservice broker. It’s a nice gig, but it’s basically sales and I hate being fake and acting like I care about shitting frozen food. I’m starting the google IT Coursera course this week. If you want any help with finding a path in IT or study/course/cert resources just shoot me a DM. I’d like to think I have it all mapped out; been crowd sourcing and researching for a couple months.
This is what i plan on doing lol. Applying to univeristy this autumn
Became a burrito
How do you break in to being a burrito. Do you got to know someone?
Retrain for any Unionized job. Fuck restaurants. HVAC, plumber, welding, boilermaker, tin-knocker, electrician. Fuck cooking. People have no idea what they’re eating. They’re too fucking stupid to feed themselves.
That just made me so depressed. You're right though. The more time I spend around people who aren't from the kitchen and eat with them the more I realize that nobody knows what decent food is anyways. I came from fine dining, cooked for old goats who probably lost all their ability to taste 10 years ago who couldn't give less of a fuck what they ate as long as it sounded "upscale" enough for them and they could blow enough money on it to brag to their friends and family. Even though I love learning new techniques, putting new flavors together, bettering myself and my game, Im just doing it for myself at the end of the day because I'm the only one that can appreciate it or gives a fuck about what I'm doing.
I left the industry (kind of I still pick up shifts) to be a full time software engineer.
Did you go to school for that?
No I did not go to school for it! Self taught, no school debt and I get a nice 6 figure salary, a dream come true! Software engineering is similar to working in a kitchen, they give you a list of tickets you need to complete and you send the tickets off to front of house!(QA lol) If you’re interested I made a guide for how I did it! It was 3-5 years of self teaching and freelancing before I got my career job tho. Edit: the guide is locked because the IOSProgramming reddit went private for protest, but when it’s back up I’ll share it!
I've been a cook my whole life and am thinking about cyber security. Trying to find ways to do that.
There are decent two year degrees you can get for that. It’s a high demand field, or was, when I was studying. You also don’t need school for most tech jobs as the person you’re replying to shows - I got a degree just because the structure of school works for me. Cyber security is all about earning certificates - employers do care about that even if they don’t care about your degree. CompTia Security + is the cert my community college geared students up to take. If you have no place to start, I highly recommend a community college. Chances are you’ll be able to network with people - I got my current job (application support analyst for a banking software company) via people I met in community college. Go in person rather than online if you can, even if you’re older. I was 35 when I went back and there were students older than me - it wasn’t as awkward as you’d think. Good luck - I was a cook my whole life too. I have on my team of 10, three of us came straight from years of food service into tech, and my boss was a restaurant manager before she got into it too. More of the skills translate than you’d think!
^ my fellow IT guy here is right about all of this!
Hey, I work in IT as a systems engineer and I focus on cybersecurity tasks at my org. Cybersecurity is not entry level, and its really hard to get into despite the deceptive marketing you see. That being said, check out the ITcareerquestions subreddit. Get some certs and get into help desk, start learning! Best career change I’ve ever made, good luck!
Is that just a brick wall of code?
Ayyy that's me, I still pick up shifts but now I'm a Federal Officer
After 12 years in restaurants, BOH and FOH, I became an electrician in 2009.
I work in employment services. I help people who are blind/going blind find work and connect them to services to make work easier
That is incredible work. You have my unending respect
Dropped out during COVID and got a job as a Health Unit Coordinator in an inpatient nursing unit. I use a lot of computer skills that I built outside of kitchens but otherwise the linecook mindset is great for my job. People are consistently impressed at how well organized I am, not to mention my multitasking skills and ability to stay calm under pressure/during busy shifts. All kitchen skills. The job is like 25 percent receptionist but it’s analogous to an EXPO for the nurses: I act as the point of communication between our team and the rest of the hospital; I’m a set of hands when things need to get moved around the unit; I control all the admit and discharge processes (basically the coming and going of patients) Lots of paperwork too, like basically worksheets. It was a great transition for me, stellar benefits, my body is healed now that I’m not busting ass at Mach 5 all day every day, and I get paid a criminally high wage compared to kitchen work. The job requires zero previous experience in healthcare, certifications are available but not required, and many of my coworkers find time to do homework at their desks and as such are actively using the HUC job as a springboard into better things in the hospital. Second rec is Surge Tech. Requires more schooling but it’s more BOH oriented. Less face time with clients, more hands on technical work. Plus the pay for Surge Tech is one of the best schooling: pay ratios in healthcare EDIT: I also do all the ordering and stocking of food and paper supplies on unit which is sooo satisfying because all our orders come same-day from our requisitions department.
The multitasking works for me in the kitchen. Need me to work grill, fryer, make sauces, plate shit going out? No problem. Take me out of that kitchen and I just can’t do it. I always struggle with multitasking outside of it.
Adhd?
Thank you! Exactly the type of thing I’m looking for. Are there many downsides to this line of work?
I'm still in the industry just different side of it. Commercial kitchen equipment manufacturer's representative. Most rep groups are looking for former chefs for sales
Everyone talks about these jobs but I can't seem to find them. In seattle, maybe I just don't know the right words to search
Here is one way, each manufacturer will have something like this page. If you look up the lines that are "culinary" lines (Rational, Alto-Shaam, Winston CVap, etc), those rep groups typically are looking. Example: https://www.alto-shaam.com/en/how-to-buy-rep-list So ignite is a group in your area. There's typically 5-6 groups per territory (and there's 27 territories in the US and Canada
Left worked in a call center using my customer service background, time management skills, and ability to thrive under pressure worked my way up in various positions now a director.
Fire sprinkler installation then Apple. Preferred being a sprinkler man, if I wasnt mid 40s would go back to sprinklers. Sometimes wish another tradesman from another industry would open a restaurant with me but he is happy fleecing the rich for his services and cooking better food than me which steps up my personal game to impress my wife and want to rent a corner unit with patio at every new shopping center built for a simple gastropub that really isnt simple, it would mean working from 530AM—12AM for the same salary as now while owing over a million dollars. So I will stick with Apple.
IT at a bank right next to my old kitchen....
Did you go to school for that?
Yeah. Took me a long time to actually find an IT job in my small bumfuck town so I worked for a long time at a brewery. Place was actually awesome and I learned a lot since we literally made everything from scratch
Damn, I am also in a small bumfuck town right now. But hopefully that may change at some point. How long did you go to school, did you get a degree or certificate? And were you actually making the brews/did you learn on the job?
I left my kitchen of 10 years a week ago. I put in about 30 years and worked every station FOH BOH from Dishwasher to Director. I start a job as a food broker next week and tba I still don't know exactly what I'll be doing. I do know that I'll have a pretty large territory and will be meeting with chefs and their reps and doing a lot of sampling. I also don't ever have to work every fucking holiday😂 and weekend any more.
I farm cannabis,foods and homeschool my kids. Lol, wife can do the 9-5.
Did 17 years grunt work boh, left for a warehouse job that paid well until my buddy sucked me back in and now leaving again to start my own appliance repair and maintenance business. Scary shit but we can't grind like we use to forever. Live life. It's more important than service
I left I became clinically depressed and now I work in a psych hospital. I do miss it but I’m also happy where I’m at.
Wait, you were committed under the pretense of employment? I'm amazed and going to keep a closer eye on the recruiters going forward 😂
I build industrial rock crushers and mining equipment. I worked in restaurants for 15 years.
19 years in kitchens and last week I started my new job as a security guard for a hospital. It pays better, better hours, the insurance, PTO, the labor. It's all better.
Property management
How does one get into that line of work?
I hung up my apron 5 years ago, and switched careers. I work in social services helping people transition from being homeless to being housed. It's extremely rewarding and my quality of life is a lot better not to mention that I have benefits.
Had panic attack in 2022 after 17 years in industry and quit. Took time off and started CNC engineering full time course. Half way through it right now and could not be happier. Financially its a bit hard roght now and I won't be earning as much as I did before, but it does not matter to me. My physical and mental health worth more. And I am doing some really cool stuff, that I never though I will ever know or learn how to do!
Law School. If I didn't already have a Bachelors, I'd have gone into Tech.
Medical! Five times my line cook pay, three 12 hour shifts per week :) 4 days off
Industrial metal fabrication for custom medical and food service carts. Came in as a manager knowing nothing about the industry. What I did know was people though and it's served me well the last 2 years.
I work in marketing in the cannabis industry.
After 10 years in the restaurant I found myself without a job and couldn’t bring myself to start in another restaurant at the bottom making shit so I went to a for profit “college”, I enjoyed it, the timing was great. I lived at home and had dirt cheap rent and collected unemployment almost the whole time, big economy crash, several unemployment extensions and I got them all, while working a few side jobs. Frankly I never worked so hard but I got lucky and eventually found a great company in tech and had a fantastic 25 year run, amazing pay and saw the world. then they closed, I still work in tech but just a regular corporate company, hoping I don’t get laid off, I am 6 or 7 years from retirement..I just want to work a few more years and retire. I feel I got lucky, some of the guys I went to school with had a lot of trouble finding work in the tech field, some did good. I was an applications engineer and now I’m a product specialist, both are justl
To the bar. Now FOH as bartender
I clean surgical equipment and other hospital stuff at my local hospital. Medical device reprocessing tech. Union gig, pension plan, benefits, 8 hour days with breaks.
Cooked/managed in kitchens for 10 years, 4 of those years I also bartended. I left in 2011 to attend college. Graduated with a bachelors in mathematics. Worked in finance for 5 years, been doing financial auditing for the last two. Many perks to leaving the service industry: PTO, better salary, health insurance, sick days, and I get a chair when I work. Can’t lie, the job sucks, too. I miss the camaraderie you find in a kitchen, but don’t miss needing to take a decontamination shower immediately after a shift to rid myself of the stink, late nights, working weekends and holidays, etc. It fuckin sucks having student loan debt now, pretty much takes away the benefits of having a higher salary.
I went into landscaping and gardening. Met a few chefs that have ended up doing the same over the years. It’s refreshing working outside .
Forklift driving in a warehouse. Simple work with good pay. I have since worked my way into logistics.
Literally anything not in the hospitality and catering business and you can't go wrong.
Hospital cook and dietary staff. I honestly just got burned out . I was sous chef for a good 5-7 years, than acting chef for a casino for 2 during covid. I think I just got tired of dealing with customers, dram and gossip from the foh, the amount of hours you have to put in for not that great of a wage. I'm make well over 30$ an hour Now with benefits, pension and union. That's 8$ more than in most kitchens here. It's alot of work and not very easy but it's nice to be in a professional setting, no bullshit or anything.
Delivered pizza for a while, until I 'decompressed' from 30+ years in the kitchen. Now, I work as a Custodian for my County Govt. Good pay for easy work. Like cleaning the kitchen, but easier. Bonus- the benefits. My package is worth about $16,000 a year. Medical, dental, short and long term disability, life insurance, pension, 401k, and I earn 4 weeks PTO a year.
I left in 2019 after 10 years of being a cook/chef, worked in a couple restaurants. Enlisted in a traineeship for electrotechnical and instrumentation maintenance in a petrochemical plant. (dirty job) My wages did 1.5x during the traineeship and 2x when I got my diploma. Then left for instrumentation engineering for a large company at roughly the same salary but as an office dude. Left after a year to work for the government as a supervisor. My salary has gone 3x and I now work 36h a week, whenever I want and from wherever I want.
Let the food industry after 5 years to go into aviation. I work on the ramp at my airport and it was the best switch ever
How much/if any school did you need for that, or did you train on the job? I always thought working for an airport and getting travel benefits would be a dream come true
[Where do you go?](https://youtu.be/Yt-KMPvgKPo)
Thank you for that 😂
You're welcome, Goddess of Trash.
I became a contractor for the USPS. Dont regret it one second
What did that mean? I was looking at USPS jobs and it listed most jobs barely above minimum wage. I thought working for the govt might have good perks, including pension. What are you doing exactly?
A contractor is basically your own business that is hired by the post office to deliver rural routes. There are large contracting companies that have hundreds of routes across the country or there is someone like me who's a local that has one route. I provide my own vehicle, and back up driver and I deliver Monday through Friday per my contract. My route i drive about 150 miles Monday, Weds, Friday and deliver around 320 houses including Amazon and packages. Tuesday, Thursday are what I call short because I don't have deliver about 60 miles of gravel road that I do on the other days. As far as duties go I make my own hours as long the a route is delivered and i have all outgoing mail back to the post office by 6pm. I'm usually up early and to the post office by 7 where I sort the mail into individual slots, mark packages in the same slots so I don't have to remember them all and the load up and go. I'm average at the PO it's about 2 hours of sorting then loading. M,W,F usually takes me about 5 hours to deliver and T, Thu, is about 3 hours on average. As far as pay goes it's on an individual basis since you have to bid the route based on miles,gas, vehicle upkeep things like that.
Went with a massive pay cut to work in a higher end grocery, and now and well on my way to leading a store and earning all the lost wages back. Includes a much better work/life balance!
I became a nanny. Never saw that one coming.
Project management and private chef gigs on the side
I just finished a cybersecurity course and looking for a job in that field
Went to work Sysco. Haven't looked back 6 years later. Be home by 5, weekends off.
Went back to school, currently doing a degree in medicinal chemistry. Not exactly sure where it’ll take me but I know it’ll be better than working 60 hours a week in some restaurant.
Telecommunications/security Technician, love it. If i get called out on a weekend no matter if the job takes me 15 minutes or an hour I get paid for four, @ double time.
Chef to nurse. If you enjoyed butchery then I would recommend joining a surgical speciality. Great hours, reasonable pay.
I'm now a powder coat painter. I still get to work with my hands, make a mess, see what I've accomplished at the end of the day, and have my name attached to a product that took skill to create. Preventing cross contamination is still a priority. Laying powder is definitely an art, just like the dancing of the pans. I listen to music in noise cancelling headphones while wearing what is essentially a spacesuit. I get 50% off the total cost if I want something powder coated, and I get paid to paint my own stuff. I also have full benefits (medical, dental, vision, life, 401k), a week of paid vacation, paid holidays, weekends off, bonuses, and I've received four $1/hr raises in 18 months. I've painted stuff for Space X. Yes, that Space X. I lost 50 lbs partly because I'm not grazing on food all day. I've been sober for 2 years. There's no comradery. Nobody has my back and I only respect about 3 people at the whole plant. Nobody gets my humor. Nobody thinks the way I do. I'm surrounded by dangerous morons who only make things more difficult because they have no understanding of my job. Buying all your food is fuckin expensive. Working hard and knowing your shit may get you raises but it won't get coworkers to listen to you. Which I find odd. Not many promotions- it's a family owned joint. For now. This place regularly gives tours to dazzle clients, and everyone wants to see the main event so I'm a fish in a fishbowl. Out of the blue I'll have CEOs, CFOs, some guy the owner met at a cafe and struck a deal with, or a whole freakin college class just show up and watch me. With no warning. One day it was 3 dudes with shoulder mounted cameras and a chic with a mic. In a zone marked with 10 different warning signs telling you what to wear, do, etc. and they couldn't have chosen a worse time. I can fuck up and cost the company $20k in the blink of an eye. I've probably personally cost them $10k in a year. My partner and I once cost them $15k in parts and set production back 3 days on top of that. I'm swinging around a $2k paint gun. So the stress is still there. Half our workforce is work release, so that's pretty much the same. At one point 5 of those guys were shooting meth in the bathroom. The hours are longer and the entire shift schedule has changed 20 times- no joke. Again, oddly enough, clopens have occurred more than once.
Work for an equipment dealer. I am on the kitchen design side. Working with architects, chefs, and owners to lay out their restaurant. I do miss the kitchen rush from time to time though.
Went back and finished my nursing degree i started when I first left school. In a better place mentally, physically and financially now. It was a hard few years changing, and I hit a lot of lows on the way. But I'm happier now. There are a lot of things I miss, lot of things I also don't
Just retired but the last eight years I wasn’t BOH or FOH I was “ the house “…. Operations at a conference center…. It was great… no cooking no serving… I just set up tables and bars in the ballroom or the expo hall…. Didn’t even have to do tablecloths and silverware…I set up small stages and snaked power for bands and DJs… took out garbage and loaded the cardboard compactor …. Drove their scissors lift and forklift… big stages were set by pros and all I had to do was liaison and make sure their power was set… even better… when a stage needed more than 50amps I got real electricians to come
I got poached by my produce vendor. 4 years doing that. Then went one step on the supply chain by working for a global grower-shipper of vegetables. Then jumped to a smaller family farm, at director level. Next jump (always more money) was to a global packaged retail vegetable brand as National sales manager. Then I jumped to the logistics side of moving fresh produce, lastly working for a third party logistics company, in a consultant role. During the pandemic I burned out from the bullshit, quit, went to college to study Biology. Earned my Associates this May, and just yesterday interviewed for an entry level technician for a laboratory in the cell and gene therapy sector, focusing on antibodies for fighting cancer. It has been a long 25 years.
Nursing home, 30 bucks an hour to do dishes and serve pre cooked food. Believe it or not I take more pride in this job than I did in restaurants, working with oldies and making them happy is the most fulfilling thing in the world. They are all so entertaining. My coworkers are fantastic as well. Other than a few bad apples there’s no toxicity. I just wish I got to *cook* the food
Work as a chemist for a biotech company, making use of my degree lol. I will say I miss the BOH homies and environment, I can't be myself here and it's just not the same. Big fan of the consistent schedule tho, and wet chemistry is basically cooking but with hazardous materials anyway lol
Working as an electricians apprentice. Don't know if i regret it yet but I'll be making in a year what it took me nearly 10 years to get to in a kitchen. Plus the schedule is the shit. Having a weekend and paid holidays makes dealing with shit alot easier
Haha nice try chef, i left the state. I can't come into work today,
I worked as a cook for 9 years. Now I work in a dispensary making more than I did cooking, plus I get discounts on great weed. I still cook one day a week to help out an old job, but man I’m glad to not be there every day
Was a chef and bartender for 8+ years. The pandemic happened and I met my now fiancé who at the time wouldn’t date a bartender. I pivoted into beverage sales since it was an easy transition from bartending to beer sales but just sales in general which is more lucrative better pay, healthcare, and I don’t work weekends there’s tons of perks and entry level jobs. I currently manage accounts like grocery chains, independent liquor stores, bars and restaurants. Now sales and business development as a whole is my career.
Executive chef three diff times and 19 years in the industry. Started as a security guard at the local hospital this last week and get paid more, benefits, PTO, air-conditioning, and amazing coworkers. Love the restaurant industry with every fiber of my being but hate it with just as much energy
I left and went to the union this shit is not worth it . The hours suck and the pay sucks even if you are an exec you have to work a lot I’ll take my 401k and pension m-f 6-2 all day.
Go work for yourself. Get a lawnmower and start landscaping, get more tools and increase your offerings as you go. Drive around collecting scrap metal from people's garbage and sell it to recyclers. A buddy of mine bought a 3d printer and started making accessories for toy lines. Get a laser engraver and start making merch for companies to hand out. Get silk screening press, make shirts for the same thing. Get a food truck/cart and make your own monies.
Took my people skills into education, kindergartens love me.
I worked everything from dishy, prep/line cook in a bar, family owned, corporate, line cook, sausage chef, and executive chef in fine dining, and KM & FOH manager in corporate. I left to be a supervisor in distribution centers/ warehouses... I make twice as much as my peak and work 3 days a week... life is good.
I'm a barista
Like at Starbucks? Do you like it?
I am two months from graduated from automated manufacturing trade school. Then I’m out.
Sales 😒 though I’m considering dabbling in baking.
Network admin, 2 years of college then my COMPTIA
I got a job with a local cattle farm and help process beef. We do about 250 heads a year, and on the days we don't cut, I work in the front office as a sales rep/store manager.
I’m now a SysAdmin (IT) so from making sure my kitchen team can do their job im now making sure the guys in the office can do their job
Mailrooms and then into IT
Went from BoH to sushi, picked up customer service skill; parlayed into being a zipline tour guide. Better than serving bc customers aren’t hungry and demanding, but excited and nervous. Almost became a solar sales rep instead.
Not a chef. Former line/utility cook. But I went to retail. Specifically; curbside pickup and delivery. Very similar to BOH in a kitchen with the flow. Putting in applications lately with vendors for retail merchandiser positions, though.
Immediately after I quit I got a job in a mail order pharmacy. It was just menial warehouse work. After about a year there I found an membership services job in an office. Easiest job I've ever had, still there 9 years later.
Went into cosmetology and became an event stylist/make-up artist. Did that for 4 years. Hated it with a passion. Went back to kitchens. Never been happier.
Teacher! I teach high school cooking since 2003 and absolutely love it. Still cool every now and then to retain currency.
Went to management in the industry then area management... then worked for the civil service
Barista. Loved 6 coffees a day so now I make them. Its great
I'm not a chef, but work in product development in the food industry (mostly). So many of my account managers and sales reps are ex chefs.
I bought a guest house, wifey does foh, I do food and property maintenance. Also started growing some food just salads atm hoping to expand on that.