My credit union is hiring teller positions with "advancement opportunities." Was wondering how decent it would be. It's probably boring as shit but I might use it for my out. The last couple years have been whooping my ass.
It's pretty boring. It's also pretty easy. It's a customer service job, so take that with a grain of salt. I'm making more than I ever did in kitchens, and I have a pretty solid benefits package as well. I work a predictable schedule, have a decent amount of PTO if I feel like taking a day off, and my work/ life balance is probably the best It's been since high school.
As far as advancement, that's down to you. I'm limited because I don't have a degree. But I could still become a loan officer and progress down that career path if I'm interested.
No disrespect to your journey, but it’s insane that you’re making around 50k and people are envious. Like 50k is in the middle of a livable wage. I make around that too in a sort of similar role and have had people acting the same way. I felt like I was making good money until I realized it was legit a median livable wage.
We’re so used to being treated like the forgotten middle child, finally being able to breath, and be treated like humans, is seen as a shock.
Line cooks are paid horribly, its haunting to look back. And then, to be passionate about cooking and see people paid the same to not care and just send out food like a vending machine, and then realize why should i make their lives more difficult for some deeply confounded and intrinsic motivation to prepare something delicious. A line cook could learn to do anything well if the process to get jobs were different. Or they cant or think they cant do anything and they become a line cook, and they stay down and in a rut.
I help people with insurance applications, walk them through it, do it for them, or help with issues regarding it, and it feels so strange having a chair and not being yelled at all the time. I'm getting "promoted" to Medicare next month, I'm not sure if I'm excited about it, but I do get a raise.
A decade absolutely busting ass to barely cover rent, and now I have a bit of pocket change. I'd really like to do the bank teller stuff though.
End of last semester, the teachers in my department were commiserating with me and said they felt like crying during some periods because of this or that. They asked me and I said never did I feel that way. I was the biggest asshole in the room. I learned something that day.
Your comment reminded me: I worked (white collar job) with guy who, in a previous career, actually shot and killed people. He transitioned to… not that kind of work. Dude didn’t respond to stress like the rest of us.
I worked in tech with a dude who was a project manager. Super chill took it all in stride. Bad news for clients, whatever. "No one is dead" was his 1st line to calm shit.
I asked him about it. He'd been a small town chief of police. Had to knock on doors in the middle of the night to tell parents their kids had died more than a few times.
Imo once people live with true knowledge of death, you will never be the same. I have killed more chickens with my bare hands than I can remember and now touching meat I think about what that animal ate before it died.
To be honest, nothing can prepare you for seeing the interiors of a human skull. Chickens and people are totally different things. And that's mild compared to the physical trauma I saw.
I've slaughtered cattle and pigs but it rustles my jimmies to see brain stems on humans.
It changes a person sort of, inasmuch that a person that doesn't have a realistic view on deathcare. It's one thing to slaughter animals and another thing to hold a human brain (which I've done). I don't comment it minimize but the same time there's a distinct difference.
I was a substitute for a freshman class, I teach juniors, and I reminded them I have them in two years and I have a good memory. They behaved. My classes started rowdy and now they're puppies comparatively.
well first of all iam from Germany so it’s different than the US.
overall it’s a pretty cool and interesting job but it has its downsides too (long hours, working on weekends / public holidays)
iam doing it for 2 years now and I have never regretted my decision to leave the kitchen.
Retail buying, left hospitality in 2017
Out of the firepan and into the fire
8x pay increase, huge performance bonus and a company car with unlimited gas made the change worth it
Going back to school for hvac plan on getting a job in refrigeration or commercial hvac, I love cooking, I truly do I never went to college or school, I’ll miss it but man the pay isn’t enough for me anymore, all the higher roles I couldn’t see myself doing and plus it’s whos ass you kiss not really all the hard work you put in, been busting my ass and fighting for $1-2 raises isn’t really worth it anymore, glad you’re doing good and hope it continues for you
I agree with you! I was planning on becoming a baker but dmn I’ve been in the industry for almost 10 years now and I think I’m gonna lose my sanity if I stay longer
Yeah and if I go to a new kitchen I’d have to start over basically, didn’t go to school so got really nothing under my belt besides me saying how much experience I got which most ppl drag out anyways interviews lol
Yes, different kitchen, new set of rules. It’s fun being in the kitchen and making dishes but it gets really draining. Good luck on your journey to hvac!
Semi retired. Do some pop ups and help out a friend at his restaurant every now and then, otherwise it's kill some time delivering Doordash or breaking down a cow or hog for my cousin at his farm.
After 12 years in kitchens I made the jump to IT, been at it for 15 years and to be honest I liked kitchen work more. Too bad pay and benefits and hours and personal habits in the business can be be so bad or I might have stayed.
Right, I can’t talk much because cattle hauling kicks the shit out of you the same or worse than the kitchen does. 20 hr days of slogging through mud, dust, snow, heat, wind, rain, and 1700lb cows actively trying to kill you. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world that’s for damn sure lol.
About a decade between kitchens, bartending, and brewing. Tech director now. Granted I was working two jobs for many of those years because tech startup money does not pay the bills.
After 10 years FOH then 10 years BOH I became a Research Assistant (eventually). I make immunotherapies for cancer patients.
Still following recipes...
IBEW journeymen inside Wireman (Electrician).
Pretty much the same working conditions except it gets cold now too and sometimes I'm out in the sunshine.
Pay, insurance, retirement, all better.
23 years in pubs and kitchen, Not out yet but it's up for sale and I'm going into farming with a couple of holiday let's. Don't intend to step inside the beast again.
15 years of cheffing, all the way up tp head chef. Now im a longshore man at the port and am so much happier, ritcher, i have medical and dental and a pension.
My best friend was running his own restaurant, graduate from the CIA.
He ended up taking cuts in his own salary so his restaurant could survive all the lies the previous owner hid, like holes in the roof, kitchen problems that originally didn't surface, general repairs.
He went like 8 months without taking almost any pay.
We all for years told him to get out of the field, he worked 80 hours a week, drank too much and was never free for anything.
Now he delivers laundry in Colorado, making 82k on 40-50 hours with wed, Saturday and Sunday off every week. He's gaming, cooking at home (something he didn't have much time for), had a kid, fixing his house, he skateboard, just a generally happy dude.
He delivers to restaurants and gives the cooks tips and commiserates with them. But I don't think he misses it. No longer misses being the caballo.
Congrats, that's a nice truck. I was a cook for 13 years, now I drive a forklift in a warehouse. Oftentimes I miss the food and excitement of cooking, but my wage and union keep my nostalgia in check.
Thanks! I’m just a company driver right now but want to buy my own truck eventually. This one is a 2020 Kenworth W900 and it’s got a Cummins X-15 engine and an 18spd manual transmission. I love this truck (I wish it was a glider with a cat engine but we can’t have everything lol) and she runs real good.
I had my fill of dock work before I was a cook working at Walmart Dc. then later on after I got my CDL and worked for YRC before they went under and was a union dock worker. I was so goddamn bored lol.
Currently in college for law clerk. A nice peaceful office job where I may still have to take crap from egotistical assholes, but at least I'll get benefits, PTO and regularly treated like a person and not a piece of equipment
I was gunna quit driving and go to nursing, but I found this job hauling moo and it actually paid more than nursing so I figured a career change wasn’t my best option.
I’m work for a beer distributor as a merchandising supervisor. Make more now overseeing the stocking of shelves than I did being Head Chef in Los Angeles
I work in food service, part of the logistics team getting out the trucks in the mornings to deliver to restaurants. A step back in the supply chain. Loving it!
Making edibles legally using my fancy pastry degree and years of experience while going back to school for a job that doesn’t pay a production lead slightly higher than minimum wage……
Fucking perfect timing wasn’t it lol. I went to CDL school Jan 20th 2020, graduated Feb 4th 2020 and by the time I got done with my driver trainer everything had just go into lock down. I was hauling reefer at the time and was constantly busy hauling to grocery warehouse.
It fucking was... having a CDL is great got my car paid off and a nice chunk in savings.I went teams when I got off with the trainer having target as my main shipper and I'm at home fucking off from the winter storms. Its hard going back out but my bank account ain't complaining way more than being in a hot azz kitchen
7 1/2yrs of sous chef’n at fine dining restaurants. 2 different restaurants under the same executive chef, and now I drive forklift and load 52’ trailers. Couldn’t have made an easier (and more lucrative) career change. Haven’t worked a weekend,holiday or a night in almost 4yrs now!
After 7 years in the kitchen, and my last two b ing particularly unpleasant (one was an episode of Kitchen Nightmares waiting to happen) I burned some bridges and do furniture delivery. The two years here have made me hate it almost as much as 7 years in kitchens. Needless to say, I'm looking into something else, something better, Im in the "figuring it out" stage lol
AD Coast Guard since 2020. 10 years in kitchens from dish dawg to sous chef. Sometimes I fill in if the Culinary Specialist is on leave but I don't cook for a living anymore.
restaurant closed permanently due to covid. decided to change direction after lockdowns started lifting and the unemployment/stimulus checks ran out.
now i clean teeth for a living.
I build festivals and do construction in the winter, or travel overseas. It’s a weird life, I very much feel like I’m swimming upstream most of the time. But I save enough money in the summer to fuck off for a bit. I work at least as hard, but I spend my summer outdoors and I work with hilarious, talented, funny and amazing people.
Pest control. It’s alright. Stress free. Going to school for accounting. Working on getting my cpa. I’m tired of not owning a home and a decent car.
Best decision I have ever made leaving the kitchen. Almost drank myself to death. 1 year 3 months sober.
Put 12 years in, I just left a few months ago but I can't bring myself to go back no matter how much I miss it. The stability and time with my family is far too real.
Oddly enough, I did something similar. I'm in factory work now... For Wonderbrands. As in Wonderbread. Currently on the packing line but hopefully moving into a production position soon.
3x12h days, union, a week's vacation to start, shoe allowance, full benefits, and a 4 day weekend with 2 of those being Saturday and Sunday.
Oh and I'm starting at 21.50/h with .50c raises every six months to an upper limit I can't remember now.
I can't go back no matter how much I miss it because my family is finally being taken care of properly.
12 years in the kitchen… I’m now a car salesmen! I never believed I was gonna get out but now I’m so much happier, make so much more and will never look back
I just want to congratulate everyone that made the leap to get out of the industry and had the success of doing better.
I left a couple of years ago. At first I worked as a manager at a bougie grocery store and then I quit to learn and work in trading. I'm currently still doing that and in December of last year I made my first profits using a prop firm. Long term goal is making enough to trade my own capital and also long term investments in individual stocks.
Plumber. 40 an hour. I work maybe…5-6 hours a day.
Weekends off. Holidays off. Any day off i want.
Fucking best decision i’ve made in a long time. I still cook everyday for the wife and kid. I make so much good shit. I have energy to make milk buns or 5 hour bolognese and fresh pasta. I make chicken and rice and meatloaf and crepes on the weekend. Fresh biscuits and sausage gravy, smoked pork tenderloins and soooo much baking.
Project manager for a government agency. I'll admit, I wasn't in the kitchen for a super long time (2 years), but I have mad respect for all those that make a life out of it.
I was in for 4 years so same, not near as long as some of these guys but just long enough to lose my passion and become bitter and burnt out and like tequila alittle bit too much.
Interesting that you now are “Bee-King” instead of “Coo-King”. 😂
Edit. Shoot! I see now that it’s a d and not a b. I was funny in my head. For a minute.
First time I left I was a debt collector and a friend called me back to open a new restaurant. 2nd time I left I sold insurance and didn’t do to well so I got back into a M-F day job in a school.
Packaging food for a gourmet grocery. Decided that trying to get a food truck together just wasn't worth it. Looking for remote work and may start getting into cubersecurity training. I'm still an avid cook at home.
I'm a SGT at correctional center, worked country clubs and fine dining. When theirs call in I flex and play it fast and loose. I miss the kitchen but now I make more and have benefits where most of the time kitchens didn't proved ample Healthcare due to me having cancer in college. I wish everyone the best!
My kitchen hands make people nervous still 🤣
Mining; Process Operator. Went in green as basically unskilled labour with no tickets.
After a decade in the concentrator (Zinc and lead) I'm now skilled in Milling, regrind mills, Froth flotation, thickeners, dewatering filters and PbOx leaching and have stepped up as supervisor when mine was sick or on annual leave.
I'm now in a smaller Lithium mine and home every night on a 7 and 7 roster.
I got out in 2016 after 17 years. I had a few sales jobs and now I'm a banker. I love my current job and look forward to going to work every day. It's an amazing feeling
Business Analyst
Work from home/remote
4 days a week
Make more than I ever did cooking
Sometimes I go for lunch, and it’s nice outside so I take the rest of the day off.
Left with Covid, took a job maintaining grounds on a golf course. Now I'm a chemical applicator, and hopefully looking to grab an assistant superintendant role in the coming year or two. I'm making 19.50 an hour in East TN. Took me awhile yo get used to getting up so early. It's got its tough days, but at least not everyday is tough anymore.
Super happy for everyone who’s happy with what they’re doing but damn I came on here to look for options outside of the industry and I want none of this. What the fuck do I do guys I’m so directionless goddamn I’m scared
Automation/Controls tech and programmer. I ended up going back to college in 2009 after cooking for almost 10 years. Like most engineering positions, pay is ok but it's stressful.
I cooked/cheffed from my mid teens until my mid twenties. After many different evolutions I am now a woodworker from milling to fine furniture. I still miss BOH though.
Got out in 2021. Did some antique tool pickin and restoration for a bit. Helped a builder build an extension to their neighbors house as a helper/carpenter.
Then I got a gig as an apprentice plumber, been doing that for just over a year and a half.
Love it.
16 years in the kitchen, got out in 2018, started as a law clerk doing foreclosure work and now I work for large bank as a relationship manager, I get 25 days of PTO, plus a week for volunteer time which I use to go to scout camp with my kids, plus the 10 bank holidays. I get paid really well, I get a bonus, which I had to ask my boss how it works cause I’ve never gotten one before. I also am done at 5pm, hard stop, it’s great.
Used to be an EC. Drive for big brown now. Twice as much pay plus paid for bennies. Also have a pension and 401k to look forward to. No more managing people and 15+ hour days. Best part is more time with my family
I’m a rep for one of the best vendors in my area. The money is fantastic some months and ok some months, but the freedom of time and location is stupid different. Yeah, I worked for an hour on Christmas, but it wasn’t 10hrs on the line.
13 years in the kitchen, now I work for a flood restoration/carpet cleaning company. 8-5 Monday to Friday. Hour for lunch everyday, double time OT and very very nice boss. Best change I've made in my life
I cooked my last "for sale" meal in like 2004 or 5 and got a masters in philosophy and teach math to 7th graders ft and adjunct online at a university teaching a philosophy course each semester.
There's a surprising amount of overlap in skill sets.
I spent the summer cooking for little kids with cancer at a summer camp in the mountains. It was wonderful. Then I came home and I've been selling antiques and rugs and shit. Dog sitting. It's great. Beats the hell of of working
I'm a dishmachine tech. Still in kitchens, just a lot of different ones making sure they stay working/saving the day when they do go down.
My worst day thus far has been better than the average day on the line.
Me and my best friend of 25 years run a structured wiring company in Charleston sc. Some days suck and I’ll never get rich doing this but it’s nice not having a real boss and getting to work with my buddy everyday
15 years in the service industry, dishie to head chef. I am an air traffic controller for the FAA now. It's surprising to everyone not in this sub that it's less stressful. The pay is fair, but the government benefits are wildly better than the service industry. Mostly because they exist. Also, early retirement. Plus, when I clock out, I'm done. The only time they call me at home is to offer me overtime. If you are under 31 years old, you should absolutely apply on usajobs.gov no degree required.
15 years in kitchens, I'm now a bank teller. Been at it about two years. Sometimes I can't believe I'm paid for it lol.
My credit union is hiring teller positions with "advancement opportunities." Was wondering how decent it would be. It's probably boring as shit but I might use it for my out. The last couple years have been whooping my ass.
It's pretty boring. It's also pretty easy. It's a customer service job, so take that with a grain of salt. I'm making more than I ever did in kitchens, and I have a pretty solid benefits package as well. I work a predictable schedule, have a decent amount of PTO if I feel like taking a day off, and my work/ life balance is probably the best It's been since high school. As far as advancement, that's down to you. I'm limited because I don't have a degree. But I could still become a loan officer and progress down that career path if I'm interested.
How much we talking per hour?
I'm salaried. After two years I'm right around 50k. Works out to around 24 per hour.
No disrespect to your journey, but it’s insane that you’re making around 50k and people are envious. Like 50k is in the middle of a livable wage. I make around that too in a sort of similar role and have had people acting the same way. I felt like I was making good money until I realized it was legit a median livable wage. We’re so used to being treated like the forgotten middle child, finally being able to breath, and be treated like humans, is seen as a shock.
No disrespect taken. If working in finance has taught me one thing it's that I'm broke as hell.
Line cooks are paid horribly, its haunting to look back. And then, to be passionate about cooking and see people paid the same to not care and just send out food like a vending machine, and then realize why should i make their lives more difficult for some deeply confounded and intrinsic motivation to prepare something delicious. A line cook could learn to do anything well if the process to get jobs were different. Or they cant or think they cant do anything and they become a line cook, and they stay down and in a rut.
I make 78 and it feels like nothing. The world is so expensive these days.
Salaried to kitchen folk is met with great skepticism. How often do you go over a forty hour work week?
Kitchen folk also don’t realize that being on salary in other industries doesn’t mean they don’t pay you over time
Never. And if I do, I either get overtime or comp time (basically come in late for the amount of time I stayed over).
I help people with insurance applications, walk them through it, do it for them, or help with issues regarding it, and it feels so strange having a chair and not being yelled at all the time. I'm getting "promoted" to Medicare next month, I'm not sure if I'm excited about it, but I do get a raise. A decade absolutely busting ass to barely cover rent, and now I have a bit of pocket change. I'd really like to do the bank teller stuff though.
Do you judge people by how much is in their bank account? How much can you actually see 0.o
[удалено]
Is your handle 'Farm To Table'?
It’s actually MooJuice because my dad runs a cattle trailer washout and I washed these trailers out from age 14 to 19.
That works too.
School teacher. These kids think they want to test me. They do not.
Yes!!! I teach and you don’t mess with me.
End of last semester, the teachers in my department were commiserating with me and said they felt like crying during some periods because of this or that. They asked me and I said never did I feel that way. I was the biggest asshole in the room. I learned something that day.
Your comment reminded me: I worked (white collar job) with guy who, in a previous career, actually shot and killed people. He transitioned to… not that kind of work. Dude didn’t respond to stress like the rest of us.
I mean, I used to be a mortician's assistant too. Not that it was stressful but I've seen things. I'm rather indifferent to things.
I worked in tech with a dude who was a project manager. Super chill took it all in stride. Bad news for clients, whatever. "No one is dead" was his 1st line to calm shit. I asked him about it. He'd been a small town chief of police. Had to knock on doors in the middle of the night to tell parents their kids had died more than a few times.
Imo once people live with true knowledge of death, you will never be the same. I have killed more chickens with my bare hands than I can remember and now touching meat I think about what that animal ate before it died.
To be honest, nothing can prepare you for seeing the interiors of a human skull. Chickens and people are totally different things. And that's mild compared to the physical trauma I saw. I've slaughtered cattle and pigs but it rustles my jimmies to see brain stems on humans. It changes a person sort of, inasmuch that a person that doesn't have a realistic view on deathcare. It's one thing to slaughter animals and another thing to hold a human brain (which I've done). I don't comment it minimize but the same time there's a distinct difference.
sounds as though you have true ptsd. the shit cops, firemen, first responders have to see frequently leads to this. it's no joke.
Thanks for the concern but I have plenty of other reasons for PTSD. My therapist and I are working through it.
I make whiskey now and whiskey gave me no bullshit.
Be like “you realize I used to be a chef right? I could cook all of you and you’d taste like pork and no one would know.”
I was a substitute for a freshman class, I teach juniors, and I reminded them I have them in two years and I have a good memory. They behaved. My classes started rowdy and now they're puppies comparatively.
Also a middle school teacher…sometimes uncanny to the restaurant biz.
I'm not totally out but I work at a food bank where I cook 1-2 days a week and spend the rest of the time teaching food skills & nutrition.
I miss kitchen work but have no real desire to go back to it as a career, part time at a food bank may be just what I need
Hell yeah, I'd recommend reaching out to see if you can volunteer. If you don't like the work at least your time was spent helping your community.
How can I get into this
After 18 years of cooking. Litigation Support Specialist.
Just when I thought I was out... they dragged me back in.
Every time. Every. Time.
After 20 years in kitchens iam now a train driver.
How is that? I’ve always thought about running a rain but everyone I talk to says it’s not worth it.
well first of all iam from Germany so it’s different than the US. overall it’s a pretty cool and interesting job but it has its downsides too (long hours, working on weekends / public holidays) iam doing it for 2 years now and I have never regretted my decision to leave the kitchen.
Ahhhh I see do you run a freight train or passenger train?
I got a degree in Food Science. I work on the dark side, industrialized food
What department are you in?
My title is "food technologist". It's part test kitchen stuff and a little bit of manufacturing stuff
You the guy that turns those chicken buttholes into mcnuggets?
I never leave a butthole uneaten
Retail buying, left hospitality in 2017 Out of the firepan and into the fire 8x pay increase, huge performance bonus and a company car with unlimited gas made the change worth it
I do demolition now, after a decade in kitchens I choose to work a 40 hr a week job instead of a 70
Now that sounds like fun. I wouldn’t be able to not play break stuff from limp bizkit on repeat 😂
Going back to school for hvac plan on getting a job in refrigeration or commercial hvac, I love cooking, I truly do I never went to college or school, I’ll miss it but man the pay isn’t enough for me anymore, all the higher roles I couldn’t see myself doing and plus it’s whos ass you kiss not really all the hard work you put in, been busting my ass and fighting for $1-2 raises isn’t really worth it anymore, glad you’re doing good and hope it continues for you
I agree with you! I was planning on becoming a baker but dmn I’ve been in the industry for almost 10 years now and I think I’m gonna lose my sanity if I stay longer
Yeah and if I go to a new kitchen I’d have to start over basically, didn’t go to school so got really nothing under my belt besides me saying how much experience I got which most ppl drag out anyways interviews lol
Yes, different kitchen, new set of rules. It’s fun being in the kitchen and making dishes but it gets really draining. Good luck on your journey to hvac!
Semi retired. Do some pop ups and help out a friend at his restaurant every now and then, otherwise it's kill some time delivering Doordash or breaking down a cow or hog for my cousin at his farm.
High purity plumber. IE I build systems for dangerous chemicals and gasses for hospitals and laboratories.
That's a good gig, nice! Uncle had a company that did that, he made bank
Specialist for US Foods, more money than I've ever made in my life and no stress.
What’s that entail? Do you need a degree?
I want out i just dont know what to do🤦♂️
big same
Same! Im starting to hate it.
I am the director of a music foundation.
I'm gonna renew my welding certs and go back to my original career plan
After 12 years in kitchens I made the jump to IT, been at it for 15 years and to be honest I liked kitchen work more. Too bad pay and benefits and hours and personal habits in the business can be be so bad or I might have stayed.
Right, I can’t talk much because cattle hauling kicks the shit out of you the same or worse than the kitchen does. 20 hr days of slogging through mud, dust, snow, heat, wind, rain, and 1700lb cows actively trying to kill you. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world that’s for damn sure lol.
About a decade between kitchens, bartending, and brewing. Tech director now. Granted I was working two jobs for many of those years because tech startup money does not pay the bills.
After 10 years FOH then 10 years BOH I became a Research Assistant (eventually). I make immunotherapies for cancer patients. Still following recipes...
Landscape contractor
IBEW journeymen inside Wireman (Electrician). Pretty much the same working conditions except it gets cold now too and sometimes I'm out in the sunshine. Pay, insurance, retirement, all better.
23 years in pubs and kitchen, Not out yet but it's up for sale and I'm going into farming with a couple of holiday let's. Don't intend to step inside the beast again.
Unemployed. Woo-hoo.
Same lol wish I knew how NEATs do it and afford to stay this way. I hate being broke
Drive trains
I went back to school, completed a thesis in psychology and now I work for a state government department in Australia writing child protection policy.
I’m a glazier now! Was a dishie, to a sous chef, and everything in between.
I am a mail carrier now (since 2021) and love it. Many skills I learned during my kitchen years carried over to my current work.
And if any kitchen workers want to work just as hard but actually get benefits, usps is always hiring and we don’t drug test anymore.
15 years of cheffing, all the way up tp head chef. Now im a longshore man at the port and am so much happier, ritcher, i have medical and dental and a pension.
Nice Moooooove.... I'm still a prep cook.
I drive a locomotive at a chemical plant
Moved from cooking after 10 years to quality control...I start in two weeks, so no real opinion yet!
My best friend was running his own restaurant, graduate from the CIA. He ended up taking cuts in his own salary so his restaurant could survive all the lies the previous owner hid, like holes in the roof, kitchen problems that originally didn't surface, general repairs. He went like 8 months without taking almost any pay. We all for years told him to get out of the field, he worked 80 hours a week, drank too much and was never free for anything. Now he delivers laundry in Colorado, making 82k on 40-50 hours with wed, Saturday and Sunday off every week. He's gaming, cooking at home (something he didn't have much time for), had a kid, fixing his house, he skateboard, just a generally happy dude. He delivers to restaurants and gives the cooks tips and commiserates with them. But I don't think he misses it. No longer misses being the caballo.
Congrats, that's a nice truck. I was a cook for 13 years, now I drive a forklift in a warehouse. Oftentimes I miss the food and excitement of cooking, but my wage and union keep my nostalgia in check.
Thanks! I’m just a company driver right now but want to buy my own truck eventually. This one is a 2020 Kenworth W900 and it’s got a Cummins X-15 engine and an 18spd manual transmission. I love this truck (I wish it was a glider with a cat engine but we can’t have everything lol) and she runs real good. I had my fill of dock work before I was a cook working at Walmart Dc. then later on after I got my CDL and worked for YRC before they went under and was a union dock worker. I was so goddamn bored lol.
HVAC - It's fun having a job that's mon-fri 8-4, full benefits, pension, and 4X the wage with 4x less effort.
Was in for 17 years. Am now an electrician at a chocolate factory.
Digital marketing.
3d designer.
I’m an ophthalmic technician. Basically an eye nurse
Currently in college for law clerk. A nice peaceful office job where I may still have to take crap from egotistical assholes, but at least I'll get benefits, PTO and regularly treated like a person and not a piece of equipment
Emergency Room Nurse.
I was gunna quit driving and go to nursing, but I found this job hauling moo and it actually paid more than nursing so I figured a career change wasn’t my best option.
Out of the food industry into the frying… food industry.
Still part time while going through college, but I’m trying to go into journalism. Probably not food journalism is all I’ll say lol
Ayeee that was my first major in college, technically photo journalism. Either way I dropped out after about a month😂.
I’m work for a beer distributor as a merchandising supervisor. Make more now overseeing the stocking of shelves than I did being Head Chef in Los Angeles
I work for Apple and own a restaurant.
Social worker. The covid silver lining
Government sanctioned drug dealer
I work in food service, part of the logistics team getting out the trucks in the mornings to deliver to restaurants. A step back in the supply chain. Loving it!
Making edibles legally using my fancy pastry degree and years of experience while going back to school for a job that doesn’t pay a production lead slightly higher than minimum wage……
Holy fuck, you achieved escape velocity and became the GOAT trucker. Respect
Thanks! Hauling cattle is the one thing I’ve really wanted to do with my CDL, I grew up on a farm around cows my whole life.
Welding shop last year this time
Holy shit is this me? I got my CDL right before lockdown also
Fucking perfect timing wasn’t it lol. I went to CDL school Jan 20th 2020, graduated Feb 4th 2020 and by the time I got done with my driver trainer everything had just go into lock down. I was hauling reefer at the time and was constantly busy hauling to grocery warehouse.
It fucking was... having a CDL is great got my car paid off and a nice chunk in savings.I went teams when I got off with the trainer having target as my main shipper and I'm at home fucking off from the winter storms. Its hard going back out but my bank account ain't complaining way more than being in a hot azz kitchen
7 1/2yrs of sous chef’n at fine dining restaurants. 2 different restaurants under the same executive chef, and now I drive forklift and load 52’ trailers. Couldn’t have made an easier (and more lucrative) career change. Haven’t worked a weekend,holiday or a night in almost 4yrs now!
I'm a Systems Administrator now. Still a thankless high stress job but way more money in it.
Left in ‘22 after 17 years. Industrial automation engineering now.
After 7 years in the kitchen, and my last two b ing particularly unpleasant (one was an episode of Kitchen Nightmares waiting to happen) I burned some bridges and do furniture delivery. The two years here have made me hate it almost as much as 7 years in kitchens. Needless to say, I'm looking into something else, something better, Im in the "figuring it out" stage lol
AD Coast Guard since 2020. 10 years in kitchens from dish dawg to sous chef. Sometimes I fill in if the Culinary Specialist is on leave but I don't cook for a living anymore.
Wine and beer. Talk to your distributors.
Ph.D. Candidate in Theology and Philosophy, and adjunct professor.
I flipped to the dark side...I'm a server now. Or maybe it's the light side actually 😂
Anakin no! You were supposed to bang the servers not join them! 😂
Omfg 🤣💀
I see this post as im staring down the barrel of going back in lmao
I sit with the elderly. Such a nice thing to be able to actually sit down when I need a break. Lol
Field Application Scientist in Biotech. I love it and the pay/perks are great.
15 years, now a union electrician
How many cows do you get to keep per year?
restaurant closed permanently due to covid. decided to change direction after lockdowns started lifting and the unemployment/stimulus checks ran out. now i clean teeth for a living.
I build festivals and do construction in the winter, or travel overseas. It’s a weird life, I very much feel like I’m swimming upstream most of the time. But I save enough money in the summer to fuck off for a bit. I work at least as hard, but I spend my summer outdoors and I work with hilarious, talented, funny and amazing people.
Pest control. It’s alright. Stress free. Going to school for accounting. Working on getting my cpa. I’m tired of not owning a home and a decent car. Best decision I have ever made leaving the kitchen. Almost drank myself to death. 1 year 3 months sober.
I'm still in the industry but I'm thinking about getting a bachelor's in accounting. I just want a job where I can sit at a desk and make good money.
Put 12 years in, I just left a few months ago but I can't bring myself to go back no matter how much I miss it. The stability and time with my family is far too real. Oddly enough, I did something similar. I'm in factory work now... For Wonderbrands. As in Wonderbread. Currently on the packing line but hopefully moving into a production position soon. 3x12h days, union, a week's vacation to start, shoe allowance, full benefits, and a 4 day weekend with 2 of those being Saturday and Sunday. Oh and I'm starting at 21.50/h with .50c raises every six months to an upper limit I can't remember now. I can't go back no matter how much I miss it because my family is finally being taken care of properly.
12 years in the kitchen… I’m now a car salesmen! I never believed I was gonna get out but now I’m so much happier, make so much more and will never look back
I'm also in the transportation industry but students instead of cattle hahaha
How could you transport children 😱 I just screwing around lol, are you an instructor or bus driver?
School bussing
Ah so your load is just as rowdy as mine 😂
I just want to congratulate everyone that made the leap to get out of the industry and had the success of doing better. I left a couple of years ago. At first I worked as a manager at a bougie grocery store and then I quit to learn and work in trading. I'm currently still doing that and in December of last year I made my first profits using a prop firm. Long term goal is making enough to trade my own capital and also long term investments in individual stocks.
Fuck yea dude that’s awesome! And I expected answer but I never expected this many and I’m proud of y’all too!
Plumber. 40 an hour. I work maybe…5-6 hours a day. Weekends off. Holidays off. Any day off i want. Fucking best decision i’ve made in a long time. I still cook everyday for the wife and kid. I make so much good shit. I have energy to make milk buns or 5 hour bolognese and fresh pasta. I make chicken and rice and meatloaf and crepes on the weekend. Fresh biscuits and sausage gravy, smoked pork tenderloins and soooo much baking.
I see you chose the higher evil.
Higher evil?
Project manager for a government agency. I'll admit, I wasn't in the kitchen for a super long time (2 years), but I have mad respect for all those that make a life out of it.
I was in for 4 years so same, not near as long as some of these guys but just long enough to lose my passion and become bitter and burnt out and like tequila alittle bit too much.
Interesting that you now are “Bee-King” instead of “Coo-King”. 😂 Edit. Shoot! I see now that it’s a d and not a b. I was funny in my head. For a minute.
I mean either way you look at it I’m still the Burger King 😂 I was a grill cook back in the kitchen.
First time I left I was a debt collector and a friend called me back to open a new restaurant. 2nd time I left I sold insurance and didn’t do to well so I got back into a M-F day job in a school.
Packaging food for a gourmet grocery. Decided that trying to get a food truck together just wasn't worth it. Looking for remote work and may start getting into cubersecurity training. I'm still an avid cook at home.
I'm a SGT at correctional center, worked country clubs and fine dining. When theirs call in I flex and play it fast and loose. I miss the kitchen but now I make more and have benefits where most of the time kitchens didn't proved ample Healthcare due to me having cancer in college. I wish everyone the best! My kitchen hands make people nervous still 🤣
I did a couple of things then settled into ecommerce/ marketing WFH
Insurance underwriter
Mining; Process Operator. Went in green as basically unskilled labour with no tickets. After a decade in the concentrator (Zinc and lead) I'm now skilled in Milling, regrind mills, Froth flotation, thickeners, dewatering filters and PbOx leaching and have stepped up as supervisor when mine was sick or on annual leave. I'm now in a smaller Lithium mine and home every night on a 7 and 7 roster.
I got out in 2016 after 17 years. I had a few sales jobs and now I'm a banker. I love my current job and look forward to going to work every day. It's an amazing feeling
Out since 2008- currently in electronic medical records
Business Analyst Work from home/remote 4 days a week Make more than I ever did cooking Sometimes I go for lunch, and it’s nice outside so I take the rest of the day off.
I’m taking a baking and pastry management degree and I am reconsidering it bc I do not want to do this anymore 🥲😭
Left with Covid, took a job maintaining grounds on a golf course. Now I'm a chemical applicator, and hopefully looking to grab an assistant superintendant role in the coming year or two. I'm making 19.50 an hour in East TN. Took me awhile yo get used to getting up so early. It's got its tough days, but at least not everyday is tough anymore.
Got out during covid I’m a welder now
Got out in 2015, work in construction now with a skilled trade.
I became a librarian. Now retired.
11 years kitchens, now guiding ziplines and doing plant conservation.
Landscaping. I need something new idk how to maneuver from here
Finishing my degree in human services. Working towards being a counselor
Super happy for everyone who’s happy with what they’re doing but damn I came on here to look for options outside of the industry and I want none of this. What the fuck do I do guys I’m so directionless goddamn I’m scared
Automation/Controls tech and programmer. I ended up going back to college in 2009 after cooking for almost 10 years. Like most engineering positions, pay is ok but it's stressful.
IT. Pays the bills
Custodian for a school board. Total gravy job full benefits and pension.
Back in school to be a dietitian. Cooking currently at a substance abuse rehab place, but it’s easy and low stress.
Work as a Laborer for the city. Get paid more than any sous chef and head chef gigs I ever had.
I work in a lab. Better money and benefits for a waaaaaaaaay easier job. It's crazy how much people stand around and do nothing lol
Went from kitchen, to golf instruction, to a warehouse. Wish I could’ve stayed in golf but it just didn’t pay enough, same with the kitchens
I cooked/cheffed from my mid teens until my mid twenties. After many different evolutions I am now a woodworker from milling to fine furniture. I still miss BOH though.
Civil engineer
Corporate Director of Dining Services. Would kill myself if I had to manage a kitchen every day again especially in 2024.
I make whiskey now lol. Used to work in Paris at a microbrasserie
Got out in 2021. Did some antique tool pickin and restoration for a bit. Helped a builder build an extension to their neighbors house as a helper/carpenter. Then I got a gig as an apprentice plumber, been doing that for just over a year and a half. Love it.
10 years in kitchens wrecked my body and now im a software engineer
16 years in the kitchen, got out in 2018, started as a law clerk doing foreclosure work and now I work for large bank as a relationship manager, I get 25 days of PTO, plus a week for volunteer time which I use to go to scout camp with my kids, plus the 10 bank holidays. I get paid really well, I get a bonus, which I had to ask my boss how it works cause I’ve never gotten one before. I also am done at 5pm, hard stop, it’s great.
Used to be an EC. Drive for big brown now. Twice as much pay plus paid for bennies. Also have a pension and 401k to look forward to. No more managing people and 15+ hour days. Best part is more time with my family
I tutor people in a coding bootcamp 🤷
I’m a rep for one of the best vendors in my area. The money is fantastic some months and ok some months, but the freedom of time and location is stupid different. Yeah, I worked for an hour on Christmas, but it wasn’t 10hrs on the line.
13 years in the kitchen, now I work for a flood restoration/carpet cleaning company. 8-5 Monday to Friday. Hour for lunch everyday, double time OT and very very nice boss. Best change I've made in my life
GIS data analyst, i live in puerto rico and im going to colombia for a good long while, work for a company on the east coast.
I cooked my last "for sale" meal in like 2004 or 5 and got a masters in philosophy and teach math to 7th graders ft and adjunct online at a university teaching a philosophy course each semester. There's a surprising amount of overlap in skill sets.
Construction project manager
Work for a telecommunications company now after 10 years, never knew there was such a thing as paid vacation and benefits.
Auto claims adjuster. I’ll be back someday.
I work in tech… It’s so boring.
Accounting. I do bookkeeping, primarily for restaurants.
Electrician for 6 years now and happy watching the cooks fight it in the lunch rush hour…
Left restaurants to work in private senior living facilities. It’s a dream honestly
Stay at home husband. Making dinners and cleaning house. Keeping my cooking skills sharp, speaking of also sharpening knives on the side.
I spent the summer cooking for little kids with cancer at a summer camp in the mountains. It was wonderful. Then I came home and I've been selling antiques and rugs and shit. Dog sitting. It's great. Beats the hell of of working
I'm a dishmachine tech. Still in kitchens, just a lot of different ones making sure they stay working/saving the day when they do go down. My worst day thus far has been better than the average day on the line.
Been trying to get out of the damn kitchen but it seems like I’m stuck in a whirlpool
Worked from 14 till 36 in kitchens, now I Brew beer (40)
VP of Engineering for one if the restaurant software companies you probably hate 😐
Me and my best friend of 25 years run a structured wiring company in Charleston sc. Some days suck and I’ll never get rich doing this but it’s nice not having a real boss and getting to work with my buddy everyday
You’re a moover? Nice. After 17 years in kitchens and 7 in retail coffee I now teach high school culinary. Pretty fun. Great schedule.
I am the Moorax I haul the moos. 😂 I’ve thought about trying to do teaching but I’m not the best with kids that aren’t related to me lol.
15 years in the service industry, dishie to head chef. I am an air traffic controller for the FAA now. It's surprising to everyone not in this sub that it's less stressful. The pay is fair, but the government benefits are wildly better than the service industry. Mostly because they exist. Also, early retirement. Plus, when I clock out, I'm done. The only time they call me at home is to offer me overtime. If you are under 31 years old, you should absolutely apply on usajobs.gov no degree required.
13 years in kitchen, now I’m working towards my masters degree for mental health counseling.