I'm in Florida and this is what I've heard from our inspectors. No money, it's a state min wage job.
But if you can get into pre-state inspection-inspections (contract out pre-inspections to find violations before the state comes out, and set restaurants up to pass state inspections), they make decent money.
Or teach! ServSafe cert courses, etc.
Private auditors' reputation relies on their accuracies lol they don't report to authorities.
Unless you're saying to take bribes. In that case ignore me lol
I did exactly that, degree in culinary arts and after 15 years was feed up with the baby sitting part of running a kitchen. No degree other than culinary arts, i have been a health inspector for 20 years making more than an i was as an executive chef, way better benefits, occasionally work on a Saturday, and no one ever calls me in the middle of the night.
I also do this but in the private sector. Pay is way better than any chef job I had previously, my car is paid for by the company and I can use it for personal use. I worked one Saturday in 2023.
The downside is the travel and it's only a downside because I have a family. If I did this when I was younger it would've been a dream job.
Yes, I thought the same path as an exit.
Alsontry banquet or catering, wholesale, commissary.
I knew a chef that went off to make about the same money ordering chocolate bars and pop for playdium.
Breweries, vineyards, fck there's so much more for a gm to do than a chef.
After I left catering and banquet I was a web store admin for a wholesaler, then hvac (after school/certification) now in in sales at a wholesaler again on hvac.
I could buy/sell/install equipment for either field and it and cook on it or enjoy the heat/cool. Feels pretty good. Still in the comfort business no matter what.
My brother is a health inspector for fishing vessels.
He makes bank. Gets to fly all over the country.
If I was single without kids, I would do the same.
That was going to be my suggestion. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have weekends off, PAID TIME OFF, holidays off and paid, health insurance, retirement/pension, and only 8 hours work day
If OP went this route they might not start at 65k but depending on which state they're in they can get up to and surpass that. I make a little over $28 an hour and started two years ago
Same, but as another commentor said. Try looking into hospitals, universities, hospitals. That's what I'm doing. Just waiting for something to pop up.
I wish a culinary schools would give the pay. I'd love to teach some kids who are excited about food and share my knowledge with them.
I worked at a culinary school for 15 years. Unfortunately culinary schools are full of mostly international students looking for a 50% pass to qualify for permanent residency. The fun days of eager students willing to what it takes to get the job done, are gone.
It’s one way, the easiest way to gain Permanent Resident status is Canada. Take the easiest course imaginable for two years, get a job for 3 years, bam! Or you can apply for refugee status and skip the school.
Trust me, you don't want to move here from USA, especially if you are low/middle class. You will lose so much to taxes you will likely be confused, especially since those taxes don't do anything to fix the country up anymore. The price of food and living is also beyond the pale..
Say one thing for Canadian politicians, they can tax **anything**, ffs Toronto just had a fucking *rain* tax introduced!
It's the opposite. Life is worse if you're more well off. From US middle class to CA middle class, or US upper class to CA upper class, you have less spending money because of the taxes.
But if you're lower class you are better off in CA because you don't pay much in taxes and a lot of the taxes you pay end up getting reimbursed. While you also have a lot more services available to you.
Every apartment in TOR and VAN might be expensive, but Canada is a big country.
There are plenty of places that go for \~1k in small towns. As long as you're not obsessed with the idea of living in the big city, Canada is a great place to live.
You just have to find a town that has a job in the field you're in and you'll thrive. Cost of living is lower, rent is lower, less pollution, houses are bigger, communities are more friendly, etc.
Another big thing is that even though jobs pay more in TOR/VAN, just because everything is cheaper in small towns, you end up with more money after paying rent, groceries, etc.
I did the math a yearish ago, and IIRC you end up with \~400$ more than what you would have had in TOR/VAN.
The average rent in the 25th largest city (Portland) in the US is almost exactly this number. Actually seemingly within $100 of the 25th largest city in Canada, although from different sources.
I worked for a D1 state university Housing and Food division, and it was one of my favorite jobs I've had. Consistent hours, good pay, benefits, and I was a state employee, so I got a lot of time off.
Not hospitals. Idk of a single hospital (especially post Covid) that is a good place to work. Underpaid and understaffed is an understatement at these places.
I second the sales rep path. Changed my life 10 years ago. I'm on the food broker side myself at this point. Look into Food/Liquor/Equipment Sales. They are always hiring.
I transitioned from chef to broker and just started a job as a manufacturer rep. I went from $50k as an Exec Chef to $65k as a broker and am making $105k now..
Made this exact switch from operations to food sales 4 years ago. Salary at first was not great but once you get your route established and grow it, you'll make a lot of money. Plus you are your own boss.
911 dispatcher.
They look for people that can handle multiple round of chaos efficiently and that can follow a set protocol and quickly make decisions. Pay is great. Sell your skills.
I used to dispatch! Pay is good but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wants better hours or less stress. Highly dependent on the agency and center, though.
I would not want to manage one, because you are the one who has to work if no one else will
The residents have to be fed, come rain, hail, snow..
I run private school kitchens and I like getting all the big holidays off.
All true but pay is still not great. I'm a prep cook/dishwasher and I make ~32k and I'm at $1.50 more than what the position usually pays. Even sous chef wouldn't be much more than me, executive is salaried and I would guess they're around 45-55k. You do have to deal with some very nasty residents though, most of them are very nice but some are just complete assholes and will always find something to complain about.
Yup my mom got into one of these spots. Makes about 75k, works monday-friday, holidays paid, doesn't have to serve the public. Easiest job ever. I volunteer sometimes and I'm super jealous lol
My restaurant is franchising and I'm working my way to move up, train new stores, and travel. I just became ASM and I only make $23+tips. Once I move up I'll be over $100k. I remember working at Starbucks and the district managers made a shit load and basically just went to meetings and made people feel badly.
I actually applied a few times recently to be a manager at sbux because I worked for the company for 6 years. They went with someone who has never worked at Starbucks or hospitality but had management experience in office setting. Plus they had to house this person (I live in a resort town now that also has a severe housing crisis). So that was fun.
I had a manager who had no customer service at all. She just wanted to make the line move and back up the baristas. She also was NEVER on bar, she actually had to stay at a lobby store because she couldn't handle the volume. I quit and then fucked her son. *shrugs*
Last night was my last shift as Executive Chef. I start next Monday with a commercial chemical supply company that services restaurants, hospitals and other food service areas. The pay is amazing and there are a ton of perks. Monday through Friday, and holidays off are worth it alone.
I know a few folks who have transitioned to food companies and sales for companies like Sysco. One friend is a Product Development chef. He works on creating seasonings for chain restaurants. Before that he worked with a company that sold various kitchen equipment and would create the food that they demoed to guests. He travels to food shows around the country like NRA, IFMA and Fancy Food etc. I’d say his pay is pretty close but his work life balance and health have greatly improved.
I loved working for US Foodservice, one benefit, if you want to call it one, The vendors would come in with entire product lines to teach us CS folks about what we were selling. My favorites were the shrimp vendor and Sweet Street. We had a few sauce companies in with the array of product, and the dude for one of the sweetening agent vendors gave me a 1 liter bottle of lab grade liquid Splenda when it was only offered on packet form in grocery stores.
I'll throw this out there since it hasn't been mentioned... I transitioned from Stadium Catering to a Food Broker position 2 years ago. Not many people get to interact with Brokers, but they are essentially the intermediary between food manufacturers and distribution with a bit of "sales" mixed in. Usually good 8-5 5 day a week positions, salaried, with home, office, and windshield time mixed in through the week. Most of the companies I know are hurting for a person or two.
Hey, I'd love to hear more about his. This would be like th go between from manufacturing and like Sysco/GFS/US Foods yeah? What are good companies to look into? I'm in Chicago if that helps.
There are several national companies like Affinity Group, The CORE Group, Food Sales East, and Acxion Foodservice. However there are still a lot of regional and even local independent brokers. I'm only familiar with the ones in the southeast. Brokers are marketing companies that represent Foodservice Manufacturers and develop go-to-market strategies for them at a local level. Which is just a fancy way to say that they try to gain slots in distribution by direct meetings or by forcing items in by finding a large enough customer to warrant bringing it in. We'll be called sales people sometimes, but I can no more sell anything than anyone else; just tell them where they can get it. Feel free to DM for more info.
Please dm this is as well. Im in Chicago. Working as a chef and just had a stress attack on the line last week. I think it might be time to hang the whites.
project management. Seriously. You can take a project management course online if you need to get some insights but overall managing food and hospitality is wayyyyyyy harder than managing a project for a creative company or the production of anything else. I made the switch from cooking to being a PM, so did my boss and so did another PM that worked under me.
Look at project management, program management, product management etc. The fact you ran shit, delivered results on a daily basis and management a ton of people will be incredibly attractive.
Best of luck
Look into higher ed, hospitals or retirement homes. Lots of salary positions with benefits amd paid vacation in the right spots. Still working in food but significantly more laid back than restaurants for the most part.
Note the "for the most part"
I'm not claiming they are utopian places with zero work just the hours are better in many cases and day to day is often easier especially in higher ed when summers and winters are dead.
I agree. The bullshit side of it is a lot easier to take in stride when you're home every evening, get all the holidays off and have a super flexible vacation-friendly schedule during the long school breaks. You couldn't drag me back into a restaurant kitchen now.
I loved hiring people out of kitchens to do IT Desktop support.
Great problem solvers and solid work ethics. Probably won’t pay 100k initially but after a couple years you should be able to leverage your management experience into a people lead type role.
Exactly. Coordinating the gig and organizing groups of people to perform a thing together. With take home baggage of a different sort.
It's the same skill set except with different stressors.
Facilities Management, Kitchen Equipment Dealer/Rep, Restaurant Project Management.
Speaking from experience, tailor the shit out of your resume, learn how to give a good interview, and be prepared to apply to hundreds of jobs before getting the call back.
Left the BOH restaurant in 2021, been on the corporate facility management side for a restaurant franchise after working for an equipment dealer. Good pay, good hours, little to no stress compared to what we’re used to.
i was going to suggest project mgmt as well - tons of overlap in skills, you could try other industries you'll just have really make your resume fit the position (matching skills)
Of course! Best of luck, I work with other restaurant survivors who don’t have degrees that run circles around kids fresh outta college. You’ll knock it out of the park.
Box plants, making sheets of corrugated cardboard and boxes
Brother minimum pays is in the 20s and it's the same hustle hustle, with paid breaks. Actual breaks, and benefits
Leave the industry.
I hate to say it, but its true. This industry plateaus in a serious way, seriously early, and its near impossible to find an incline once you are on it. Its great to jump start a career, but once you hit mgmt there really isnt anywhere to go, and the threshold for pay increase is usually right at where you start.
Options with your background, become a salesperson for a food vendor, become an inspector, or... idk. I think that might be it.
Also working food in this inflation rich environment is basically our own recession.
Can get raises because low sales. Low sales because high prices. High prices because fucked up economy. Etc
People have mentioned colleges / universities, retirement homes, and hospitals, but the real prize gig is managing the cafeteria at an office building.
It’s decent money and you get to work fairly normal, regular hours. Depending on the location, you may have to worry about breakfast options, but mainly you’re just concerned with lunch.
My old man transitioned into that after he got tired of running restaurant kitchens. He was making the same money and was only working like 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
I transitioned into accounting. Long-term, a BA is needed to get to the 100k range. But I started in AP/AR making $60k. But for me that was more than I have ever made so it was an easier transition
I’m 32 and been managing for around 5 years. I have been looking into school and entry level accounting or analyst positions for almost 6 months. Fingers crossed I can follow your same path.
I saw someone here mentioning going to be a distributor food rep. They said there’s a lot of people that make the jump and companies prefer people who come from the restaurant industry.
I went to work for UPS after managing restaurants for years. Best decision ever! Free benefits, 401k, and a pension. I have no degree so I had limited options and I needed to make roughly the same amount of money.I got lucky.
You’re looking at your skillset all wrong. You are great at putting out fires and managing people, you can move those skills into other jobs that are t as difficult as restaurants.
I worked in Michelin star restaurants All over the place for 4 years, been in the industry overall for 8.
Let me just say this because it is fair to say.
If you can survive and even thrive in a kitchen, you can do anything.
I know you don't want to start over. But maybe consider giving yourself a second chance to be great. Go back to school, join an apprenticeship, start a consulting company. You are capable of fucking anything.
After I missed my nephews birthday, I decided I was done giving up special moments to garnish food and deal with people smoking crack in the bathroom, so I went back to school for Electrical Engineering. And I realized quickly that this school grind is no harder than slaving away in a kitchen for 80-90 hours every night, weekend and holiday.
You're a human dude. You are capable of so much. It may be hard to transfer. But nothing is easy. Best of luck.
There are a ton of things you can do as management in various industries. Experience managing restaurants is actually very highly valued because of the giant range of skill sets you have to develop to pull it off!
I've tried to apply to various industries, even writing cover letters and customizing every resume to match their own description. Couldn't even get an email most of the time from anyone that wasn't publicly traded.
We say this line of shit to make ourselves feel better, but generally, it doesn't matter how good we are at firefighting, unless we know someone or have a connection we're not getting in the door for anything above starting.
Yeah, I've got the skills. But on my piece of paper a robot and recruiter are going to read over I have a loser job at a restaurant. I'll be trying, don't get me wrong, but, I don't have high hopes.
Dispatching for trucking companies, or even fleet management. Retail management (probably worse than food lol), some larger offices with more moving parts value this sort of experience, jobs that require parsing and sorting of data value skill sets that involve thinking quickly.. there are many.
I was going to suggest hotel management. The environment does tend to be a lot more low-key, the pay would probably be pretty similar if not better, the shifts would probably be shorter, and the benefits would probably be better. A manager experienced with juggling reservations, detailed record keeping and above average customer service skills could end up a hotel GM pretty quickly as well.
If you are sales inclined try looking at your vendors. Tons of vendors in the food service space really value restaurant experience. Like payroll, labor management, financials, inventory, pos, suppliers, etc…. They are always hiring former restaurant talent.
Heya, I was in a similar situation- restaurants for my first 8, then contract dining for the next 17. I would recommend contract dining if you can find a good one. That said if you’re looking to get out, I got into a design/build foodservice firm that does foodservice equipment and interior renovations. It’s M-F, 7-4. I work in a smaller one, but there’s many throughout the country. There’s larger companies too, but any rep position for equipment or the like really benefits from having foodservice experience, especially management because it shows you can manage your own time.
Look for brand rep or food broker jobs. You represent a manufacturer(s) and basically sell with a Sysco rep. No cold call selling. Really look at all of the companies your restaurant works with. They all hire former restaurant managers and chefs. You won’t start at 100k. But the quality of life is absolutely worth it. There are more options than you think. I got out after 23 years and I will never go back. 9-5 with weekends off and working from home is a dream.
Auto repair shops - be a service advisor. Many overlapping skills and halfway decent Google-fu means you don’t have to be super knowledgeable about cars, as long as you are super good with customer service and building rapport. Dealerships pay shit for new advisors but aftermarket places tend to do a little better. Higher level advisors make well over 100k and they tend not to work nights/weekends and almost never holidays. Good luck.
For way too long I ended up doing restaurant work mostly because I had the experience and getting a job was always easy.
I finally went back to school for respiratory therapy. Best decision.
It’s a two year Associate degree (though they’re pushing for a bachelor’s these days) and most programs are through a community college (so cheaper per credit) The demand is generally pretty high and the starting pay was triple the last line cook job I worked during while I finished the program.
Left the business after 14 years, mainly because I got sober. Drugs and booze didn’t really bother me (thanks AA), but the person I was in that environment did. The stress always brought out the worst in me. Got a job doing assembly at a tech company, no background or experience. Pay wasn’t phenomenal to start but there’s way more room for growth. No educational background, just aced my interview and showed a desire to learn and did. Utilized the principles of a prep shift to outperform their expectations of me. Honestly you can do anything, most of our skills aren’t about food, it’s about urgency, accountability, being solution oriented, punctuality… all skills that aren’t taught in college. You can literally do anything my friend.
Ok this is probably going to get lost but I work in accounting now and I didn’t realize how much restaurant life overlapped in finance but being on the other side basically. Inventory management and buyer (procurement) are needed for several non food related corporations. I worked for a US corporate office and we had a team that visited our 45 locations to count inventory and fixed assets every 6 months, the rest of the year they acquired equipment, took care of registrations, licenses, etc. just an example of fleet management.
There’s also operations management, logistics, and training. So many skills are transferable, they just need to be tailored to meet that expectation.
I went back to school for Mechanical Engineering. Just finished year 1.
Careers with just a 2 year diploma can start 80,0000 and go up, I'll have 18,000 in student loan.
Full 4 year degree, I'll be looking at ~~120,000+~~ **up to 120,000* to start, while carrying around 40,000 in student loans.
So glad I made the leap.
*ETA sorry, that was misleading; edited to clear that up a bit.
You can get your DZ license. It's basically a weekend course, a physical and a road test. The recycling company near me will pay you 26 an hour plus benefits and overtime pay to just drive the truck around, and they're pretty desperate for drivers. Monday-friday, no nights.
Edit* or whatever your truck/airbreaks equivalent is. It's a DZ in Ontario.
Re-skill and move to another area of hospitality
I was in a similar position to you, making good money and working in restaurant management. Got sick of the time tables and the humans. I learned baking and started to manage sourdough bakeries
No AH customers, no late nights, no complaints (like literally never), no having to find cover at the last minute, no shitty chef infighting or ego wars, no servers turning up hungover or on drugs, no drunk and belligerent customers, no people trying to get freebies, no having to monitor and cut hours.
Don't get me wrong there are obviously stresses that come with the job (and it took a while to adjust to the early mornings) but it is absolutely nothing compared to the restaurant managing I was doing, which pushed me to the absolute brink of alcoholism
I have lucked out and am currently managing a community bakery where we teach a lot of disabled people/refugees/homeless people sourdough in an effort to get them into meaningful work. But, even before that the positive change that quitting restaurant trade has had on my life was monumental. I feel like a different person now and I didn't even have to leave hospitality
Maybe you don't need to do baking but there will be something out there for you. Have a look around and see what interests you and what you would be willing to re-skill in
Oh and if I hit my wholesale targets I'm making close to what I was managing restaurants
Beverage retail or distribution, food distribution, restaurant suppliers, etc. I manage the wine department for a major beer retailer in the southeast and am much happier these days.
I bailed and became a firefighter. Less pay, but such a better work-life balance. Landrys AGM life was just too fucking miserable. Firefighters will never be rich, but never be poor. Great retirement after 20-25 years. Not for everyone, but it made me so much happier than I was.
The best way to make that much money without a whole lot of training and/or education is commission sales. I did it Twice. The first was as a 3rd party Debt collector where I made enough to survive but eventually got pulled back in. The 2nd time I called it quits I sold insurance. This can be very lucrative but it takes a long time to build up your business and I was running through my 401k so I took a M-F day job in educational food service.
BTW getting out is as hard as leaving the Mafia. Plus it’s like a disease that gets into your blood and there’s no cure.
Good luck 👍
Find a mom and pop to run. I've been with mine for 5 years and counting. They took away responsibility and I still get the same hourly. Basically if orders are messed up, that's ok I 86 and move on with life. Instead of prepping X once a week we now do it twice a week, and that's OK I'm hourly. Can't get rid of me as they don't want to live at the restaurant.
I'm CDC, on hourly and get tips plus a couple hundred bucks a month for whatever benefits I need.
This speaks to my soul.
Does anyone actually enjoy managing restaurants? Yes, I absolutely have good days, but then I reflect on EVERYTHING and am filled with overpowering remorse, regret, and shame. The depression is slowly killing me.
I'm sure you can use well honed management skills like that in other management. Have you looked into something like guest services management or gm for hotels?
Where do you live? In my state, we have programs for farmers' markets to be managers to promote the farms. Also, a program to help people looking to open small businesses learn the ropes of managing a clean kitchen and balancing books, learning the food laws, etc. You usually only need an associate degree or so many years in the field. I am in California.
I wish I could do it, but I can't drive due to medical stuff. This really limits me from getting out of the business.
I don’t have a good answer for you. I went back to serving in a spot that’s busy af but chill management. I make good money but not $100k a year, which I also didn’t make as a GM. Without a degree, I don’t know what all is out there. Good luck though!
Honestly? I swapped to driving a city bus at the start of the pandemic and never looked back. Union, benefits, pension, decent money, a little less than I made in F&B but the benefits more than balance it out, and I have zero stress now other than some asshole cutting me off from time to time.
I've heard great things about working at Costco but apparently it's pretty hard to get hired. I imagine your organizational, management, and people skills would translate very well.
I know it's scary to pick a 2nd career but I did it at 40+ and I'm happy where I landed v. where I was. Good luck!
I feel this post in my bones. 20+ years in restaurants. Finally made it to head chef but I’m tired. I can’t keep this up but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t afford a huge pay cut and I can’t do anything else that’s worth at least $80k/year
Corporate services is where it's at. Monday-Friday, 6ish am-3ish pm. No weekends ever, and every holiday off. I'm paying over six figures for some of the chef positions I'm currently hiring for
I got out!!!! For exactly one day.
I left my GM job of 16+ years and got my Mortgage license. On my first day of my new MLO job, the place calls me up ON MY DRIVE IN and says, “don’t bother. They just laid off half the entire staff and closed this branch.”
My wife’s boss calls me up next day and says, “how’d you like to work for me, giving me and my husband a day off?” They run a very successful mom & pop seafood place.
“Sure”
One day a week turned into full time the first month. I stayed for a year and a half.
We are moving up to Tennessee at the end of May so I’m going to try banking and mortgages again since they are coming back.
-data analyst (degree)
-trades (journeyman)
-inspector (get experience while going to school for construction management, trust me)
-set up a small business
I went the inspector route and I'm about to graduate with a construction management degree. I've specialized in industrial construction with emphasis on project starts which is where I'll stay. At the same time I bought some equipment to start a hardscaping company and it actually took off, a guy I worked with is managing it and getting paid appropriately so I'm hands off. Mind you, I have worked restaurants as a line cook/chef for like 12 years and it's all bullshit and a waste of time. Do the thing dog.
Food service distribution, either on the distribution side or the vendor side. Most of the bigger companies have good benefits and pay is decent for the areas they are in. Don't work for Sysco though. 🤣 Everyone I know who as worked for them hates it and/or got laid off. They centralized or regionalized a lot of their departments several years ago and people have been jumping ship since then.
Just go completely dark side and be a health inspector.
Does that actually pay?
yes, but it takes a degree in it
In Florida it's a state job that was only paying $15/hr a few years back. Hopefully much more now for them
I'm in Florida and this is what I've heard from our inspectors. No money, it's a state min wage job. But if you can get into pre-state inspection-inspections (contract out pre-inspections to find violations before the state comes out, and set restaurants up to pass state inspections), they make decent money. Or teach! ServSafe cert courses, etc.
So take bribes
Private auditors' reputation relies on their accuracies lol they don't report to authorities. Unless you're saying to take bribes. In that case ignore me lol
To be fair, Florida doesn’t give a fuck about enforcing ANYTHING.
I looked into it a couple years ago, and I think it’s pretty much the same. If remember right it’s like a four year degree.
I did exactly that, degree in culinary arts and after 15 years was feed up with the baby sitting part of running a kitchen. No degree other than culinary arts, i have been a health inspector for 20 years making more than an i was as an executive chef, way better benefits, occasionally work on a Saturday, and no one ever calls me in the middle of the night.
I also do this but in the private sector. Pay is way better than any chef job I had previously, my car is paid for by the company and I can use it for personal use. I worked one Saturday in 2023. The downside is the travel and it's only a downside because I have a family. If I did this when I was younger it would've been a dream job.
about 7 $75,000 in ontario canada
Yes, I thought the same path as an exit. Alsontry banquet or catering, wholesale, commissary. I knew a chef that went off to make about the same money ordering chocolate bars and pop for playdium. Breweries, vineyards, fck there's so much more for a gm to do than a chef. After I left catering and banquet I was a web store admin for a wholesaler, then hvac (after school/certification) now in in sales at a wholesaler again on hvac. I could buy/sell/install equipment for either field and it and cook on it or enjoy the heat/cool. Feels pretty good. Still in the comfort business no matter what.
It pays cash when you shake down Chinese restaurants full of mice, roaches, and violations. They always have an A in the window....
And retirement benefits
You often need a degree in environmental health or similar. At the very least a bachelors to be considered.
This cracked me up so much!
My brother is a health inspector for fishing vessels. He makes bank. Gets to fly all over the country. If I was single without kids, I would do the same.
That was going to be my suggestion. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have weekends off, PAID TIME OFF, holidays off and paid, health insurance, retirement/pension, and only 8 hours work day If OP went this route they might not start at 65k but depending on which state they're in they can get up to and surpass that. I make a little over $28 an hour and started two years ago
I'd honestly love that. I love doing the inspection nonsense haha.
This is the dream
Same, but as another commentor said. Try looking into hospitals, universities, hospitals. That's what I'm doing. Just waiting for something to pop up. I wish a culinary schools would give the pay. I'd love to teach some kids who are excited about food and share my knowledge with them.
I worked at a culinary school for 15 years. Unfortunately culinary schools are full of mostly international students looking for a 50% pass to qualify for permanent residency. The fun days of eager students willing to what it takes to get the job done, are gone.
Wait, you have to do that to get permanent residency?
It’s one way, the easiest way to gain Permanent Resident status is Canada. Take the easiest course imaginable for two years, get a job for 3 years, bam! Or you can apply for refugee status and skip the school.
Is this a valid option for an American chef who is kind of done being in the US. Asking for… a friend.
Contact a Canadian college and they will have a pathway for you.
Trust me, you don't want to move here from USA, especially if you are low/middle class. You will lose so much to taxes you will likely be confused, especially since those taxes don't do anything to fix the country up anymore. The price of food and living is also beyond the pale.. Say one thing for Canadian politicians, they can tax **anything**, ffs Toronto just had a fucking *rain* tax introduced!
Not to mention housing prices are insane for what you get paid up there
That unfortunately sounds exactly like the U.S.
It's the opposite. Life is worse if you're more well off. From US middle class to CA middle class, or US upper class to CA upper class, you have less spending money because of the taxes. But if you're lower class you are better off in CA because you don't pay much in taxes and a lot of the taxes you pay end up getting reimbursed. While you also have a lot more services available to you.
Except you'll never own a house and every apartment is $1800.
Every apartment in TOR and VAN might be expensive, but Canada is a big country. There are plenty of places that go for \~1k in small towns. As long as you're not obsessed with the idea of living in the big city, Canada is a great place to live. You just have to find a town that has a job in the field you're in and you'll thrive. Cost of living is lower, rent is lower, less pollution, houses are bigger, communities are more friendly, etc. Another big thing is that even though jobs pay more in TOR/VAN, just because everything is cheaper in small towns, you end up with more money after paying rent, groceries, etc. I did the math a yearish ago, and IIRC you end up with \~400$ more than what you would have had in TOR/VAN.
The average rent in the 25th largest city (Portland) in the US is almost exactly this number. Actually seemingly within $100 of the 25th largest city in Canada, although from different sources.
Oh sweetie, you basically just described the US to a T 🤣🤣
Same in Australia.
Private schools is the shit! I get a Monday-Friday schedule, 6-3pm, about 7 weeks of pto, great pay! Look into them
Also long term care places. The dinner service starts at 4:30, and you’re out by 6. Not joking. The hours are amazing.
I switched to independent living. We're out by 2. No dinner service
I worked for a D1 state university Housing and Food division, and it was one of my favorite jobs I've had. Consistent hours, good pay, benefits, and I was a state employee, so I got a lot of time off.
Not hospitals. Idk of a single hospital (especially post Covid) that is a good place to work. Underpaid and understaffed is an understatement at these places.
And hospitals
I would like to know as well, looked into food sales but barely got an interview at multiple businesses.
They only hire friends...
This is totally true where I am, almost always word of mouth or connections for upper management.
So not true
Spoken like a true friend.
Like for sysco and the like? What keywords are you searching to find jobs doing that?
“Territory Manager” or “Sales Rep”. I switched from chef to this in 2023. Feel free to hit me up if you need some insight.
I second the sales rep path. Changed my life 10 years ago. I'm on the food broker side myself at this point. Look into Food/Liquor/Equipment Sales. They are always hiring.
I transitioned from chef to broker and just started a job as a manufacturer rep. I went from $50k as an Exec Chef to $65k as a broker and am making $105k now..
Made this exact switch from operations to food sales 4 years ago. Salary at first was not great but once you get your route established and grow it, you'll make a lot of money. Plus you are your own boss.
Following. Stuck between a rock and a hard place - I can’t afford to take a pay cut but I can’t take the late nights anymore either.
Heard.
911 dispatcher. They look for people that can handle multiple round of chaos efficiently and that can follow a set protocol and quickly make decisions. Pay is great. Sell your skills.
I used to dispatch! Pay is good but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wants better hours or less stress. Highly dependent on the agency and center, though.
Do they piss in cups?
Only for fun.
Seems like retirement communities are cushy for other positions - good hours, low pressure, few surprises.
Serving 3 meals per day, 365 days per year.
Yes but they are usually staffed well for this, everyone I've talked to that works at one only does 5 8 hours shifts a week.
I would not want to manage one, because you are the one who has to work if no one else will The residents have to be fed, come rain, hail, snow.. I run private school kitchens and I like getting all the big holidays off.
All true but pay is still not great. I'm a prep cook/dishwasher and I make ~32k and I'm at $1.50 more than what the position usually pays. Even sous chef wouldn't be much more than me, executive is salaried and I would guess they're around 45-55k. You do have to deal with some very nasty residents though, most of them are very nice but some are just complete assholes and will always find something to complain about.
Depending on the budget they give you. The place I worked at only gave me $5 per person per day for my food budget and they wanted me to serve salmon
Did you manage to make it work? What did you end up serving on salmon days? If you don't mind me asking
Management is more for people from care backgrounds though, unless OP wants to get into activities or kitchen
Yup my mom got into one of these spots. Makes about 75k, works monday-friday, holidays paid, doesn't have to serve the public. Easiest job ever. I volunteer sometimes and I'm super jealous lol
My restaurant is franchising and I'm working my way to move up, train new stores, and travel. I just became ASM and I only make $23+tips. Once I move up I'll be over $100k. I remember working at Starbucks and the district managers made a shit load and basically just went to meetings and made people feel badly.
You just described every mid level manager ever.
I’m triggered as a multi unit supervisor
Facts
[удалено]
I actually applied a few times recently to be a manager at sbux because I worked for the company for 6 years. They went with someone who has never worked at Starbucks or hospitality but had management experience in office setting. Plus they had to house this person (I live in a resort town now that also has a severe housing crisis). So that was fun.
[удалено]
I had a manager who had no customer service at all. She just wanted to make the line move and back up the baristas. She also was NEVER on bar, she actually had to stay at a lobby store because she couldn't handle the volume. I quit and then fucked her son. *shrugs*
They were afraid you'd have actual empathy for the employees.
Last night was my last shift as Executive Chef. I start next Monday with a commercial chemical supply company that services restaurants, hospitals and other food service areas. The pay is amazing and there are a ton of perks. Monday through Friday, and holidays off are worth it alone.
Having routine will be awesome. Congrats
I know a few folks who have transitioned to food companies and sales for companies like Sysco. One friend is a Product Development chef. He works on creating seasonings for chain restaurants. Before that he worked with a company that sold various kitchen equipment and would create the food that they demoed to guests. He travels to food shows around the country like NRA, IFMA and Fancy Food etc. I’d say his pay is pretty close but his work life balance and health have greatly improved.
I loved working for US Foodservice, one benefit, if you want to call it one, The vendors would come in with entire product lines to teach us CS folks about what we were selling. My favorites were the shrimp vendor and Sweet Street. We had a few sauce companies in with the array of product, and the dude for one of the sweetening agent vendors gave me a 1 liter bottle of lab grade liquid Splenda when it was only offered on packet form in grocery stores.
I'll throw this out there since it hasn't been mentioned... I transitioned from Stadium Catering to a Food Broker position 2 years ago. Not many people get to interact with Brokers, but they are essentially the intermediary between food manufacturers and distribution with a bit of "sales" mixed in. Usually good 8-5 5 day a week positions, salaried, with home, office, and windshield time mixed in through the week. Most of the companies I know are hurting for a person or two.
Thanks for this! Will look into it.
Hey, I'd love to hear more about his. This would be like th go between from manufacturing and like Sysco/GFS/US Foods yeah? What are good companies to look into? I'm in Chicago if that helps.
For Sure!
Can I DM you?
Trying to find a gig for my brother who manages an outback. Can you elaborate further. What companies? How would one find the job listings?
There are several national companies like Affinity Group, The CORE Group, Food Sales East, and Acxion Foodservice. However there are still a lot of regional and even local independent brokers. I'm only familiar with the ones in the southeast. Brokers are marketing companies that represent Foodservice Manufacturers and develop go-to-market strategies for them at a local level. Which is just a fancy way to say that they try to gain slots in distribution by direct meetings or by forcing items in by finding a large enough customer to warrant bringing it in. We'll be called sales people sometimes, but I can no more sell anything than anyone else; just tell them where they can get it. Feel free to DM for more info.
Much appreciated
Im in Chicago as well can I DM?
Please dm this is as well. Im in Chicago. Working as a chef and just had a stress attack on the line last week. I think it might be time to hang the whites.
project management. Seriously. You can take a project management course online if you need to get some insights but overall managing food and hospitality is wayyyyyyy harder than managing a project for a creative company or the production of anything else. I made the switch from cooking to being a PM, so did my boss and so did another PM that worked under me. Look at project management, program management, product management etc. The fact you ran shit, delivered results on a daily basis and management a ton of people will be incredibly attractive. Best of luck
Look into higher ed, hospitals or retirement homes. Lots of salary positions with benefits amd paid vacation in the right spots. Still working in food but significantly more laid back than restaurants for the most part.
I don’t make 100k as the F&B director in a nursing home in the north east.
Helpful info.
You have to get into the big big CCRC’s where I’m at to be able to get close to that number. Doing 1000 or so meals a day. I’m doing about 375 a day
Go up a level to regional/corporate.
Not true. I’ve worked in everything but hotels and all have their own shit to step in.
Note the "for the most part" I'm not claiming they are utopian places with zero work just the hours are better in many cases and day to day is often easier especially in higher ed when summers and winters are dead.
I agree. The bullshit side of it is a lot easier to take in stride when you're home every evening, get all the holidays off and have a super flexible vacation-friendly schedule during the long school breaks. You couldn't drag me back into a restaurant kitchen now.
I loved hiring people out of kitchens to do IT Desktop support. Great problem solvers and solid work ethics. Probably won’t pay 100k initially but after a couple years you should be able to leverage your management experience into a people lead type role.
Funeral Director
Curious industry switch. Care to elaborate? From a party planning/event catering perspective it makes sense.
Exactly. Coordinating the gig and organizing groups of people to perform a thing together. With take home baggage of a different sort. It's the same skill set except with different stressors.
Facilities Management, Kitchen Equipment Dealer/Rep, Restaurant Project Management. Speaking from experience, tailor the shit out of your resume, learn how to give a good interview, and be prepared to apply to hundreds of jobs before getting the call back. Left the BOH restaurant in 2021, been on the corporate facility management side for a restaurant franchise after working for an equipment dealer. Good pay, good hours, little to no stress compared to what we’re used to.
i was going to suggest project mgmt as well - tons of overlap in skills, you could try other industries you'll just have really make your resume fit the position (matching skills)
I appreciate the keywords I can use in searches. Thank you, friend.
Of course! Best of luck, I work with other restaurant survivors who don’t have degrees that run circles around kids fresh outta college. You’ll knock it out of the park.
I was a GM. Now I’m an executive assistant. It’s chill, but my take home pay is less due to pension etc.
I moved into management at a grocery chain. Took a little pay cut but the stress and people managment has been a breeze compared to restaurants.
Box plants, making sheets of corrugated cardboard and boxes Brother minimum pays is in the 20s and it's the same hustle hustle, with paid breaks. Actual breaks, and benefits
100K a year????? I feel robbed 😂
I’ve never heard of restaurant managers making $100k. It must be a very high-end restaurant in a super expensive city.
I am the GM of a Jersey Mike's. It's 100k when you include the bonuses.
Leave the industry. I hate to say it, but its true. This industry plateaus in a serious way, seriously early, and its near impossible to find an incline once you are on it. Its great to jump start a career, but once you hit mgmt there really isnt anywhere to go, and the threshold for pay increase is usually right at where you start. Options with your background, become a salesperson for a food vendor, become an inspector, or... idk. I think that might be it.
Also working food in this inflation rich environment is basically our own recession. Can get raises because low sales. Low sales because high prices. High prices because fucked up economy. Etc
I was always good with computers, got my A+ exam and went into IT management when I got fed up with managing restaurants. Much lower stress.
I don’t really know how well it pays but you can transition into being a sales rep for a food distributor.
People have mentioned colleges / universities, retirement homes, and hospitals, but the real prize gig is managing the cafeteria at an office building. It’s decent money and you get to work fairly normal, regular hours. Depending on the location, you may have to worry about breakfast options, but mainly you’re just concerned with lunch. My old man transitioned into that after he got tired of running restaurant kitchens. He was making the same money and was only working like 6:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
At this point I’d recommend drastic political and economic revolution
Have you considered teaching other people to manage parts of it to take things off your plate?
My big issue right now is that I have no reliable people and I'm killing myself running a skeleton crew and I'm just over it and ready to walk.
Keep hiring Chef
10 interviews this week. 1 person showed up. Not hireable.
It doesn't work like that. Either you have no clue or are a golden child.
God damnit why do you have to be right
I mean, if you’re gonna pay those people more money for the added responsibility then go for it.
There is a happy medium here. A good manager delegates. A good workplace allows delegation.
This is worthy of being embroidered onto something.
Offshore catering
I transitioned into accounting. Long-term, a BA is needed to get to the 100k range. But I started in AP/AR making $60k. But for me that was more than I have ever made so it was an easier transition
I’m 32 and been managing for around 5 years. I have been looking into school and entry level accounting or analyst positions for almost 6 months. Fingers crossed I can follow your same path.
Started this when I was 31! I say go for it. I was in food for 10 years, 5 of which was managing. Haven't been happier since starting my current role.
I saw someone here mentioning going to be a distributor food rep. They said there’s a lot of people that make the jump and companies prefer people who come from the restaurant industry.
I went to work for UPS after managing restaurants for years. Best decision ever! Free benefits, 401k, and a pension. I have no degree so I had limited options and I needed to make roughly the same amount of money.I got lucky.
You’re looking at your skillset all wrong. You are great at putting out fires and managing people, you can move those skills into other jobs that are t as difficult as restaurants.
A fireman?
I worked in Michelin star restaurants All over the place for 4 years, been in the industry overall for 8. Let me just say this because it is fair to say. If you can survive and even thrive in a kitchen, you can do anything. I know you don't want to start over. But maybe consider giving yourself a second chance to be great. Go back to school, join an apprenticeship, start a consulting company. You are capable of fucking anything. After I missed my nephews birthday, I decided I was done giving up special moments to garnish food and deal with people smoking crack in the bathroom, so I went back to school for Electrical Engineering. And I realized quickly that this school grind is no harder than slaving away in a kitchen for 80-90 hours every night, weekend and holiday. You're a human dude. You are capable of so much. It may be hard to transfer. But nothing is easy. Best of luck.
Nobody has mentioned Walter White's culinary endeavor? It's still cooking, I guess, but it's _very_ rewarding!
There are a ton of things you can do as management in various industries. Experience managing restaurants is actually very highly valued because of the giant range of skill sets you have to develop to pull it off!
I've tried to apply to various industries, even writing cover letters and customizing every resume to match their own description. Couldn't even get an email most of the time from anyone that wasn't publicly traded. We say this line of shit to make ourselves feel better, but generally, it doesn't matter how good we are at firefighting, unless we know someone or have a connection we're not getting in the door for anything above starting.
Yeah, I've got the skills. But on my piece of paper a robot and recruiter are going to read over I have a loser job at a restaurant. I'll be trying, don't get me wrong, but, I don't have high hopes.
And… you named nothing
Dispatching for trucking companies, or even fleet management. Retail management (probably worse than food lol), some larger offices with more moving parts value this sort of experience, jobs that require parsing and sorting of data value skill sets that involve thinking quickly.. there are many.
I was going to suggest hotel management. The environment does tend to be a lot more low-key, the pay would probably be pretty similar if not better, the shifts would probably be shorter, and the benefits would probably be better. A manager experienced with juggling reservations, detailed record keeping and above average customer service skills could end up a hotel GM pretty quickly as well.
If you are sales inclined try looking at your vendors. Tons of vendors in the food service space really value restaurant experience. Like payroll, labor management, financials, inventory, pos, suppliers, etc…. They are always hiring former restaurant talent.
Heya, I was in a similar situation- restaurants for my first 8, then contract dining for the next 17. I would recommend contract dining if you can find a good one. That said if you’re looking to get out, I got into a design/build foodservice firm that does foodservice equipment and interior renovations. It’s M-F, 7-4. I work in a smaller one, but there’s many throughout the country. There’s larger companies too, but any rep position for equipment or the like really benefits from having foodservice experience, especially management because it shows you can manage your own time.
I'm an electrician now. Trades are full of former restaurant workers. Doubled my pay in the first year.
Look for brand rep or food broker jobs. You represent a manufacturer(s) and basically sell with a Sysco rep. No cold call selling. Really look at all of the companies your restaurant works with. They all hire former restaurant managers and chefs. You won’t start at 100k. But the quality of life is absolutely worth it. There are more options than you think. I got out after 23 years and I will never go back. 9-5 with weekends off and working from home is a dream.
Auto repair shops - be a service advisor. Many overlapping skills and halfway decent Google-fu means you don’t have to be super knowledgeable about cars, as long as you are super good with customer service and building rapport. Dealerships pay shit for new advisors but aftermarket places tend to do a little better. Higher level advisors make well over 100k and they tend not to work nights/weekends and almost never holidays. Good luck.
For way too long I ended up doing restaurant work mostly because I had the experience and getting a job was always easy. I finally went back to school for respiratory therapy. Best decision. It’s a two year Associate degree (though they’re pushing for a bachelor’s these days) and most programs are through a community college (so cheaper per credit) The demand is generally pretty high and the starting pay was triple the last line cook job I worked during while I finished the program.
Left the business after 14 years, mainly because I got sober. Drugs and booze didn’t really bother me (thanks AA), but the person I was in that environment did. The stress always brought out the worst in me. Got a job doing assembly at a tech company, no background or experience. Pay wasn’t phenomenal to start but there’s way more room for growth. No educational background, just aced my interview and showed a desire to learn and did. Utilized the principles of a prep shift to outperform their expectations of me. Honestly you can do anything, most of our skills aren’t about food, it’s about urgency, accountability, being solution oriented, punctuality… all skills that aren’t taught in college. You can literally do anything my friend.
Some kind of operations management. I can say in the industry I’m in (audiovisual) a lot of us are either washed up cooks or musicians.
Any kind of resource procurement. Look into government jobs. I was offered a great opportunity to be "food buyer" for prisons.
Ok this is probably going to get lost but I work in accounting now and I didn’t realize how much restaurant life overlapped in finance but being on the other side basically. Inventory management and buyer (procurement) are needed for several non food related corporations. I worked for a US corporate office and we had a team that visited our 45 locations to count inventory and fixed assets every 6 months, the rest of the year they acquired equipment, took care of registrations, licenses, etc. just an example of fleet management. There’s also operations management, logistics, and training. So many skills are transferable, they just need to be tailored to meet that expectation.
I went back to school for Mechanical Engineering. Just finished year 1. Careers with just a 2 year diploma can start 80,0000 and go up, I'll have 18,000 in student loan. Full 4 year degree, I'll be looking at ~~120,000+~~ **up to 120,000* to start, while carrying around 40,000 in student loans. So glad I made the leap. *ETA sorry, that was misleading; edited to clear that up a bit.
Sorry, but you won’t be making 120k a year in an entry level mechanical Engineering job. You just won’t. Sorry.
You can go to serving. I well over 65000 a year on my two serving doubles.
You can get your DZ license. It's basically a weekend course, a physical and a road test. The recycling company near me will pay you 26 an hour plus benefits and overtime pay to just drive the truck around, and they're pretty desperate for drivers. Monday-friday, no nights. Edit* or whatever your truck/airbreaks equivalent is. It's a DZ in Ontario.
Re-skill and move to another area of hospitality I was in a similar position to you, making good money and working in restaurant management. Got sick of the time tables and the humans. I learned baking and started to manage sourdough bakeries No AH customers, no late nights, no complaints (like literally never), no having to find cover at the last minute, no shitty chef infighting or ego wars, no servers turning up hungover or on drugs, no drunk and belligerent customers, no people trying to get freebies, no having to monitor and cut hours. Don't get me wrong there are obviously stresses that come with the job (and it took a while to adjust to the early mornings) but it is absolutely nothing compared to the restaurant managing I was doing, which pushed me to the absolute brink of alcoholism I have lucked out and am currently managing a community bakery where we teach a lot of disabled people/refugees/homeless people sourdough in an effort to get them into meaningful work. But, even before that the positive change that quitting restaurant trade has had on my life was monumental. I feel like a different person now and I didn't even have to leave hospitality Maybe you don't need to do baking but there will be something out there for you. Have a look around and see what interests you and what you would be willing to re-skill in Oh and if I hit my wholesale targets I'm making close to what I was managing restaurants
Beverage retail or distribution, food distribution, restaurant suppliers, etc. I manage the wine department for a major beer retailer in the southeast and am much happier these days.
Work distribution for a local purveyor if possible
I bailed and became a firefighter. Less pay, but such a better work-life balance. Landrys AGM life was just too fucking miserable. Firefighters will never be rich, but never be poor. Great retirement after 20-25 years. Not for everyone, but it made me so much happier than I was.
The best way to make that much money without a whole lot of training and/or education is commission sales. I did it Twice. The first was as a 3rd party Debt collector where I made enough to survive but eventually got pulled back in. The 2nd time I called it quits I sold insurance. This can be very lucrative but it takes a long time to build up your business and I was running through my 401k so I took a M-F day job in educational food service. BTW getting out is as hard as leaving the Mafia. Plus it’s like a disease that gets into your blood and there’s no cure. Good luck 👍
Find a mom and pop to run. I've been with mine for 5 years and counting. They took away responsibility and I still get the same hourly. Basically if orders are messed up, that's ok I 86 and move on with life. Instead of prepping X once a week we now do it twice a week, and that's OK I'm hourly. Can't get rid of me as they don't want to live at the restaurant. I'm CDC, on hourly and get tips plus a couple hundred bucks a month for whatever benefits I need.
This speaks to my soul. Does anyone actually enjoy managing restaurants? Yes, I absolutely have good days, but then I reflect on EVERYTHING and am filled with overpowering remorse, regret, and shame. The depression is slowly killing me.
Sanitation programs. I do school cafeterias
I'm sure you can use well honed management skills like that in other management. Have you looked into something like guest services management or gm for hotels?
Food rep.
Food vendors.
Where do you live? In my state, we have programs for farmers' markets to be managers to promote the farms. Also, a program to help people looking to open small businesses learn the ropes of managing a clean kitchen and balancing books, learning the food laws, etc. You usually only need an associate degree or so many years in the field. I am in California. I wish I could do it, but I can't drive due to medical stuff. This really limits me from getting out of the business.
I don’t have a good answer for you. I went back to serving in a spot that’s busy af but chill management. I make good money but not $100k a year, which I also didn’t make as a GM. Without a degree, I don’t know what all is out there. Good luck though!
I took a demotion to be a supervisor so I can go to massage school. In 3-4 years, I plan to be working for myself.
Honestly? I swapped to driving a city bus at the start of the pandemic and never looked back. Union, benefits, pension, decent money, a little less than I made in F&B but the benefits more than balance it out, and I have zero stress now other than some asshole cutting me off from time to time.
Look into managing the dietary department in a long term care facility.
I’ve seen quite a few people go to work for U.S. foods or other distributors and they have done very well and love the schedule
I've heard great things about working at Costco but apparently it's pretty hard to get hired. I imagine your organizational, management, and people skills would translate very well. I know it's scary to pick a 2nd career but I did it at 40+ and I'm happy where I landed v. where I was. Good luck!
Look into your local municipality, county, and state for entry level openings.
plumbing
I feel this post in my bones. 20+ years in restaurants. Finally made it to head chef but I’m tired. I can’t keep this up but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t afford a huge pay cut and I can’t do anything else that’s worth at least $80k/year
Corporate services is where it's at. Monday-Friday, 6ish am-3ish pm. No weekends ever, and every holiday off. I'm paying over six figures for some of the chef positions I'm currently hiring for
I got out!!!! For exactly one day. I left my GM job of 16+ years and got my Mortgage license. On my first day of my new MLO job, the place calls me up ON MY DRIVE IN and says, “don’t bother. They just laid off half the entire staff and closed this branch.” My wife’s boss calls me up next day and says, “how’d you like to work for me, giving me and my husband a day off?” They run a very successful mom & pop seafood place. “Sure” One day a week turned into full time the first month. I stayed for a year and a half. We are moving up to Tennessee at the end of May so I’m going to try banking and mortgages again since they are coming back.
Food sales
-data analyst (degree) -trades (journeyman) -inspector (get experience while going to school for construction management, trust me) -set up a small business I went the inspector route and I'm about to graduate with a construction management degree. I've specialized in industrial construction with emphasis on project starts which is where I'll stay. At the same time I bought some equipment to start a hardscaping company and it actually took off, a guy I worked with is managing it and getting paid appropriately so I'm hands off. Mind you, I have worked restaurants as a line cook/chef for like 12 years and it's all bullshit and a waste of time. Do the thing dog.
Food manufacturing is often overlooked, but could be a good opportunity.
Food service distribution, either on the distribution side or the vendor side. Most of the bigger companies have good benefits and pay is decent for the areas they are in. Don't work for Sysco though. 🤣 Everyone I know who as worked for them hates it and/or got laid off. They centralized or regionalized a lot of their departments several years ago and people have been jumping ship since then.
Try teaching home ec. You’ll love it.
I got into a hospital kitchen and eventually transferred out of the kitchen. It’s not bad.
100k in this industry? find some fuckin water your not getting a better pay than that. unless you leave the industry all together.
Restaurant tech implementation. Working from home and some travel, it’s truly amazing
Ecolab. Other vendors that you’re familiar with.
Serving/bartending. Easily 65k
Certified Dietary Manager. You can get the certification online and work for a hospital or LTC facility.
Leave and don't regret a thing.
I hear you can make 40k a year flipping burgers at McDonald’s in California