Education Required to Become a Chef
If you love food and enjoy cooking, you may choose to work as a chef. Chef positions include executive chef, bakery chef, sous chefs, restaurant management and lower-level chefs.
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High School Diploma
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High school student learns food-service skills Although having a high school diploma is not a requirement for starting out in the cooking services, it is surely a requirement for the additional education you will need to have to become a fully qualified chef. Getting a good high school education is especially important if your goals include becoming an executive chef.
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Vocational Schools
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Learn the basic skills to become a chef Some vocational schools train people on the basics of food service, which may give a chef the foundation for formal culinary school programs. They may teach kitchen safety, basic cooking and some health issues for the food-service professional.
Culinary Schools
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Culinary students get specialized chef training An aspiring chef may enter culinary school for more in-depth training. She may choose a two-year certificate program or a four-year degree. This is important for those wanting to take higher levels of responsibility in the kitchen. These schools will focus on all aspects of cooking, from bakery classes to classical cooking techniques.
Apprentices and Lower-Level Chefs
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Apprentices get help from more experienced chefs In some restaurants, chefs fresh out of culinary school do not jump into management positions in the kitchen. Instead they start out as apprentices and lower-level chefs, while they learn the trade and become more familiar with how a kitchen is run. Additionally, apprentices may learn specialized cooking styles while under a more experienced chef.
American Culinary Federation (ACF)
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Some apprenticeships offered by the ACF to teach aspiring chefs the craft. The ACF also has a training program for certification. These programs offer 14 designations of chef-training courses.
References
- Photo Credit "Craft Based Learning" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: GIHE (Glion Institute of Higher Education) under the Creative Commons Attribution license. "0161" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: RLFilipkowski (Rick Filipkowski) under the Creative Commons Attribution license. "The chef prepares the Crêpe Suzette" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: ewen and donabel (Ewen Roberts) under the Creative Commons Attribution license. "Taming the Flame" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Cillian Storm (Bonita Suraputra) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
