Do all the cooking shows and cooking based reality programs get you excited to get in the kitchen? If they do, a culinary arts career might just be the thing for you. Working as a chef is rewarding, especially because you get instant gratification from executing a properly made dish. Also, you get to be around food all day. But don't get the idea it's a glitzy job, it's hot and hard work, especially when you are starting out.
The pay starts out on the low side. If you've gone through culinary school you can start as a prep chef with pay around $26,000 - $32,000. As you get experience you will probably be looking for ways to advance in your kitchen or in a better restaurant. As you gain experience you will become a line chef, then a sous chef and eventually if all works well, an executive chef making in the neighborhood of $100,000. But it takes years to get to that point, but if you love it it will be worth it. While you'll be learning all the time, your first couple of years will be the real learning years.
Some of the drawbacks of this life are the long horse, on your feet for eight hours and you will be working during the times when most people are off work and going out and socializing and sleeping.
Other things you need is a strong attention to detail and the ability to follow directions. Besides being able to make a dish properly, you have to very consistently do it over and over again.
Besides the varied styles of cooking and cuisines, chefs work in a number of varied food service establishments, from restaurants, cafeterias, banquet halls, hotels, cruise ships, to resorts. While some of the basics of the position are similar, summing up what a chef does is impossible.
