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Culinary School and Food Industry Careers (1 Viewer)

RC94

RC94

Footballguy
I was wondering if anyone here has been to culinary school and what your thoughts and experiences are, not only in school but also as a professional in the food industry. I have been thinking about changing my career and I have always loved to cook, and love food in general, so I am considering culinary school.

I am not necessarily looking to get a job as a chef in a restaurant, though. I have an MBA in marketing and a management consulting background and I wouldn’t mind combining my business background with my culinary school education, so being a cook in a restaurant isn’t really my top choice for a long term career path. There are other options that sound more appealing to me, such as a more corporate job at a food company, culinary consulting company, or the Food Network, or maybe as a private chef for a really rich person. Also, due to getting an MBA, I already have school loans that still haven’t been fully paid so adding more debt is a concern.

I live in the NYC area so I will only be considering NYC schools. That mainly means The International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), The Institute of Culinary Education, and Le Cordon Bleu, but I am open to other ideas. Since I will be in so much debt after I graduate, the school with the best career services and that provides the best long term career options is my top choice. Based on my initial research that seems to be The International Culinary Center, but I would like to hear the thoughts of people who have been thru these programs and/or are professionals in the food industry.

Any thoughts and advice are welcome.

 
This just in: you won't get a gig as a chef for a really rich person unless you have already cut your teeth sweating it out in a real restaurant... preferably a fine dining type of real restaurant.

 
johnnycakes said:
This just in: you won't get a gig as a chef for a really rich person unless you have already cut your teeth sweating it out in a real restaurant... preferably a fine dining type of real restaurant.
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I figured that. It came to mind because a previous client of mine was a financial services company and they have a private dining room for upper management and it seemed like a more laid back version of working in a restaurant.

 
RC94 said:
johnnycakes said:
This just in: you won't get a gig as a chef for a really rich person unless you have already cut your teeth sweating it out in a real restaurant... preferably a fine dining type of real restaurant.
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I figured that. It came to mind because a previous client of mine was a financial services company and they have a private dining room for upper management and it seemed like a more laid back version of working in a restaurant.
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It can be... or not, depending entirely on who the really rich guy is. And who his wife is. I have one client who would be a dream to work for: very generous in what he pays, but the job has its own demands... travel on short notice and to faraway places may be required; familiarity with many different cuisines may be required; and you're not getting paid to do B work in that kind of a job, either... they expect A+ every time. And that's for a good employer. I have another client... nice guy... but his wife is a beach on wheels, Gawd almighty. The only reason we put up with her is because her husband is the real client. We simply tolerate her. But not for long... they're getting divorced soon. Anyhow... you get stuck working for that woman... sure, they'll pay you well enough to start but you will take a mountain of #### from that woman every day. And no matter what you do. Still can't figure out why that guy married her. Probably couldn't get laid by anyone else is my guess. :shrug:

 
You have an MBA but want to take on a bunch more debt for a culinary degree?

BWAHAHAHAHA.

(Wife of a chef.)

 
More seriously, I don't get this career path. You most certainly don't need this degree for the corporate job at a food company nor a culinary consulting gig, and as previously pointed out you aren't going to get the private chef position without a bunch of prior restaurant work. I don't know what your other job ("Food Network") even means.

My husband went to culinary school. Doing so allowed him to make the connections to get restaurant jobs at increasingly elite places, but if you're not looking to cook I don't see it enhancing your resume.

 
krista4 said:
More seriously, I don't get this career path. You most certainly don't need this degree for the corporate job at a food company nor a culinary consulting gig, and as previously pointed out you aren't going to get the private chef position without a bunch of prior restaurant work. I don't know what your other job ("Food Network") even means.

My husband went to culinary school. Doing so allowed him to make the connections to get restaurant jobs at increasingly elite places, but if you're not looking to cook I don't see it enhancing your resume.
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That's why I am asking. I am trying to figure out if it's the right course of action for me. However, to be more clear about a corporate job I was also thinking about cooking for a company, such as Kraft or something like that. I don't have any culinary industry experience on a corporate level (like in finance or strategic planning) so I haven't been able to get a job like that with a food company. As far as Food Network, I had a similar thing in mind in that I would be cooking for them (I am not telegenic enough nor do I have the really outgoing personality to be an on air TV personality). Culinary consulting companies and other more traditional corporate jobs for food companies also want people with food industry knowledge and/or experience so I haven't been able to get a job there either.

ETA - I am just trying to figure out what I would do with a culinary degree and am open to ideas that include careers outside of a restaurant kitchen. I know there are a lot of different options and not all need or require a culinary degree. However, I have tried to get traditional corporate jobs in the culinary industry and haven't been able to land anything yet with my current amount of experience. Maybe I need to start lower on the ladder, which I am willing to do. For once in my life I want to follow my heart and do something I enjoy.

 
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RC94 said:
krista4 said:
More seriously, I don't get this career path. You most certainly don't need this degree for the corporate job at a food company nor a culinary consulting gig, and as previously pointed out you aren't going to get the private chef position without a bunch of prior restaurant work. I don't know what your other job ("Food Network") even means.

My husband went to culinary school. Doing so allowed him to make the connections to get restaurant jobs at increasingly elite places, but if you're not looking to cook I don't see it enhancing your resume.
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That's why I am asking. I am trying to figure out if it's the right course of action for me. However, to be more clear about a corporate job I was also thinking about cooking for a company, such as Kraft or something like that. I don't have any culinary industry experience on a corporate level (like in finance or strategic planning) so I haven't been able to get a job like that with a food company. As far as Food Network, I had a similar thing in mind in that I would be cooking for them (I am not telegenic enough nor do I have the really outgoing personality to be an on air TV personality). Culinary consulting companies and other more traditional corporate jobs for food companies also want people with food industry knowledge and/or experience so I haven't been able to get a job there either.
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Coincidentally, I worked for several years in a corporate job at Kraft. Knew lots of people with marketing MBAs, none of whom had a culinary degree and most of whom hadn't worked in food before coming there. In a place like that your MBA will get you farther. I am not sure what you mean by "cooking for" Kraft or the Food Network, though.

Initial joking aside, I don't believe it to be a useful degree if you don't want to be a chef. Even in restaurants, it's useful only in the getting you in the door sense in terms of the connections you make there (many instructors will be connected to local restaurants). After your first restaurant job no one cares; they only want to know about your prior work. Not sure about the three schools you named in terms of cost, but in my experience (having paid for one of these) they are quite expensive! Hate to think of you adding to your MBA debt without much added value.

 
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krista4 said:
RC94 said:
krista4 said:
More seriously, I don't get this career path. You most certainly don't need this degree for the corporate job at a food company nor a culinary consulting gig, and as previously pointed out you aren't going to get the private chef position without a bunch of prior restaurant work. I don't know what your other job ("Food Network") even means.

My husband went to culinary school. Doing so allowed him to make the connections to get restaurant jobs at increasingly elite places, but if you're not looking to cook I don't see it enhancing your resume.
Click to expand...
That's why I am asking. I am trying to figure out if it's the right course of action for me. However, to be more clear about a corporate job I was also thinking about cooking for a company, such as Kraft or something like that. I don't have any culinary industry experience on a corporate level (like in finance or strategic planning) so I haven't been able to get a job like that with a food company. As far as Food Network, I had a similar thing in mind in that I would be cooking for them (I am not telegenic enough nor do I have the really outgoing personality to be an on air TV personality). Culinary consulting companies and other more traditional corporate jobs for food companies also want people with food industry knowledge and/or experience so I haven't been able to get a job there either.
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Coincidentally, I worked for several years in a corporate job at Kraft. Knew lots of people with marketing MBAs, none of whom had a culinary degree and most of whom hadn't worked in food before coming there. In a place like that your MBA will get you farther. I am not sure what you mean by "cooking for" Kraft or the Food Network, though.

Initial joking aside, I don't believe it to be a useful degree if you don't want to be a chef. Even in restaurants, it's useful only in the getting you in the door sense in terms of the connections you make there (many instructors will be connected to local restaurants). After your first restaurant job no one cares; they only want to know about your prior work. Not sure about the three schools you named in terms of cost, but in my experience (having paid for one of these) they are quite expensive! Hate to think of you adding to your MBA debt without much added value.
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I appreciate your advice on this. I edited my original response to be more clear. I didn't want to get too personal, but maybe it would be helpful - basically I am very unhappy with where I am and what I am doing and want a real change. I am tired of traditional consulting and have had trouble finding a good job at the client side because I haven't specialized in an industry or focus (like finance or marketing) so there seems to be someone else who has better experience for the job I am applying for. I keep coming in 2nd, and I am tired of it and am thinking it would be best for me to follow my heart and do something I will enjoy instead of just trying to find a job. Also, what I meant about cooking for a company like Kraft was being one of the people who create the recipes for food that they sell. I am not sure what that entails and if it would be more relevant to have a chemistry degree than a culinary degree.

 
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I know I can get a job as a cook at a decent but probably nothing special restaurant right now, but would that help my resume? Would getting a degree allow me to leap past that and at least get experience at a much more prestigious restaurant that will help my resume more? I don't mind putting some time in at a restaurant if it's the best way to get experience, but I am not sure it's the right long term option for me.

 
All in favor of you following your passions on this. :thumbup: I highly encouraged my husband to get this degree because it was what he loved doing and he was extremely talented at it, and money wasn't a concern for me. Just trying to be practical as well, since you mentioned being wary of the debt.

Kraft has a huge R&D group, as you'd imagine, filled with people with scientific, not culinary, backgrounds who do the types of jobs you mention. I wouldn't say there are zero opportunities there for what you envision with that degree, but the number would be extremely low, and you are correct that a science degree would be a much more valuable background there than culinary.

 
krista4 said:
You have an MBA but want to take on a bunch more debt for a culinary degree?

BWAHAHAHAHA.

(Wife of a chef.)
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I figured there was no need to reply if I waited for your opinion. As expected. :yes:

 
If you wanted a job a giant food distributorship like Sysco or US Foods, I can see how a Culinary Degree/MBA would be valuable. As a buyer or sales rep, you'd have daily interaction with cooks who would likely appreciate a rep with an understanding of the products' end use. I have encountered exactly one person like this in my culinary career.

Before you go to culinary school, I encourage you to find an entry-level kitchen job at the best restaurant that you can. As a prep-cook or "pantry-cook". Let them beat the snot out of you for a while and see if you still want to do this for a living.

The "private chef for rich guy" gig is a lottery ticket that a lot of cooks dream of hitting. There's like a couple of dozen of those guys in the world and who knows how well they pay. Most rich people just eat out a lot--that's how restaurants stay in business, after all. Might as well go to music school in hopes of becoming Bon Jovi one day.

 
My brother, retired at age 60 mostly because he hated his bosses, spent 35 years in food service. He got to his AA a couple years out of HS; then he got his first wife pregnant. That led to leaving college for a job as a short order cook. Said wife's ambition led him to fast food management a few years after that. He excelled and become a regional supervisor with a reputation for turning around losing stores. This somehow led to a job with Aramark where he spent the next 30 years, mostly doing the same thing he did for Wendy's, fixing broken units. Somewhere along the way, in his early 40s, he graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Los Angeles. The piece of paper seemed frivolous from a practical standpoint but it was required if he was going to boss others with pieces of paper.

His favorite line from any song is: "I went home with a waitress the way I always do."

 
My son starts culinary school in September. Graduates from the local vocational/technical HS in 3 weeks with his culinary arts diploma. It's been his goal/dream to become a chef since about 7th grade. He can't wait to start culinary school at the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. It's a small school with only 4 majors: culinary arts, pastry arts, restaurant management and hotel management. It's adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania.

 
I changed careers at 31 to attend culinary school, but i wanted to cook (ultimately my own restaurant or inn). I also hold a master's degree. I did not despise my previous career, just wanted to love what I did. I worked my way up to chef de cuisine in fine dining restaurants. I enjoyed the work very much. Things changed for me when we had a child. I was getting very little time with her. While at my final resort in Colorado I moved from the kitchen to the purchasing department, and this is what I do now for a resort in Napa. I would say that a culinary degree is not essential to climb the ladder, though, I liked what it did for me. I was always good in the kitchen, but wanted a formal education and foundation. The program I found was apprenticeship based, so I was working while going to school. It worked well for me. When we moved back to California, I started cooking professionally for friends and family. I loved it. Easiest cooking jobs I had ever done. I would do parties up to 50- buffet, plated, casual, pri fixe 7 course with wine pairings (I am also a level 1 somm), cocktail parties, cheese/wine pairings...loved it! Had it down and the money was good..... but I had to give up weekends again. Is there a way for you to split your workload between current field and say catering? I think you should get your feet a little wet to see if you really want to make a change in that direction.

edit:

been re-reading kitchen confidential

 
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bierfiend said:
I changed careers at 31 to attend culinary school, but i wanted to cook (ultimately my own restaurant or inn). I also hold a master's degree. I did not despise my previous career, just wanted to love what I did. I worked my way up to chef de cuisine in fine dining restaurants. I enjoyed the work very much. Things changed for me when we had a child. I was getting very little time with her. While at my final resort in Colorado I moved from the kitchen to the purchasing department, and this is what I do now for a resort in Napa. I would say that a culinary degree is not essential to climb the ladder, though, I liked what it did for me. I was always good in the kitchen, but wanted a formal education and foundation. The program I found was apprenticeship based, so I was working while going to school. It worked well for me. When we moved back to California, I started cooking professionally for friends and family. I loved it. Easiest cooking jobs I had ever done. I would do parties up to 50- buffet, plated, casual, pri fixe 7 course with wine pairings (I am also a level 1 somm), cocktail parties, cheese/wine pairings...loved it! Had it down and the money was good..... but I had to give up weekends again. Is there a way for you to split your workload between current field and say catering? I think you should get your feet a little wet to see if you really want to make a change in that direction.

edit:

been re-reading kitchen confidential
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Excellent post and I appreciate your insight. I don't think I can split between the 2, though. I would have to quit what I am doing now, which I want to do anyway.

 
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Oliver Humanzee said:
If you wanted a job a giant food distributorship like Sysco or US Foods, I can see how a Culinary Degree/MBA would be valuable. As a buyer or sales rep, you'd have daily interaction with cooks who would likely appreciate a rep with an understanding of the products' end use. I have encountered exactly one person like this in my culinary career.

Before you go to culinary school, I encourage you to find an entry-level kitchen job at the best restaurant that you can. As a prep-cook or "pantry-cook". Let them beat the snot out of you for a while and see if you still want to do this for a living.

The "private chef for rich guy" gig is a lottery ticket that a lot of cooks dream of hitting. There's like a couple of dozen of those guys in the world and who knows how well they pay. Most rich people just eat out a lot--that's how restaurants stay in business, after all. Might as well go to music school in hopes of becoming Bon Jovi one day.
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Good idea about getting a job at a restaurant now and seeing what it's about first hand. That is what I am leaning towards at this point.

 
Chaos Commish said:
My brother, retired at age 60 mostly because he hated his bosses, spent 35 years in food service. He got to his AA a couple years out of HS; then he got his first wife pregnant. That led to leaving college for a job as a short order cook. Said wife's ambition led him to fast food management a few years after that. He excelled and become a regional supervisor with a reputation for turning around losing stores. This somehow led to a job with Aramark where he spent the next 30 years, mostly doing the same thing he did for Wendy's, fixing broken units. Somewhere along the way, in his early 40s, he graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Los Angeles. The piece of paper seemed frivolous from a practical standpoint but it was required if he was going to boss others with pieces of paper.

His favorite line from any song is: "I went home with a waitress the way I always do."
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The bolded is one of the main reasons I was considering school but also wanted to ask people about it because it doesn't seem necessary. With my background, continuing education is where I go when I think I need a change, though. I probably already have more continuing education than is practical.

 
krista4 said:
More seriously, I don't get this career path. You most certainly don't need this degree for the corporate job at a food company nor a culinary consulting gig, and as previously pointed out you aren't going to get the private chef position without a bunch of prior restaurant work. I don't know what your other job ("Food Network") even means.

My husband went to culinary school. Doing so allowed him to make the connections to get restaurant jobs at increasingly elite places, but if you're not looking to cook I don't see it enhancing your resume.
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krista - you don't live in Manhattan beach do you? I worked with an attorney that went to Columbia for her JD and has a husband that is a chef.....glitch in the matrix...
 
Is there a particular food/cuisine/product you really love? Coffee, cheese, wine, beer etc? I ask because with your background as an MBA/consultant you could start in the business side of a food company and work on projects where food or bev are the product/service.

 
My wife quit her career to go to culinary school and is now working for a food innovation company. They do stuff like help Taco Bell come up with the next hot menu item, help come up with the next best selling hot pocket flavor and help the Mexican government in how they can better market hot peppers. She loves what she does and it's super interesting.

 
mr roboto said:
Is there a particular food/cuisine/product you really love? Coffee, cheese, wine, beer etc? I ask because with your background as an MBA/consultant you could start in the business side of a food company and work on projects where food or bev are the product/service.
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Not particularly. I would be happy in a number of areas in the culinary/food industry.

 
Scoresman said:
My wife quit her career to go to culinary school and is now working for a food innovation company. They do stuff like help Taco Bell come up with the next hot menu item, help come up with the next best selling hot pocket flavor and help the Mexican government in how they can better market hot peppers. She loves what she does and it's super interesting.
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This is exactly what I had in mind when I was talking about getting a job at a food company like Kraft and is probably my #1 choice for a career path if I go to culinary school.

 
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bierfiend said:
I changed careers at 31 to attend culinary school, but i wanted to cook (ultimately my own restaurant or inn). I also hold a master's degree. I did not despise my previous career, just wanted to love what I did. I worked my way up to chef de cuisine in fine dining restaurants. I enjoyed the work very much. Things changed for me when we had a child. I was getting very little time with her. While at my final resort in Colorado I moved from the kitchen to the purchasing department, and this is what I do now for a resort in Napa. I would say that a culinary degree is not essential to climb the ladder, though, I liked what it did for me. I was always good in the kitchen, but wanted a formal education and foundation. The program I found was apprenticeship based, so I was working while going to school. It worked well for me. When we moved back to California, I started cooking professionally for friends and family. I loved it. Easiest cooking jobs I had ever done. I would do parties up to 50- buffet, plated, casual, pri fixe 7 course with wine pairings (I am also a level 1 somm), cocktail parties, cheese/wine pairings...loved it! Had it down and the money was good..... but I had to give up weekends again. Is there a way for you to split your workload between current field and say catering? I think you should get your feet a little wet to see if you really want to make a change in that direction.

edit:

been re-reading kitchen confidential
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What are the career opportunities for being a sommelier? I like wine and have some interest in those courses in culinary school. Are those jobs available or is it an extremely hard field to break into? Is the pay good or will I be in debt for a long time if I choose that career path? One limitation is that I would highly prefer to stay in NYC, although I realize I may have to move for the right job. As a consultant, and for pleasure, I have been all over Europe, North America and to Hong Kong and Singapore so I know what it's like to live somewhere else, which is one of the reasons I highly prefer to stay in NYC at this point.

 
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I truly do not know the full scope of the field. I did it to compliment the culinary side. I thought about working for wineries with an emphasis in developing wine clubs (still think about it). I also thought about the hotel/restaurant angle, but that would require the hours i was trying to get away from. I really enjoyed learning about the regional markers and could see myself in the field somehow down the road. Quint would be an excellent resource to inquire about the industry.

http://www.winebusiness.com/classifieds/winejobs/

 
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sbonomo said:
krista4 said:
More seriously, I don't get this career path. You most certainly don't need this degree for the corporate job at a food company nor a culinary consulting gig, and as previously pointed out you aren't going to get the private chef position without a bunch of prior restaurant work. I don't know what your other job ("Food Network") even means.

My husband went to culinary school. Doing so allowed him to make the connections to get restaurant jobs at increasingly elite places, but if you're not looking to cook I don't see it enhancing your resume.
Click to expand...
krista - you don't live in Manhattan beach do you? I worked with an attorney that went to Columbia for her JD and has a husband that is a chef.....glitch in the matrix...
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Weird, I don't but I did live in Redondo Beach many years ago. So coincidental!

RC94, you're getting lots of terrific ideas in this thread, but Mr. krista (Oliver Humanzee) and I are happy to help via PM if we can at all as you go through the process. Great thread!

 
RC94 said:
I was wondering if anyone here has been to culinary school and what your thoughts and experiences are, not only in school but also as a professional in the food industry. I have been thinking about changing my career and I have always loved to cook, and love food in general, so I am considering culinary school.

I am not necessarily looking to get a job as a chef in a restaurant, though. I have an MBA in marketing and a management consulting background and I wouldnt mind combining my business background with my culinary school education, so being a cook in a restaurant isnt really my top choice for a long term career path. There are other options that sound more appealing to me, such as a more corporate job at a food company, culinary consulting company, or the Food Network, or maybe as a private chef for a really rich person. Also, due to getting an MBA, I already have school loans that still havent been fully paid so adding more debt is a concern.

I live in the NYC area so I will only be considering NYC schools. That mainly means The International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), The Institute of Culinary Education, and Le Cordon Bleu, but I am open to other ideas. Since I will be in so much debt after I graduate, the school with the best career services and that provides the best long term career options is my top choice. Based on my initial research that seems to be The International Culinary Center, but I would like to hear the thoughts of people who have been thru these programs and/or are professionals in the food industry.

Any thoughts and advice are welcome.
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Huge waste of money. Better off volunteer as a chefs asst or start cooking at a greasy spoon while taking individual fine culinary classes offered by local chefs/talent

 
Before you actually quit your job (even though you hate it), it's probably worth it to explore available business-related jobs in the big food and beverage companies. I have a friend who's been at Pepsi in strategic development since getting his MBA from NYU. While he spends most of his time with Pepsi itself and their relationship with Walmart, it's an enormous company with many different product lines so there might be something there that would interest you. With your MBA and consulting background, a good interview can get you a position like that which would allow you to learn a part of the business and maybe it narrows down your scope a bit...while maintaining a very nice salary.

 
krista4 said:
Binky The Doormat said:
RC94 said:
Steve Tasker said:
Read Kitchen Confidential and then re-evaluate before you do anything. (not a shtick answer)
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Will do
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Great book - you will love it.
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It is a great book, but since he doesn't want to work in a kitchen I'm not sure of the value to him, other than it being a fun read.
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Bourdain talks a lot about people who get into the culinary world or go to culinary school because they love food but have no actual experience and have no passion for actually working in a restaurant and advises against it...that's what I was getting at.

 
krista4 said:
Kraft has a huge R&D group, as you'd imagine, filled with people with scientific, not culinary, backgrounds who do the types of jobs you mention. I wouldn't say there are zero opportunities there for what you envision with that degree, but the number would be extremely low, and you are correct that a science degree would be a much more valuable background there than culinary.
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My fiancee works for a large foodservice company (similar to Kraft but smaller, ~10,000 employees worldwide). She works on the business side, not the culinary side, but also deals closely with the food scientists and chefs. It seems to me that the people working in the test kitchens and doing R&D for them tend to people with "food science" backgrounds - and I'm talking serious, Ivy-educated food scientists. They do have chefs on the team, but the chefs tend to be the ones at trade shows doing the presentations, preparing the product for prospective client meetings, things like that. The food science people are the ones who conceptualize the product and get the materials, and the chefs are the ones who actually put it all together. I'm sure there's some crossover but that's what it seems like to me, at least.

 
krista4 said:
All in favor of you following your passions on this. :thumbup: I highly encouraged my husband to get this degree because it was what he loved doing and he was extremely talented at it, and money wasn't a concern for me. Just trying to be practical as well, since you mentioned being wary of the debt.

Kraft has a huge R&D group, as you'd imagine, filled with people with scientific, not culinary, backgrounds who do the types of jobs you mention. I wouldn't say there are zero opportunities there for what you envision with that degree, but the number would be extremely low, and you are correct that a science degree would be a much more valuable background there than culinary.
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I have a friend who is a food chemist with a lengthy science degree (BS) of some kind- lost track of where he works, but it's been for mega-corps like Nabisco, etc. He's the guy that makes the recipes work.

it almost sounds like RC wants a hospitality degree, similar to what they have at Cornell? or maybe just wants to work in hospitality. can't you take the MBA, take a step back and get a more entry level (w/ MBA) job in that field? for a hotel or bigger restaurant chain. too bad- I knew (tangentially) the guy behind BR Guest (lots of restaurants in NYC and beyond) which probably had a corporate side to it that would maybe be the right combo? he sold the business a long time ago and I've completely lost what little touch I had with him.

Food Network could be fun too- from behind the scenes. I can't imagine they'd put somebody with zero/little food experience in front of the camera unless they were already famous.

 
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Based on everyone's advice I am thinking that a degree may not be worth it. I am very willing to take a pay cut and start at the bottom so I can get an opportunity to prove myself. Since I am 43, however, it may be tough to get past any ageism I might find in the interview process. If a company gives me a chance to prove myself, they won't be disappointed, so I am going to put a list of food companies together (companies of all sizes and who do a variety of food-based work) and start sending resumes and cover letters out. Hopefully 1 of them will give me the opportunity to prove myself. I don't really care what the initial pay is since I am confident I can work my way up the ladder if given the chance.

Thanks again for everyone's advice! I really appreciate the help I have gotten in this thread and thru PMs. When I first started this tread I really had no idea what to expect in the industry and how I could break in, besides getting another degree, but now I am feeling more focused and have a better idea on how to go about initially trying to get my foot in the door. If that doesn't work I will change my focus. I want to continue the conversations so please keep the advice and insight coming.

 
pm'ed my food-chemist friend about advice or contacts for you. his reply was to look at : careersinfood.com

I was hoping for something more specific. we'll see- I'll follow up with him in a bit.

 
stop trying to pursue a passion. Put your head to the grindstone and work at making money in your current career until you are ready to retire. Get satisfaction out of a hobby.

 
El Floppo said:
pm'ed my food-chemist friend about advice or contacts for you. his reply was to look at : careersinfood.com

I was hoping for something more specific. we'll see- I'll follow up with him in a bit.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I appreciate it and you following up with him for more info. I look forward to hearing more.

 
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