What should I do with my career?
Mar 3rd, 2010 by admin
Hi,
I am a 26 year old college graduate who is lucky enough to be gainfully employed, with job security, benefits, and a decent salary. However, I am bored as hell in my job, and there is no real possibility for growth at my company. I have been working here for over 3 years, and have had plenty of time to realize that most of my days are wasted sitting in front of a computer doing spreadsheets ( a task which I despise) in an office with no windows on the same college campus that I have spent the last 7 years at this point. Outside of work, I am a very talented and creative cook. Cooking has been my passion since I was about 10, and I am very good at it. I never got into food service because I didn’t want to hate the one thing I was passionate about. So, here I am in my now late 20’s, the recession is upon us, I have no food experience, and a good job that I hate. There is a huge part of me that wants to go back to school and pursue a degree in culinary arts or in hotel management as I have always dreamed of running a bed and breakfast later in life. But there is also a huge part of me that thinks that I am an ungrateful idiot who would throw away a perfectly good job because she thinks she is supposed to like what she does or a living. Should I consider changing career paths or is this a naive move that will cost me having any financial freedom in the future? Any advice from people in the culinary field would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi,
I believe that you should be living with passion, and here’s why…
If you were unemployed right now, would you apply for the job you’re working in right now? Most likely not! What would you do? You’d probably pursue a career as a cook, and put in your heart and soul to it because you are passionate about it and have been passionate for a long time. And it’s not that you’re learning how to cook from scratch, you’re already a good cook.
So all you need is to cultivate a reputation for yourself and get your foot in the door of an establishment that allows you to express your gift of cooking. One way that you could do this is to join cooking competitions in your spare time, if you don’t want to burn all your bridges behind you right now. As you make a name for yourself in cooking competitions and events, you might gain the recognition that you need to get hired as a cook based simply on your reputation alone!
Another part time strategy is to start a food blog, and to video yourself in a celebrity chef style doing what you do when you cook. That’s a very cheap and powerful way to establish yourself with a worldwide audience, and that can take you to true celebrity chef status if you’re good.
Finally, get your friends to sample your food (I bet they have already and they love it), and make recommendations to their friends about your cooking. Make it a weekly or monthly thing where you invite people over to your place to try your food. Maybe that will lead to you being asked to cater for small events or dinner parties in the future for them.
Really, the possibilities are endless for you to pursue your passion, and the beauty of it is that you can still do all of this after your regular work until it replaces your income or until you get the work that you want. Live your passion and nothing will be impossible for you.
Believing In You!
Can you do night school AND keep your job till you figure things out?
(I’ve waited tables and I’ve worked the back of the house. The pay is inconsistent and when you get old, it’s tough to be on your feet all day. Now I sit in a cube so I can pay the bills – hating almost every minute of it!)
References :
You shouldn’t look at your job as boring hopefully it will take you to the next level and at least give you some skills for business such as spreadsheets or budgeting or accounting or saving some money to go back to culinary school. You don’t need to go to culinary school watch the Food Network, volunteer at a Soup Kitchen or save for that B&B or work at one on the weekends.
Many people are underemployed however it’s ok especially if it temporary. You should do the job that you would do for free or a job that your passionate about. It makes it so much easier to go to work or dream. Find a culinary academy that won’t break the bank for instance at a community college.
References :
Hi,
I believe that you should be living with passion, and here’s why…
If you were unemployed right now, would you apply for the job you’re working in right now? Most likely not! What would you do? You’d probably pursue a career as a cook, and put in your heart and soul to it because you are passionate about it and have been passionate for a long time. And it’s not that you’re learning how to cook from scratch, you’re already a good cook.
So all you need is to cultivate a reputation for yourself and get your foot in the door of an establishment that allows you to express your gift of cooking. One way that you could do this is to join cooking competitions in your spare time, if you don’t want to burn all your bridges behind you right now. As you make a name for yourself in cooking competitions and events, you might gain the recognition that you need to get hired as a cook based simply on your reputation alone!
Another part time strategy is to start a food blog, and to video yourself in a celebrity chef style doing what you do when you cook. That’s a very cheap and powerful way to establish yourself with a worldwide audience, and that can take you to true celebrity chef status if you’re good.
Finally, get your friends to sample your food (I bet they have already and they love it), and make recommendations to their friends about your cooking. Make it a weekly or monthly thing where you invite people over to your place to try your food. Maybe that will lead to you being asked to cater for small events or dinner parties in the future for them.
Really, the possibilities are endless for you to pursue your passion, and the beauty of it is that you can still do all of this after your regular work until it replaces your income or until you get the work that you want. Live your passion and nothing will be impossible for you.
Believing In You!
References :
http://www.passionlifecoach.com/