In order to become a successful head chef, you must be able to create memorable food, manage personnel in the kitchen, and provide excellent customer service. There are many positions available for those who want to become head chefs. Places where chefs can find employment include:

¥ Restaurants
¥ Hotel and resort kitchens
¥ Catering companies
¥ Universities
¥ Self-employment through owning a restaurant or catering company
¥ Bakery

Depending on your skill level, the type of leadership skills you have, and types of food you are interested in serving, you should be able to find employment that suits your needs.

TYPES OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS NEEDED

Leadership is more than simply telling people which foods to prepare. As a leader, you will also be involved in the following:

¥ Menu planning
¥ Supervising various areas of the kitchen
¥ Managing budgets
¥ Making changes to menus quickly
¥ Ensuring excellent customer service by testing all food to ensure quality control
¥ Time management & delegation
¥ Working with other managers
¥ Building industry relationships

As you can see, there are many duties head chefs must complete each day in order to maintain a popular eating establishment.

LEARNING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

If you are not a leader, you can learn to become one as you complete courses in your certificate or diploma program. During your coursework, you will be asked to lead teams in the creation of meals, food preparation, and food presentation. You will learn how to communicate with different people in order to maintain a strong team.

When working in a kitchen, you will realize that relying on others is an important part of your job. Since you alone cannot prepare every meal in a service, you need to depend on other chefs in order to meet customer satisfaction day after day. This is why learning how to work with others will help you advance further in your career.

Head chefs and sous chefs are seen as the leaders in the kitchen. Being able to balance cooking with various managerial duties is another skill you will be taught. Creating and maintaining this balance will bring harmony to your kitchen and allow each member to use their skills in the best ways possible each day.

Using the skills you have learnt in the management part of the course will ensure you are able to bring out the best skills of the staff working under you and help with the success of the business.

Academia International is a leading international college providing cooking courses, hospitality management training, hairdressing courses, and beauty courses. For a free brochure please visit Australia College.