Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers,   ISBN:9780825305924

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I love this book!!! When I tell my friends that I am going to pursue my dreams and attend culinary school, their first remark is always, "Can't wait for you to open your restaurant!". However, I knew from the beginning,that working as an executive chef was not the path for me. This book not only opened my eyes to the MANY opportunities in the food service industry, but also inspired me to think outside the box. Get this book if you love food and are interested in working in this field but you are not sure exactly what it is you want to do. I am positive that it will help you find your way!

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Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Winner: Irena Chalmers & FOOD JOBS!
Posted by Erin * July 7th, 2009

Food Jobs Cover

FOOD JOBS: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers by Irena Chalmers had been awarded the 2008 Best Food Book for Professionals in the World, following her January award of Best in the U.S. by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards committee. FOOD JOBS was selected from more than 6,000 submitted titles in 40 languages from 107 countries.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Award has recognized FOOD JOBS for offering uniquely practical and vital insights and answers to entering one of the few industries that is growing in the U.S. and around the world.

Edouard Cointreau, founder and president of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, calls FOOD JOBS very timely, useful and needed. "In these difficult times, jobs are probably the most important issue, before banks or real estate," said Cointreau. "FOOD JOBS is packed with practical information, easy and even funny, very serious and accurate in its comments and advice. It is difficult to imagine how it could be better."

Follow Irena Chalmers' I've Been Thinking blog @ http://www.foodjobsbook.com/

More about the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards @ http://www.cookbookfair.com/
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I found Irena Chalmers' book in my post office box in late afternoon and took it to Panera Bread for a quick coffee and with sole intent to first skim it while jumping around. I was still reading at closing when they kicked me out. From there I sought refuge in a favorite 24 hour diner drinking water, decaff coffee and orange juice until I could see the ocean sloshing behind my eyelids. As in the movie Titanic I slowly felt my stern slipping down in the booth as my bow tried gallantly to stay afloat to read just a few more words. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning both bleary eyed and cross-eyed I had to admit defeat surrendering to the sandman seeking the refuge of my pillow. The next day I read at every opportune moment. The next day the same finally finishing it.
What an incredible work! I could neither put it down nor wanted to put it down. So many areas were presented relating to the world of food that I couldn't even have begun imagining them. I loved the blurbs of facts in the margins, the personal comments of various people and everything Irena Chalmers toiled to share. This work is going to help so many, many, many people. It is a must buy!

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As a culinary student and industry professional, I find this volume exceeds its editorial notes. It is indeed a reference for the those who find their jobs mundane or lacking, as well as for those looking for options to grow into. I made a system of "dog-earing" those professions that interested me, only to find upon completion that I had noted nearly every page! Moreover, the author backs up these fantasy jobs with hard references and a place to start. This work truly got my mind spinning about new possibilities. Bravo!

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Reading her book and listening to her advice is like being helped to brush away the confused worries about your future. Like cobwebs, the fears, doubts, insecurities and just plain junk slip away. You can think clearly. Excitement, motivation and a flood of ideas rush to replace the depressing and over-analytical thoughts that slow you down. If you are stuck in what Irena Chalmers calls a WOMBAT job (Waste Of Money Brains And Time), or just confused about where to start, then this book will help you figure out the next step. Food Jobs is not a self-help book or motivational career guide; instead, its purpose is to "match what people love to do with what they can do." Using her experiences and the stories of her friends and students at the Culinary Institute of America where she teaches, she tells of lifetimes of careers in food.

Chalmers' career tells of a woman who is not afraid to take risks and put herself out there - even if she has no idea what she's doing. Her career began as a nurse in England and brought her to America in 1962 to teach courses in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. When her teaching visa ran out, she stayed and ended up in Maryland. At the annual Delmar Chicken festival in Delaware, she was picked to replace the girl who fries the chickens on stage because the festival wanted someone "ordinary looking" and the fried chicken girl was too beautiful. Perhaps they were worried she'd distract people from the chicken? Who knows. Chalmers lands on stage with absolutely no idea how to fry a chicken and then somehow ends up assisting a cook from Le Cordon Bleu for the rest of the weekend.

These things do not happen to everyone. Not many people are picked to be the chicken frying girl and then become a cook's assistant with absolutely no experience. But it does happen to people with the ability to take advantage of the situation. Perhaps she mentioned to someone earlier that she would like to go on stage and fry a chicken, thus making her a logical replacement. In her book, she says to have a speech prepared at all times because you never know who you are standing next to in an elevator. Try to summarize what it is you do and want to do - maybe the person can help you. "Networking is the most important thing because that is where you will find your next job." When you apply to a job online, you become depressed when you don't get it, "why didn't they like me?" But you don't become upset when you don't win the lottery, do you?"

Chalmers' career continued, after a brief stint at Le Cordon Bleu, in North Carolina where she opened a cooking school. Realizing that not many women knew how to cook, she watched Julia Childs and taught them. As a shrewd business woman, she saw that it was the pans and not the cooking that excited the women most about the class- so she began to sell them. Her eventual move into writing cookbooks came from having lots fondue pots to sell and no one knowing how to make fondue. Writing pamphlets with recipes and instructions, she connected with other fondue pot sellers and sold her pamphlets. Her career has taken many twists and turns but perhaps the most fascinating one was her time with restaurateur Joe Baum.

After meeting him at a party, he invited her for lunch and they began working together. She wrote menus, restaurants scripts and eventually became a speech writer with no training in any of it. She emphasized that this is why it's so important to have a speech prepared. She described Baum as a man who did what he wanted and became so successful because he could read the market. A story of a New Year's Eve dinner party that one of his restaurants hosted every year makes her case. She divulged that the restaurant basically committed grand larceny in the prices they charged because they needed to cover the slow month of January. Although usually sold out, one year it was only half-full. So someone draws up an elaborate ad for the Times describing all the fabulous food and events that will take place. Baum looks at it, takes a big black pen, and crosses it out writing SOLD OUT. "Print that." No one could argue with him and the ad ran. That day the phone was ringing off the hook with people trying to get in, "I've been coming to the Rainbow Room for 30 years" (they hadn't been open that long), or "I'm the wife of the former chef" and on and on. They were placed on a waitlist and told they would be called if there were an opening - the dinner was completely sold out. Joe knew the market: this was New York, and he couldn't have pulled it off anywhere else.

Chalmers regaled us with other stories of her time with Baum, a particularly hilarious one involving a Martha ____ in the food world. Visit Chalmers's blog at foodjobsbook.com and convince her to tell you - it is well worth it.

While on her website, look at the many different "food jobs" that she has experienced. She has done it all. Her advice? Follow your dreams and passions to get a job. Doing something conventional is going to be incredibly competitive. When looking for a job, you need to be creative and read the market. Find a niche that isn't filled yet. When the term locavore began, that was a niche someone could fill and write about. Now, it is redundant. Diverging to lighten the mood with some of her humor, she continues on - she admits that she will go on and on if not stopped - to talk about the recent vote in California concerning free-range poultry. She says it's a dangerous idea, "I don't know why you have to turn chickens into humans... it's like having a free-range boyfriend, you never where he's been."

Returning to career advice, her friend once advised her, "don't be an ant on an anthill." A mantra she repeated to us several times. If you have a specific love or talent, find a way to incorporate into your career. One of her students at the CIA told her that she loved making those little flowers on cakes and "could make them all day long." Chalmers suggested going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens because a lot of weddings take place there. She said to coordinate with the events planner and perhaps offer her services so that the bride can have seasonal flowers on her cake. These are the connections and possibilities that Chalmers opens up for you in her book.

She'll give you realistic and practical advice - it might not be what you want to hear - but it will motivate you to find something new. There is a world of food jobs available; in fact, she filled a rather large book with many of them. Her advice may seem obvious and simple yet it is contrary to what most of us do and aim for in our career goals. She'll give you advice that others won't. When I took a food writing course at the French Culinary Institute a few years ago with Alan Richman, he told us that every food writer must follow the New York Times dining section, the New York Post and other food sections. For keeping updated with the market, Chalmers recommends avoiding magazines such as Gourmet, Food & Wine, etc., and suggests reading Specialtyfoods.com or other trade publications. She personally reads the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and says that the New York Times is good for business and international sections, not as much for their dining.

After describing the career, ambitions and personality of this woman, do you have a picture in your mind of what she looks like? On the day we met, she walked inside with bright blue eyes, short, styled white hair, a slightly red nose and was unbuttoning her thick jacket. Standing before the class, she wore a loose ankle-length black cotton dress, a black cardigan and a thin scarf colored with blends of turquoise, green, navy and beaded ends that she wrapped once around her neck. She spoke softly in a British accent, almost like a whisper and seemed like the magical British aunt you always wanted as a kid. The one who would tell you the stories you weren't suppose to know but was also wise, warm and inspiring. Smart with a witty sense of humor, she was a treat. At 73, she said she has never been happier. Hopefully, we will all be that lucky.