For Chefs Who Want To Enjoy Their Careers Without Sacrificing Their Lives
April 1, 2022

3 Steps to Prevent Culinary Career Suicide

3 Steps to Prevent Culinary Career Suicide

Thinking About Leaving Your Kitchen? 3 Steps to Prevent Culinary Career Suicide

“Chef, I’ve been offered a new position at a very prestigious restaurant. It involves less money but it comes with it the potential to make a name for myself. Do you have any advice?”

If you’re just starting to claw your way up the ranks of culinary greatness or are a seasoned veteran who’s earned the right of career self-determination, you’re bound to come up against this conundrum.

Now, with an almost daily blog, magazine, and newspaper posts about the critical lack of qualified cooks and chefs, it is almost certain that you’ll be fielding a lot of potential job opportunities from competitors, recruiters, or friends looking to shore up their lean brigades.

If you haven’t, you soon will be.

The average American worker stays in a position for 4.4 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For Millennials, it’s half of that, with an average of 15-20 positions over the course of their working lives.

The inherent risk of leaving a job too soon — job-hopping — is almost as great of a risk as staying in a job too long. “Golden handcuffs” can make a career irrelevant and unmarketable to most employers looking for talent, maturity, and mobility. Rightly or wrongly, tenure over 5 years can sometimes be interpreted by some recruiters as “complacent” or “not aggressive enough” for today’s marketplace.

That’s not to say that you should leave a great gig just to see your name up in lights; beware of believing your own press clippings.

3 Things to Consider Before Quitting

To avoid taking your career off track by making a poor career move, allow me to suggest the following three steps:

[Please note that these suggestions do not apply if you’re a victim of workplace harassment, sexual innuendo, or slave labor practices. Under those conditions, run — do not walk — for the door. Life is too short and you are too valuable a human being and professional to put up with that kind of crap!]

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