Salary Expectations for Students with a Culinary Arts Degree
Nov 7, 2014 | 11:00 am
What Your Culinary Arts Degree Won’t Do
Becoming a professional in any field takes at least two years of advanced education and a certain amount of training and fieldwork. Becoming a chef is really no exception, as chefs must know the essential principles of business management as well as an ability to execute appetizing dishes. A large percentage of chefs began their careers bussing dishes or working as a prep cook. Their sagacity, as well as a willingness to learn the skills was what bumped them up the ladder to professional status.
Your culinary salary will not automatically place you in competition with an established chef, or even guarantee your starting wage will be greater than a line cook who has served with a restaurant for seven years. Like any of the arts, the judgment on your expertise will not be based off your degree, but off your performance. Your degree will teach you the fine points of running a kitchen and producing exquisite dishes, but it’s up to you to prove those dishes are appetizing and artistically arranged.
How Your Degree Pays Off
Scrap your ambitions to become a movie star by landing a spot as top chef. The competition is enormous and the best you’ll probably do when you break into the restaurant business, as a new chef is a culinary salary of about $35,000 a year. If you’ve just dumped sixty grand into a culinary arts education, this can be an uncomfortable thought when you begin paying back your loan. Fortunately, there are many scholarship and grant programs you can apply for, if the culinary arts are really your passion and not just a bid for glamour.
Your culinary arts degree will qualify you for many food-handling positions that you would not be able to apply for simply by spending twelve years working in restaurants. These include specialized fields, such as food research, dietician, many food-catering positions, and executive chef positions in five star restaurants and hotels. The highest paid culinary salary for restaurants is in the seafood industry. Those who graduate with a culinary arts degree specializing in seafood’s can expect an income of approximately $73,000 a year.
Competition among research chefs has been strong, yet the demand for research chefs is expected to grow as people become more health conscious, yet continue to rely on easy to prepare foods, or foods that can go straight from their freezers into their ovens. Research chefs are hired by fast food chains, prepared foods services and services catering to special dietary needs. According to the American Culinary Federation, a research chef can expect a culinary salary of about $90,000 a year.
Applying Your Advantages
Seventy percent of graduates with a culinary arts degree go into the restaurant or hotel industry. The large majority of these positions pay a salary that never exceeds $40,000 to $50,000 a year, yet the chef is expected to work long hours, weekends and holidays. However, with a degree, your opportunities within the cooking industry expand. Chefs who work in amusement parks or arcades can expect a salary of $67,000 a year.
Your culinary salary expectancies are highly dependent on the specializations in the type of foods you prepare, nutrition, business applications, cultural knowledge, and hospitality skills. A culinary degree will help you acquire an International flavor that is advantageous for working within the tourism industry. Cruise ships, five star hotels and restaurants want chefs who are gregarious, informative and can communicate well with employees, guests and sales personnel. Your degree program will teach you the finesse of the culinary arts, expose you to an International environment, and give the management skills necessary for conducting a business.
Another distinct advantage of a culinary degree is the increased opportunity for social networking. Culinary students receive the opportunity to work with established chefs and food service personnel, giving them direct connections with the food industry. Their course work involves cooking for and trying out the recipes of other student chefs, which is also helpful in developing their food service circles.
Your culinary salary will not instantly rise to the salary of top chefs by completing a degree program, but it will prepare you for an exciting future full of endless opportunities. It’s all in the direction you take your skills and the degree of passion you have for the culinary arts.