• To hear many chefs tell their stories, their passion for food began early in their childhood. Holding onto Grandma or Mom's apron strings, they watched wide-eyed while amazing experiments in the kitchen turned out delicious results. The difference between a cook and a chef is the passion and love that drives chefs to new places in the kitchen which cooks only dare to dream about. Drawn in by the intoxicating aroma of fresh cut herbs, mesmerized by the techniques and skills it takes to create culinary masterpieces, as a budding chef you will want to spend as much time as possible in the kitchen getting to know the tools of the trade. Here are a few ways you can get a jump start on your culinary career:

1. Make yourself useful in your family's kitchen.Wise Geek: How Can I become a Chef?
2. Take high school cooking courses.Wise Geek: How Can I become a Chef?
3. Enroll in local cooking classes.Wise Geek: How Can I become a Chef?
4. Get a job working in a local restaurant.eHow: How to Become a Chef
   1. Even if you start out as a dish washer, work your way up to new positions in the kitchen.
   2. This experience will prepare you for the long hours most chefs spend on their feet.Cooking Parlor: Become a Chef
5. Talk to your high school guidance counselor about local programs for young chefs.eHow: How to Become a Chef
6. Spend time getting to know the different types of food, for example:
   1. Seasonal
   2. Organic
   3. Kobe
   4. Free Range
   5. KosherWikiHow: How to Become a Chef
7. Learn and practice knife skills.
   • You will need to know how to do everything from butchering your own meat to cutting vegetables julienne style.WikiHow: How to Become a Chef

• Hands-on experience before you attend culinary school will give you some leverage, so take advantage of every cooking opportunity that is offered to you.Cooking Parlor: Become a Chef

• It is not necessary to attend culinary school in order to become a chef, but it will provide you with the background and skills needed to enter the notoriously competitive culinary world. A good education will teach you how to think on the spot in the kitchen in case you are asked to remedy mistakes like too much salt, or provide ingredient substitutions.Education Center Online: How to Become a Chef

A good culinary education may also help you get a job in a prestigious restaurant, as well as provide you with the skills needed to open your own restaurant.Career Toolkits: Chef Requirements Here are some important things to look for when trying to decide which schools to apply to.

1. Spend time familiarizing yourself with different academic programs, since not all programs are the same. The major kinds of culinary schools you'll find are:
   1. Vocational schools
   2. Colleges
   3. Culinary institutes
   4. Self-governing cooking schoolsEducation Portal: How to Become a Chef
   5. Some programs offer accelerated learning programs which provide long hours of training over shorter periods of time.Career Toolkits: Chef Requirements
2. Base your choice around the institute's:
   1. Curriculum
   2. Faculty
   3. Resources and staffAmerican Culinary Foundation: Schools: Student Enrollment
3. Make sure the facility you plan to attend teaches the basics, including:
   1. Knife skills
   2. Fruits & Vegetables
   3. Wet & Dry Heat Cooking
   4. Baking
   5. Stocks & Sauces
   6. Salads & Dressings
   7. Meats
   8. Fish
   9. Poultry
   10. Starches
   11. Kitchen SafetyBuzzle: How to Become a Chef
   12. Presentation
   13. NutritionEducation Portal: How to Become a Chef
4. Job placement: Be sure the school you choose has a good job placement program.Buzzle: How to Become a Chef
5. Accreditation: The best way to avoid a program that is outdated, misleading or otherwise not on the level is to make sure the school you choose is accredited by a third party.Buzzle: How to Become a Chef

• After you have finished college, you can enter into the workforce, or work as an apprentice to a master chef who specializes in an area you are interested in mastering as well. You may have an interest in Asian, Mediterranean or French cuisine, and an apprenticeship is the perfect time to specialize and perfect your style. An apprenticeship typically offers three important pieces of experience:

1. Offers you a medium to test and apply the knowledge you learned in culinary school.
2. Provides you with a central focus or area of expertise
3. Starts you at the bottom in order to work your way up in the kitchen based on your knowledge and expertise.eHow: How to Become a Chef A typical progression in titles and responsibilities might look like:
   1. Line chef: also known as a Chef de Partie, is assigned to a specific station in the kitchenWikipedia: Chef: Various Titles
   2. Sous chef: assistant to the executive chef and second-in-command.Wikipedia: Chef: Various Titles
   3. Chef de Cuisine: the executive chef at one location for a restaurant with multiple locations.Wikipedia: Chef: Various Titles
      • Sometimes the executive chef is the owner of the establishment.Reluctant Gourmet: Becoming a Chef
   4. Master chef: a certified professional chef who has taken and passed the Culinary Institutes' chef certification.Cooking Schools 101: Certified Master Chef

• Much like getting an education, chef certification is not required, but it does look good on your resume and will allow you to assume the prestigious title of Master Chef. The cooking world is incredibly competitive, so getting certified will also give you an advantage over non-certified competition. Certification will demonstrate to a potential employer that you:

1. Have reached the highest plateau in your culinary expertise.
2. Possess sufficient knowledge of nutrition, food safety and sanitation.
3. Are capable of accepting a supervisory position in the culinary business.
4. Have the highest standards for food preparation.
5. Have taken charge of your career.American Culinary Foundation: Certification

1. Determine your area of expertise; The American Culinary Foundation (ACF) offers fourteen specialized areas from pastry chef to cooking school instructor.American Culinary Foundation: ACF Initial Certification Information
2. Gather all of the necessary documentation required by the ACF, which include:
   1. Copies of transcripts
   2. Documented work experience
   3. Certificates showing completion of thirty hours studying the subjects of Food Safety and Sanitation, Nutrition and Culinary Supervisory ManagementAmerican Culinary Foundation: ACF Initial Certification Information
3. Fill out the application.American Culinary Foundation: ACF Initial Certification Information
4. Take the written and practical examination at any certified ACF test site.American Culinary Foundation: ACF Initial Certification Information
5. Send your application.American Culinary Foundation: ACF Initial Certification Information