Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers [Paperback]

Irena Chalmers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Do you want to turn your passion for food into a career? Take a bite out of the food world with help from the experts in this first-of-its-kind What Color Is Your Parachute? for food related careers.Maybe you're considering culinary school, maybe you're about to graduate, or maybe you're looking for an exciting career change. How can you translate your zest for flavor into a satisfying profession? Should you become a chef or open a specialty foods shop, write cookbooks or try your hand at food styling? Culinary careers are as varied as they are fascinating-the only challenge is deciding which one is right for you. Filled with advice from food-world pros including luminaries such as Alice Waters, Chris Kimball, Betty Fussell and Darra Goldstein Food Jobs will set you behind the stove of your dream career.Chalmers provides essential information for getting started including testimonials from the best in the field (Bobby Flay, Todd English, Gordon Hamersly, Francois Payard, Danny Meyer, Anthony Bourdain and more).

Editorial Reviews

Review

A well-connected, highly regarded culinary career guru who is currently an instructor at the CIA's New Hyde Park campus, Chalmers presents a very useful guide to a dizzying array of food occupations, ranging from chef, butcher, and nutritionist to bee keeper, kitchen designer, and wild game farmer. Her knowing and pithy descriptions of duties and requisite qualifications are often supplemented by enlightening accounts of their career paths written by people prominent in their field: Betty Fussell on becoming a food historian, Jonathan King on the founding of Stonewall Kitchens, Sidney Mintz on specializing as a food anthropologist. Great perspectives here. -- Kitchen Arts & Letters Newsletter

So you're thinking of a spot in the food world but don't know where to start? Irena Chalmers's new book, Food Jobs (Beaufort Books, 2008), may help you focus your energy. Chalmers, a culinary businesswoman and author, offers sketches of 150 different food-related jobs, divided among nine categories --everything from busboy to flavor maker to seed scientist to fortune-cookie writer. The book and the website and blog that go with it (foodjobsbook.com) are engaging reads. --Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, March 29, 2009

Review

As a food writer, lots of things come across my desk... Occasionally, I'm impressed enough to share with you. Like today, when I received some info about a new book by Irena Chalmers. Whether you're looking for a job in a restaurant, the media, culinary education or even farming, this book has details that you need to know about. Like how to go about landing that job, and what exactly that job is all about.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Beaufort Books, Inc.; 1 edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825305926
• ISBN-13: 978-0825305924
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Irena Chalmers is recognized as the pioneer of the single subject cookbook. Her many engaging books have won numerous awards; the most recent, the Gourmand World Cookbook Award - Best Book for Food Professionals in the World for FOOD JOBS: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers.

A James Beard Foundation "Who's Who" of Food and Beverage in America, Irena has delighted and captivated audiences and readers with her wit and commentary on the food world and its many food trends. She is a past president and founding member of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) and Les Dames d'Escoffier. Irena also is a member of the faculty of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, a national food essayist and columnist for Chef magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reframing Options, September 3, 2008

By 

Gerard Fischetti - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers (Paperback)

Having worked in the hospitality industry for almost 30 years, this book can help anyone considering employment in foodservice. Instead of the traditional thinking of "what job fits my qualifications?", this book demonstrates how to make your place in the world by making a job or finding a job to fit your qualifications; to fit your personality and to fit your passion. For many people, this is a major paradigm shift.

Irena has filled the pages with examples, testimonials and research demonstrating how to make your passion into a rewarding career. So, exactly how many people are out there that hate their jobs? Apparently they never read this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate guide to careers in and out of the kitchen!, September 9, 2008

By 

V. Arcoraci (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers (Paperback)

This is THE book I have been waiting for! From front of the house to back -- and down alleys you never even thought to explore, Irena Chalmers has created a comprehensive guide for any person interested in pursuing a career in the food industry. Food Jobs covers all the conventional occupations you can think of. PLUS, it goes on to include the unconventional and eccentric jobs for culinary and food study graduates like me that are looking to find their dream job and know it isn't located in a professional kitchen or behind an office desk. Irena has drawn on her years of experience and has done her research, interviewing experts from all arenas: chefs, food stylists, artists, publicists, retailers, farmers, writers, anthropologists, educators...you name it. This book is a must read!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book exceeded my expectations., September 1, 2008

By 

Food Lover (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers (Paperback)

This book is very good for not only the food field but also for other "creative" jobs. I'm a flower designer but I started reading this book and picked up many great hints to extend my work and my career.

I was inspired by the author's knowledge and writing style. I also appreciated learning about not only so many jobs which are involved with food, but also new ways of thinking about the job search process.

Before you get a new job, or change your career direction, if you read this book you'll be sure to pick up lots of new ideas. This is a very interesting book on many levels.