With the emergence of popular food shows like Iron Chef, Top Chef and countless others, it's becoming more and more alluring for people to want to pursue a career in the culinary arts. This coupled with the slowing economy is encouraging many people to trade in their desk jobs for what the perceive will be a great and glamorous life as a top notch chef. Now I am not going to discourage anybody who wants to either make this jump of careers or any younger people looking to pursue this career as they enter adulthood. I love my job, and apart from a six figure record deal and a world tour flying on jets and selling out stadiums, I wouldn't trade it for any job on the planet. I do however have some precautionary words.

The first and foremost thing I need to warn you about is that us cooks don't get paid a lot. Don't get me wrong, those executive chefs at hotels and top restaurants are well off, but in the culinary world it's a long road to get to that spot, and you don't make much along the way. My first line cooking job in a fine dining restaurant paid me $9.00 an hour, and if you have no experience at all you can expect the same. Really if you are just starting out and you don't get stuck washing dishes you should consider yourself lucky.

The most common story that i hear is a person decides they want to be a chef, they quit their job, enroll in a culinary school, get out in the workforce and they wind up making just over minimum wage. This is the reality of it folks. Even with a culinary diploma from a big name school, you will be making dick for money. There is a ladder in the restaurant industry that you need to climb, both with experience and the furthering of your education such as getting your Red Seal or equivalent certification wherever you are working.

So should you go get a culinary education upon entering this field? Honestly, not right away, especially for younger people. I really strongly recommend you find yourself a job as a dishwasher, prep cook or some other entry level position at any restaurant off the bat. Reason being is that you will find out if you really truly like this enough to drop a pile of cash on a culinary degree, because really that's minimum a few thousand dollars that you are never going to see again. Not only that, but when you enter culinary school, all of which operate at a very accelerated pace, you will have a basic skill set and some kitchen experience going in, which will give you a leg up on successfully completing the program.

With that in mind, I have to offer some precautionary words about choosing a culinary school. In this case, expensive does not always mean best. Now I'm not telling you to go enroll in the Hollywood Upstairs Community Culinary Academy that operates beside an animal hospital for $150, but I am also telling you that it's completely pointless to go drop 40 grand on a culinary education. You should look at culinary school as a place to learn skills and get some proper hands on training, not as a place where you will earn some prestigious degree that will provide you with a ticket to the top of the gastronomic universe, cause it won't. It's what you do AFTER school that will get you that ticket. Also bear in mind that even though you complete culinary school you STILL HAVE TO GET YOUR RED SEAL! The culinary school diploma is not a red seal equivalent, nor is it superior despite what the head of admissions told you in your interview.

Locally, if you are looking for a cooking school to attend, I would suggest Vancouver Community College. Not to say any of the other local schools aren't good, but VCC is significantly less expensive, and you will come out with pretty much the same skill set and be in the same spot career wise as those graduating from the more expensive schools. This is all coming from a graduate of The Pacific Institute Of Culinary Arts, and I really enjoyed my time there and learned a ton, so the recommendation of VCC is from a completely unbiased voice of experience here!

So if you're thinking of getting into this crazy racket, I encourage you to do so. But I also encourage you to do your homework first. Research, weight the options, crunch the numbers and do your finances. Make sure this is the life you want before you spend the better part of your year and your bank account trying to make it happen!