Careers Brief - Professional Culinary Arts FdA
Overview
For a competent and skilled chef there are excellent and varied prospects in the UK and internationally. For example, you could create a career path in kitchens leading to Head Chef or Chef Patron, running your own restaurant, or start as a Relief Chef Manager leading on to Contract Catering Manager in business or industry, or work as a Product Development Chef in a retail or manufacturing company.
To make a successful career in catering and the culinary arts, you will need a business awareness as well as excellent practical skills and creativity. You will need to be energetic and demonstrate skills in planning, timing, teamwork and managing people.
Hospitality is one of the fastest-growing, job-creating sectors, offering the opportunity of an international career with rapid progression to management level in restaurants, hotels, pubs, clubs, bars, contract catering, hospitality services within other organisations or self-employment.
Use the website links below to find out more.
To consider a wider choice of careers, matched to your interests, use Prospects Planner and other tools listed in the Career Planning section of this Careers Guide.
Further Study
You will be able to apply for a Top-up degree course. Top-up degrees are designed as a direct progression from Foundation degree to achieve an Ordinary or Honours degree.
Alternatively, you could transfer into a related Honours degree. Entry point would depend on your grades, experience and overlap between courses but could be into the final year.
Go to the Links on the HE Home page for information on the one-year full-time BA (Hons) International Hospitality & Tourism Management Top-up degree at Bournemouth University (click on sub-heading 'Courses').
Other institutions offering Top-ups include:
University of Derby 'Professional Culinary Arts'; The Manchester Metropolitan University ‘Hospitality Management with Culinary Arts’; Newcastle College 'Hospitality & Culinary Management'; Sheffield Hallam University 'Hospitality Business Management with Culinary Arts'; Westminster Kingsway College 'Culinary Arts & Business Management'.
To search for degree courses go to www.ucas.com/ (UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK). Use the university/college links for course details.
You will need to use UCAS to apply for courses. Contact the Course Tutor of your chosen course to find out your position, before you make your formal application.
Find out how much this will cost you. Where is the funding coming from? Go to the university/college links for course costs and finance and to www.direct.gov.uk/uni/ for additional help with student support.
With a good Honours degree (First or 2.1), you could progress onto an appropriate higher level Masters and/or PhD doctorate. This could be to develop your area of study to a more in-depth practical and/or academic level or to gain other specialist training.
For information on all postgraduate courses and research, go to the national online directory at www.prospects.ac.uk/links/pgstudy/ .
Go to the main section Further Study of this Guide for more information and help.
Resources
Springboard promoting careers in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism - go to sub-heading ‘Careerscope’
UKSP - Hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism jobs, careers and qualifications
British Hospitality Association
www.instituteofhospitality.org/
The Institute of Hospitality - professional body for managers (and aspiring managers) working in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industries
Online information source for hospitality - click on sub-heading 'Companies' for company profiles + Caterer Directory
Totaljobs Group - for careers and jobs - go to sub-heading 'Advice'
Big Hospitality (William Reed Business Media) for news and jobs
Barzone - a leading specialist job agency for licensed retail
http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/
Careers database and links to jobs nationally. Search by either clicking on side-heading ‘Careers’ and choose a category or type in job title.
Graduate Prospects - online national careers service for HE students studying in the UK:
- Drop down ‘Careers advice’ and click on ‘Use your qualification’ for ‘Your foundation degree…what next?’
- Drop down ‘Jobs & work’ and click on ‘Explore types of jobs’
- Drop down ‘Jobs & work' and click on ‘What jobs would suit me?’ for Prospects Planner and other services
http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/
Careers Advice Service
www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u/
Jobs4U Careers Database - click on sub-heading ‘Job Families & Articles’
GTI publication for graduate jobs and careers intelligence - go to sub-headings 'Career sectors' + 'Careers advice'
Career in Travel – information for Overseas Holiday Reps and Cabin Crew
Go to the Job Applications section of this Careers Guide for additional help and advice with making applications.
