6 answers
Asra
Student
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
1
Question
Asked
2235 views
Do I choose culinary arts or psychology as a career?
I love cooking and baking a lot, but psychology interests me as well. However, studying psychology is very different from pursuing it as a career. I'm really confused what do I do? #psychology #culinary
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6 answers
Tylor Urias
Executive chef & Pastaio
3
Answers
Las Vegas, Nevada
Updated
Tylor’s Answer
Well you have a few things to consider here, such as what type of lifestyle do you want to lead, what type of schedule do you want to work and what truly is your passion.
Culinary is an extremely demanding field, that is often times over glamorized by movies and tv. It is a lot of long hours working while your friends will be off. Kitchens are very hot environments where you will be getting wet, burned, cut and will also be constantly lifting, twisting and turning. To say, it is physically demanding is an understatement.
I’m addition, it is very mentally strenuous. You’re first few years in the culinary industry you will be yelled at, screamed at and possibly belittled, hell, I’ve had things THROWN at me even! The majority of younger adults “burn out” of this field before they get to the point to make decent money or climb to a high enough position to have a decent life balance and Income.
As a cook, you can expect to make between 22 and 33 k a year. Which may seem like a lot, but when the markets you’ll have to live in to find opportunity will cost about $2000 a month for a one bedroom apartment, it can be very difficult to make ends meet. Kitchens are also run on vary tight profit margins, meaning it is likely your shifts will be cut down when the restaurant is slow. When you start to make it towards junior management and sous chef roles, you will start to experience more stable income and balance.
If NONE of this scares you, and creating dishes and working with food is something that excites and challenges you, then this is the field for you! It’s takes a very specific A type personality to truly excel in the field.
On the flip side, for a psychology field, you are looking at 8-10 years of schooling and hundreds of thousands in tuition. It is a longer process, but generally provides a much more “comfortable” living. Less working hours, better pay, better life balance, etc.
My best recommendation would be to speak with a career counselor or other resource available to you to see about shadowing a doctor or staging in a restaurant. This will give you some exposure into a day in the life of each of these fields.
Needless to say, there is no right answer here. You will have to decide what interests you and pursue it. If at any point you decide culinary is not for you, you can always attend school and change fields, or vice versa. I would highly recommend reaching out to a few restaurants or hotels nearby about possibly staging with them to get a better idea of what feels right. Generally, by the end of the third day of a stage, you’ll know if it’s the right fit for you.
1. Speak with a guidance or career councilor
2. Consider staging or shadowing both fields
3. Speak with local professionals and ask your questions, right them down so you are prepared
4. Assess your experience, the information you receive and consider the type of schedule and life style you want.
5. Make a plan of action to prepare yourself for whichever field you chose.
Culinary is an extremely demanding field, that is often times over glamorized by movies and tv. It is a lot of long hours working while your friends will be off. Kitchens are very hot environments where you will be getting wet, burned, cut and will also be constantly lifting, twisting and turning. To say, it is physically demanding is an understatement.
I’m addition, it is very mentally strenuous. You’re first few years in the culinary industry you will be yelled at, screamed at and possibly belittled, hell, I’ve had things THROWN at me even! The majority of younger adults “burn out” of this field before they get to the point to make decent money or climb to a high enough position to have a decent life balance and Income.
As a cook, you can expect to make between 22 and 33 k a year. Which may seem like a lot, but when the markets you’ll have to live in to find opportunity will cost about $2000 a month for a one bedroom apartment, it can be very difficult to make ends meet. Kitchens are also run on vary tight profit margins, meaning it is likely your shifts will be cut down when the restaurant is slow. When you start to make it towards junior management and sous chef roles, you will start to experience more stable income and balance.
If NONE of this scares you, and creating dishes and working with food is something that excites and challenges you, then this is the field for you! It’s takes a very specific A type personality to truly excel in the field.
On the flip side, for a psychology field, you are looking at 8-10 years of schooling and hundreds of thousands in tuition. It is a longer process, but generally provides a much more “comfortable” living. Less working hours, better pay, better life balance, etc.
My best recommendation would be to speak with a career counselor or other resource available to you to see about shadowing a doctor or staging in a restaurant. This will give you some exposure into a day in the life of each of these fields.
Needless to say, there is no right answer here. You will have to decide what interests you and pursue it. If at any point you decide culinary is not for you, you can always attend school and change fields, or vice versa. I would highly recommend reaching out to a few restaurants or hotels nearby about possibly staging with them to get a better idea of what feels right. Generally, by the end of the third day of a stage, you’ll know if it’s the right fit for you.
Tylor recommends the following next steps:
None of it scares me, I mean all fields have their ups and downs and that's what makes it what it is right? This made me think a lot, thank you so much!
Asra
Erinn Andrews
Radiologic Technologist
5
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Erinn’s Answer
My biggest piece of advice would be job shadow or volunteer in both of those fields.
Before I got into radiology I thought I wanted to be a dental hygienist. So I took a job as a back office assistant. I loved it. It I found the work to be incredibly repetitive. I also watched my coworkers struggle with the literal pains of being a hygienist. So I leaned that wasn’t for me.
I had taken culinary arts and event planning in high school, so I thought maybe changing to do something in that area. I then got a job in a winery. I LOVED that job. It was incredibly fun. But I also knew I wanted a family and wanted a higher income. And the direction I wanted to go in didn’t pay a lot and it has demanding hours. And also I knew my heart wanted to be back in the medical field.
So then I volunteered at a hospital in the radiology department and knew this was where I was supposed to be.
I was 18 when I graduated high school. And I was 26 when I graduated X-ray school. It took me sometime to figure out where I wanted to go in my career, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Getting first hand experience is key to finding out if the field you want to go into is really where you want to be.
Before I got into radiology I thought I wanted to be a dental hygienist. So I took a job as a back office assistant. I loved it. It I found the work to be incredibly repetitive. I also watched my coworkers struggle with the literal pains of being a hygienist. So I leaned that wasn’t for me.
I had taken culinary arts and event planning in high school, so I thought maybe changing to do something in that area. I then got a job in a winery. I LOVED that job. It was incredibly fun. But I also knew I wanted a family and wanted a higher income. And the direction I wanted to go in didn’t pay a lot and it has demanding hours. And also I knew my heart wanted to be back in the medical field.
So then I volunteered at a hospital in the radiology department and knew this was where I was supposed to be.
I was 18 when I graduated high school. And I was 26 when I graduated X-ray school. It took me sometime to figure out where I wanted to go in my career, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Getting first hand experience is key to finding out if the field you want to go into is really where you want to be.
thank you so much!
Asra
Asra
Student
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
1
Question
Updated
Asra’s Answer
Wow this is a lot of helpful info, thank you so much!
James Look
Pastry Chef
9
Answers
Lincoln Park
Updated
James’s Answer
I actually was in a similar position with the Science field and Pastry arts. I really enjoyed both in school and could have seen myself doing either. I knew that a career in science would have higher paying jobs, sooner but in the end I knew that I wouldn't be happy doing that for the rest of my life. I enjoy the creativity and fast paced culinary industry and I'm glad I chose it. A good thing though, is that many colleges that have culinary programs will let you take different programs together or have internships. You could inquire about spending a day following a chef and psychologist and see if either would be the right choice!
There are alot of factors but I find that the biggest key will be: will you enjoy doing this for the next 40 years.
Compare the pros and cons of each career
Ask a professional in the culinary industry questions
Ask a professional in the psychology industry questions
There are alot of factors but I find that the biggest key will be: will you enjoy doing this for the next 40 years.
James recommends the following next steps:
This helped me so much, thank you !
Asra
You're very welcome, good luck with your decision and please don't hesitate to ask more questions
James Look
Sam Alexander, PMP
Career Coaching & Management
8
Answers
Arlington, Virginia
Updated
Sam’s Answer
Asra,
Try writing down on paper, a list of pros and cons for each career path. You might find one jumps out as being a stronger contender based on your personality, skills and passion. Also, there is not reason you can't look at both! Get your psych degree and continue cooking with passion. Life is full of opportunity for more than one career!!
Best of luck!
-Sam
Try writing down on paper, a list of pros and cons for each career path. You might find one jumps out as being a stronger contender based on your personality, skills and passion. Also, there is not reason you can't look at both! Get your psych degree and continue cooking with passion. Life is full of opportunity for more than one career!!
Best of luck!
-Sam
Thank you, I shall try that
Asra
Kenji Salz
Chef and Consultant
12
Answers
Indonesia
Updated
Kenji’s Answer
I am a career chef and have seen how things go from beginning to middle to end for career culinarians. One thing to keep in mind is that unlike sales or say psychology jobs, kitchen is inevitably physical and you have to work on health to maintain it as there are inbuilt challenges - body wear and tear, stress and so on.
Now I have a daughter in University and I see her choices (not kitchen) within her so far selected business school. One is marketing (first choice) with 40-45k average first year salaries and the other is MIS (Data tech studies) which has an average of 60k first year salaries. She is talented in MIS out of nowhere acing it with no background. I find myself urging her to explore the hardwired talent that has financial productivity. The thinking is that all marketing teams need an MIS specialist. So I painted a picture for her of being the MIS guy making 65k while being part of the same marketing project with other marketing focused peeps making 45k. IT is a huge difference in that she would have a greater chance of reaching financial security and independence earlier and actually transitioning after a number of years into Marketing by virtue of being part of the team.
If you study psychology average salaries for graduates you may find that there is more upside initially doing that. Maybe not but it is definitely worth looking into. Study psychology if you like it and do an internship somewhere.
Baking you can volunteer while studying as much as you can or work whichever is available. IF you get to be a typical hotel or large operation pastry bakery specialist you could make an ok living but unless it is in a large casino, not so huge. NEver lose site of where you want to be financially as you hit the wall in your early 50s. The orders don't stop for pastry chefs. Very few are purely administrative. Its a tough gig and you would necessarily have to absolutely love it for it to be worthwhile.
That being said salaries may rise due to staff shortage over time. You might find some other way to express the pastry interest in a business. Hard to say.
Ultimately my advise is to do both for awhile and be very objective about how you will go forward.
Now I have a daughter in University and I see her choices (not kitchen) within her so far selected business school. One is marketing (first choice) with 40-45k average first year salaries and the other is MIS (Data tech studies) which has an average of 60k first year salaries. She is talented in MIS out of nowhere acing it with no background. I find myself urging her to explore the hardwired talent that has financial productivity. The thinking is that all marketing teams need an MIS specialist. So I painted a picture for her of being the MIS guy making 65k while being part of the same marketing project with other marketing focused peeps making 45k. IT is a huge difference in that she would have a greater chance of reaching financial security and independence earlier and actually transitioning after a number of years into Marketing by virtue of being part of the team.
If you study psychology average salaries for graduates you may find that there is more upside initially doing that. Maybe not but it is definitely worth looking into. Study psychology if you like it and do an internship somewhere.
Baking you can volunteer while studying as much as you can or work whichever is available. IF you get to be a typical hotel or large operation pastry bakery specialist you could make an ok living but unless it is in a large casino, not so huge. NEver lose site of where you want to be financially as you hit the wall in your early 50s. The orders don't stop for pastry chefs. Very few are purely administrative. Its a tough gig and you would necessarily have to absolutely love it for it to be worthwhile.
That being said salaries may rise due to staff shortage over time. You might find some other way to express the pastry interest in a business. Hard to say.
Ultimately my advise is to do both for awhile and be very objective about how you will go forward.
Thank you so much!
Asra