Many food careers are physically demanding and require long hours. On the other hand, preparing food -- especially as a chef -- can be a rewarding creative experience. Food careers can range from work as a farmer to a sommelier, a wine expert to a pastry chef. And the best part is, people whose job is food tend to eat really well.
Chef
Chefs work in many places, including restaurants, corporate food services, resorts, hospitals and schools. Executive chefs manage everything from creating dishes and planning menus to ordering supplies, monitoring kitchen standards, hiring chefs and overseeing food preparation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Handbook. A sous chef is the second in command. Then there are other cooks who may specialize in vegetables, meats, desserts or one aspect of food preparation. Chefs can train on the job or take courses at universities and community colleges. But the top jobs with the best pay generally go to chefs who have trained formally at culinary institutes.
Catering Personal Chef
Caterers are not necessarily chefs, but they can be both. Caterers provide food for special events such as weddings, corporate retreats and large meetings. Caterers must plan meals around a client's preferences, cook (or have someone else cook the food) and deliver it with a particular aesthetic. They must be good not only with food but also with management and people, according to HCareers, a hospitality career website.
A personal chef is hired by a family to purchase all ingredients, cook the food and clean up afterward. Some chefs are on-site while the family eats, others might freeze the food for later. Most families who hire personal chefs expect them to have degrees from culinary schools, according to Cooking Schools 101 (see Resources).
Bakers and Pastry Chefs
Bakers tend to get up long before dawn to provide fresh-baked goods for the day, partly because bread and other baked goods have to have time for the yeast to make them rise. If you're not a morning person, that can be a drawback. Bakers can work for retail bakeries, hotels or resorts, or can provide baked goods for grocery stores or coffee shops.
Food Writer
Careers in food writing include food critic, writing cookbooks and writing the blurbs on fancy menus. You could become an expert on a certain type of food and make your living writing articles and blogs about it. At any rate, if you're a food writer, you get to eat and you get to write. Food writers have to know something about food and how it is prepared and be able to describe it in such a way that others feel like they've tasted it.
Nutritionist
Nutritionists figure out how the way a person eats is impacting him emotionally, physically and mentally. A nutritionist can work for a school, a hospital or a prison, for example. Or a nutritionist might be hired by a food production company or a restaurant chain to help formulate recipes that are healthy. A bachelor's degree in dietetics, food and nutrition or a related subject is generally required for this career, according to The Princeton Review.
