Training as a chef

Job Type                   Approved apprenticeship  
Training type            Dual training in the hospitality sector (regulated by training regulations)  
Training period         3 years  
Places of learning     training company and vocational school (dual training)    

 

 What do you do in this job?  

Cooks do all the works that belong to the production of food. If you have set up a meal plan you  buy food and ingredients and prepare or store them if necessary. They organize the workflow in the kitchen and make sure that the dishes are completed on time and in the correct order.

In smaller kitchens cooks roast, bake and decorate  all the dishes themselves. In commercial kitchens they are mostly specialized in the preparation of certain foods, such as in side dishes, salads or fisch and grill. The duties also include calculating prices and advise guests.

 

Where you work?

Cooks find employment  

  •  In kitchens of restaurants, hotels, cafeterias, hospitals, nursing homes and catering companies

Workplaces:  

Cooks work primarily  

  •  In kitchens  
  •  In warehouse and cold storage rooms

In addition, they work if necessary,  

  •  In guest rooms  
  •  Offices

 

Which graduation is expected?  

Legally no particular education is required. Usually, companies take trainees with a secondary school degree (9th year).  

What is important?  

Requirements:  

  •  Organizational skills, team skills (e.g. in coordinating workflows in the kitchen, when  dividing and directing the staff)
  • Care and sense of responsibility (e.g. the hygienic work in the kitchen, complying with the food regulations)   
  • Skill and a good physical condition (e.g. from cutting and filleting of meat or fish, for example, when working in a standing position)   
  • Creativity (e.g. when compiling of food, the serving) 

School subjects:        

  • Mathematics (e.g. during loading and Converting proportions in recipes)   
  • Chemistry (for example, when concerned with the composition of foods and their changes during production, storage and preparation)

 

 

What you earn in the training?  

Exemplary training allowances per month:   

  • 1st year of training: € 479 to € 586   
  • 2nd year: € 557 to € 672   
  • 3rd year: € 635 to € 757

 

 

Source: BERUFENET (http://arbeitsagentur.de) - Stand: 02.02.2015