Chris McClurg, sous chef, Paul Ainsworth at Number 6

The Staff Canteen

Chef Career Advice

Based on his extensive experience working within the Culinary world, Sous Chef, Chris McClurg offers his advice to aspiring Chefs in an attempt to help them on their journey up the career ladder:

The advice I'd give to somebody leaving college would be getting yourself in somewhere good would be the single most important thing, especially for a young cook, is to get yourself somewhere that's going to lay down good foundations of proper cooking. A young Chef can expect from the industry today a really, hugely rewarding career.

Things have changed a lot even since I started, I've been cooking 9 years now and when I started it’s the same with a lot of people here, more senior and stuff it was a very different trade. It’s still hard It's still a really challenging career and it's not to be taken lightly, but hugely rewarding like food now foods massive, it was big when I started and now it's just cannonballed.

I'd say the best bit of careers advice I was ever given was to stay humble because it's very easy when, especially when you're young and I fell into that trap as well as soon as you start learning, especially in your formative years of your career your learning process accelerates at a rate of knots and you're taking on all this knowledge and you think suddenly oh Jesus I know this and I know this, don't forget who put you there in the first place and who teaches you along the way and stay very humble because now more than ever things are being instilled into me like the nice guy gets the break.

When young Chefs apply for jobs here the most important thing were looking for is a willingness to learn and a willingness to contribute and work hard. If a Chef is to take a career with Paul things that you would expect and I've learned from experience are this is the first place that I've been that genuinely you do get out what you put in.

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Whether you're an aspiring Chef soon to be leaving education, or you are an established Chef looking for a new culinary challenge, we have a variety of Chef roles to suit you;
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The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 20th October 2016

Chris McClurg, sous chef, Paul Ainsworth at Number 6