/industry/

[Anonymous No.6506125]

Industry general, who here still enjoys their job?

[Anonymous No.6506127]

>>6506125
Work in government. I show up to work every day and literally have nothing to do. $75,000 pa. Can't decide if best job or worst job.

[Anonymous No.6506157]

Its okay. I don't make much but the job is easy
I just don't want to do anything different as it takes effort to learn something entirely new and is stressful
I just want to take it easy

[Anonymous No.6506164]

>>6506127
what is your title?

[Anonymous No.6506169]

some days love it, some days hate it

who here apprenticed?

[Anonymous No.6506172]

>>6506125
I got out of it a year ago and not looking back. No more working late friday and saturday nights is probably he best part about being out of the industry.

I enjoyed kitchen work while I did it, and learned a hell of a lot, but I don't regret leaving.

[Anonymous No.6506175]

>>6506164
Ministerial advisor.

[Anonymous No.6506215]

I finally got a better job at a new Italian restaurant that's opening up in town. I put in my two weeks notice at Burger King yesterday, and it felt fucking good. I worked there for 10 months and it was terrible. I'm stoked I'll be working in a real kitchen again. Fuck fast food.

[unagi No.6506264]

Pretty enjoyable but being a sous chef definitely has it's challenges launching a menu june 1st and one of my suppliers is fucking me on proteins by 30% and the chef is wanting me to change the items so he can save his food cost so i have to re write and test the menu

[Anonymous No.6506925]

I want to kill myself. I really do.

>Garde Manger for events and catering at a resort
>feel a disparity in responsibilities between myself and my two co-workers who are part of my team
>My daily responsibilities include preparation of garnishes and mise for a total of 18 salads, a combination of grains, pasta, leafy and special salads
>After preparing those garnishes, I have to make those salads
>Making sure the fridge in my station is washed down every week
>Co-worker 1 is a dude who milks the clock to the fullest extent, and slow as fuck
>His responsibilities include managing the dressings, sauces and other items that go along with the orders from the cold kitchen
>It's literally just pouring dressings and sauces into their appropriate container
>Takes him 8 hours, maybe even more depending on how busy it is
>Co-worker 2 is the same thing, but much worse.
>Suffers from a plethora of mental disabilities, or so she claims
>Literally slower than a turtle
>Claims she managed dinner service in the line at a popular restaurant
>Her responsibilities include cooking my pasta and grains, meat/cheese/fish platters and crudite
>Once took her 12 hours to make crudite and cheese for a total of 600 people, and someone already cooked her pasta, and already cut the crudite. All she gotta do is cut the cheese and plate everything else.
>Once asked for assistance but refused because she was "very busy"
>It's a cheese platter for 15, and charcuterie for 30, and noodles for 75

cont.

[Anonymous No.6506928]

>>6506125
Can I post as pizza delivery?

[Anonymous No.6506931]

>>6506925
>by the time she finished the cheese and meat, I've already fulfilled about half the salad orders
>Conveniently starts having fits everytime that there's a large group that wants food
>They probably get paid more than I do
>I end up assisting them with their jobs 75% of the time
>Can't even complain because 1 & 2 are very close friends with the sous chef because they have history
>mfw they probably get paid more than I do

[Anonymous No.6506936]

>>6506931
time to find new work anon

[Anonymous No.6506980]

>>6506125
>work at a mom and pop up-scale pizzeria
>been there over 3 years now
>started as a delivery driver, now work inside, have had many raises
>people are all cool as hell, even the owners (outside of work, I hate working with them, though)
>a few months ago we start slowing down
>hours start getting cut
>went from working >40 hours a week at a decent wage to barely pulling 20 hours
>broke as shit
>suddenly can't drink on the job anymore because co-workers can't control their liquor
>recently some co-workers left and I'm given a big speech about stepping up my effort to fill their roles to get more hours
>new schedule has me working barely 3 hours more than old schedule
>now I'm stuck working the counter - the job I hate the absolute most, would rather be washing dishes
>done nothing but improved my kitchen
>doesn't matter because 50 year old Mexican cook will never leave and I can never move up, regardless of how much they hate the way he operates

Good fucking thing I'm going back to school. Not trying to be all high and mighty, but fuck doing the job of a 19 year old talentless girl. I fucking hate working the counter.

When school starts I'm seriously going to tell them I can't work during the week (when they need someone for the counter). Fuck that shit.

[Anonymous No.6508106]

>Be me
>Working as head chef for several years
>Wife divorces me and takes kids because I'm never around
>Paying 1/4 monthly wages to child support.
>Can't keep a girlfriend because I work so much
>Hardly ever see kids because I work so much
>No friends because I have to keep a professional distance from my staff and the other managers are all married or lame, and I don't have time to find new friends
>Spend my time off in a zombie like stupor because I'm exhausted.
>Don't eat at work because I'm so sick of everything there. Don't eat at home because I can't work up the energy to cook in my time off.
>Make a decent salary, but child support kills me. Living paycheck to paycheck.

Despite all that, I still get a thrill every goddamn night when we execute things right. Don't know how much longer that's gonna keep me going though. As I get older, it gets harder to hang in there all day.

[Anonymous No.6509102]

>>6508106
If you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, you are barely in the industry.

This is an industry that expects monumental, even ridiculous, levels of commitment and pays shit in return. Don't get me wrong, I love it and couldn't imagine doing anything else, but god damn.

I know why it is this way too but at the same time it kind of blows my mind. Being a chef (at least a good one) requires such a huge amount of work and skill that it really feels like it should pay a lot more, especially compared to other jobs. I got offered a job at an office by a friend of a friend that would have paid literally twice what I make now and required like half the hours. Or less.

But, obviously, I didn't take it. Because shit pay and shit schedule and ridiculous stress levels and complete inability to maintain any kind of relationship outside work aside, I love what I do.

[Anonymous No.6509147]

>worked as a baker/pastry chef since I was 18
>develop a bad wheat allergy at 30

well, my life is over

I don't know how the fuck you just start becoming allergic to something you were fine with before, but I can't even touch flour without breaking out in a terrible itchy rash now.

[Anonymous No.6509162]

>>6509102
I'm the anon from

>>6506925
>>6506931
With the amount of shit I put up with, I really can't see myself doing anything else. I worked a stint at a company for some holiday money. I made stupid amounts of money, and I'm talking about $2500 per payday, including taxes and deductibles for 40 hours. I eventually quit, and everyone in my life called me a retard for leaving that job, but at the same time, it was completely brainless and monotonous. I wanted to end my life after the first week, but I stayed after I ended up paying my school loans completely after 6 paychecks.

Then they called me up again to work the following season, with drastically cut pay, but still better than the average joe makes. I flat out refused and just toughed it out in the line for $13 an hour.

It's a weird feeling, I tell you what.

[Anonymous No.6509165]

>>6509147
lols , im getting that way too. im fine with flour, but get a rash from gluten. i gotta duck outside when they fill up the bins or get what looks like eczema head to toe

[Anonymous No.6509238]

>>6508106
>I have to keep a professional distance from my staff
No, you don't. You're supposed to, but you don't have to. You should be fucking FoH. It's your duty. Now go get them, chum.

[Anonymous No.6509246]

Is it difficult to get a dishwashing position?

My plan is to go to every nearby restaurant and hand a resume to the manager and say straight up that I'd like to apply for dishwashing. I have no experience in restaurants though so this is why I'm aiming low but can anyone give me some tips beyond my plan? Would be greatly appreciated

[Anonymous No.6509403]

>>6509246
Exec Chef for a place with over 100 employees.
Motivation is worth more than experience for a dishwasher, to me.
And it sounds like you're motivated.
I'm sure someone will take you in.

[Anonymous No.6509436]

Man, I thought about going to culinary school a couple years ago. Thank god I didn't.

[Anonymous No.6509470]

>>6509246
I applied for a dishwasher job advertised in the paper when I was just 15 and got it. Nobody cares about experience for dishwashers, they just expect you to bust your ass and show up every day on time or you get replaced by somebody that will.

When they realized I was willing to work hard they started giving me more shifts. They moved me to the salad/prep station and eventually fry cook and then saute and then grill and eventually sous chef of that place. The really great thing, despite all the things that suck about working in a kitchen, is it's typically a meritocracy. If you prove your worth you move up in the world.

If you are honestly willing to work very hard, you wont have any problems.

When I was 19 I quit the sous chef job to work as a gy shift baker (I was more interested in pastry) and eventually worked my way up to pastry chef of a very large resort and I've been the pastry chef of several restaurants since. Looking back I was lucky for a lot of the opportunities I had. But I also never missed a day or work and never showed up late and never gave anyone a reason to doubt my potential.

[Anonymous No.6509523]

I work at a theme park in their kitchen and its alright. I get my own coats and non slip shoes for free but they are so fucking strict about using cutting gloves and your language/demeanor because of guests (even though I am away from them most of the time). I used to just work in dive-bar kitchens though and I'm starting to miss the free shift drinks and general debauchery I had before.

[Anonymous No.6509645]

I want to open a food truck or a small hole in the wall so bad but I lack any real, long term, experience.

I can cook, I've worked with and fixed flat tops and mixers and ovens, I have almost half of my menu developed and have serious strides on the business plan front. I still feel vastly under prepared right now for it.

What job should I pick up in the mean time to help develop and solidify my skills? Right now I'm a driver but I do have kitchen experience and only took on the driving job due to the pay.

[Anonymous No.6509675]

How do you guys motivate yourselves to work? I don't want to be an asshole, but I work with a bunch of selfish cunts who think prep work is about taking your time and doing your own stuff

>Work at a hotel
>Guy 1 grates cheese blend en masse for a large function with a robo coupe
>Politely ask if I could ask him to grate an extra 2 liters of cheddar for back up for the line since the books were packed
>No anon that's your job not mine
>Instantly disassembles the robo coupe and sends it to dish
>Had to wait for dish, re-assemble the robo coupe, and then grate my cheese
>a 2 minute job just became a 10 minute one
>meanwhile he takes his sweet time sprinkling cheese on pizzas like he was Martha Stewart

>Guy 2 is cooking pasta
>Ask him to let me know when he's done with the water since I also need to cook pasta
>Dumps the water anyway since it's not his job

It just sucks the motivation right out of me when I work with these pricks. I personally don't think it's lazy, unless I'm wrong. I mean for efficiency's sake, there's no need for 2 people to do the same job, right? Get one person to do both people's job, while the other free person moves on to another job that they both need.

[Anonymous No.6509680]

>>6509675
Find somewhere else to work or tell your boss. I would not stand to work with such insufferable fucks.

[Anonymous No.6509685]

>>6509645
Planning a menu and cooking is only 1/3 of a chef's job. You need to have a firm grasp on your costs and sales or you're going to throw your money away and drive your business into the ground. Then you need to know how to manage people, Unless you're gonna do everything yourself (pro tip: you're not).

Go work in a restaurant. Something that matches what your 'business' will be like. Learn everything. Everything. It's all important. Once you've done that, you're still woefully unprepared to open a restaurant but at least you're not totally ignorant.

[Anonymous No.6509691]

>>6506125

>movie theater my friend works at opens up some dine-in option
>understaffed to fuck, and they hire ex-cons
>some guy almost stabbed himself opening up a can of tomatoes with a knife, ruining the knife in the process
>ex-cons get angry frequently and actually pull knives on eachother
>no one knows that they're supposed to tip the waiters, either

just why did they think this would work

[Anonymous No.6509766]

>>6509680
I'm going to stick to this, I want to. Pay is decent, people are decent and there's a lot of room for me to improve. It's just that I feel like there's only 4 or 5 reliable people in the kitchen/production staff of 15.

So for now, I just want some advice other than leaving to keep my nerves from strangling these motherfuckers.

[Anonymous No.6509854]

>>6506169
Current apprentice right here. Last night was fucking brutal, 12 hour shift learning a new station and we got hammered. Rainy today, might be a little more relaxed but who knows.

[Anonymous No.6509858]

My first industry job just ended last month, and I had a month before my next job started up.

Thank god it's over soon. I want to go back.

[Anonymous No.6509876]

Any tips for someone new to the industry?

My boss said I had a great attitude and work ethic and gave a recommendation. I love my job and I love working with food all day, but I want to get better. At the same time though, the idea of moving out of mass production and onto a line is scary as shit, and I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to pull my own weight, or that I'll fuck everything up, and I don't want to be that guy that everyone hates working with.

[Anonymous No.6509936]

>>6509876
I'm fairly new to the industry myself (only been for less than 3 years), and from my experience, keep up the attitude and work ethic. Best advice that was given to me is that to put in the effort, and no one will hate you for it. Like, I know the industry strives for perfection, but we're also human. As long as you keep track of your mistakes, learn from them and try not to repeat the same ones, no one will hate you. Yes, you will get yelled a lot if you make mistakes in the line, but line cooks will usually never hold it against you, and you shouldn't either. The line is a very stressful, so yelling is natural. Also, never be afraid to ask questions. Everyone doesn't know everything, so questions are normally encouraged.

The best people to learn from are the ones that yell at you, but then offers advice after service and even after work. I was fortunate enough to be able to work with a solid crew who offered to help me, because they saw my efforts about wanting to get better.

The worst people in the kitchen are the ones who call you shit, but never offers you any advice on improvement. Remember that the kitchen functions as a team and a family, so any mistakes you make are also reflected upon your superior. Don't get me wrong on this, they shouldn't babysit you, but at the same time, they should invest the time in training you right.

[Anonymous No.6509973]

>>6506125

Been in the industry for 8+ years, and am ready to either open my own little hole in the wall or get out entirely. I'm getting too old to work at hi-top hi-volume places, but young enough that I have a long time left in the industry if I so choose, just at a more relaxed pace.

I still love it, but the stress is wearing on me something fierce. And I'm done being anyone but my own boss in the kitchen.

[Anonymous No.6510022]

>>6506125
>graduated HS with top academic marks in the school, got full ride to a good university
>did three years of physics but increasingly realized that academia is just a level of bullshit I can't even imagine dealing with and that as much as I enjoy learning physics it's really not something I want to do for the rest of my life
>the only thing I seem to like doing is cooking
>end of third year get a kitchen job and realize that not only do I fucking love working in a kitchen but I'm surprisingly good at it
>don't go back to university the next year, get another, better kitchen job instead
>parents absolutely hate this and tell me so constantly
>grandparents repeatedly tell me how 'disappointed' they are in me
>kind of sucks but it's hard to give a fuck when I like my job so much
>will have enough saved at end of this coming year to get through a really good culinary school and am so fucking excited

I don't even care what everyone thinks at this point, you couldn't drag me away from this shit.

[Anonymous No.6510102]

>>6509165
>>6509147
iktf
>worked in seafood forever
>suddenly this year I can't touch any seafood without getting crazy itchy rashes / skin peeling / bumps all over my fingers
>can't eat any salmon without an allergic reaction
feels bad man

[Anonymous No.6510382]

>>6509876
Never lose that fear. Fear of personal failure and of letting down the team is a strong motivator. When you lose that fear and get cocky is when you'll faceplant in a stupendous manner.

Don't be an asshole. Keep your mouth shut, at first. Learn the kitchen politics. Find out who is a bro and learn from them. Be clean. Be efficient. Always offer to help anybody that needs it, because you're gonna need help someday. Be dependable.