Personal chefs work directly with their clients to decide on meals. Maybe you’ve been working as a restaurant chef for years but that final promotion to executive chef still eludes you. Or maybe you’re tired of working under someone and want to break out on your own, but you’re intimidated by starting a restaurant. Or maybe still, you’re just tired ...

Jamie Popp | Monster Contributing Writer On-the-Job Training Provides Invaluable Industry Experience Graduating from a recognized culinary school isn't necessarily the only path to landing your dream job as a chef in a posh restaurant. Apprenticeships are another option to help you break into the restaurant industry - and they don't require spending a lot of cash for an advanced ...

The internet has made stalkers out of all of us. You know exactly what I'm talking about. But instead of stalking your ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend, consider using your newfound detective skills for more productive (i.e. less emotionally jarring) purposes, like snagging the job of your dreams. Interested in a company and need to find a person to contact? Google away. Trying ...

Succeeding in culinary school is more than just being a good student I can't think of many fields of work that are more fun, dynamic, and fascinating than culinary work, so I certainly don't want to scare anyone away, but culinary school is a meat grinder. I started school with around 45 people in my class and graduated with about ...

Nearly every day, someone sends me a bit of astounding job-search advice from a blog or a newsletter. Some of this advice seems to come directly from the planet X-19, and some of it seems to have been made up on the spot. Here are 10 of my favorite pieces of atrocious job-search advice, for you to read and ignore at ...

You're an international food marketer. You call a colleague, supervisor or supplier in Latin America or Spain. The only foreign word you know is hola, but when the receptionist answers the phone speaking machine gun-rapid Spanish, you don't panic. You ask to be transferred to Mr. So-and-So. "Just a minute, sir. I'll put you through," the receptionist responds in perfect English. ...

Whenever Jerry Westrom interviews a potential management candidate, he talks about all the negatives surrounding the position before going into greater detail about the positives. "I need to know their heart is in it, that they are truly committed," says Westrom, who owns an Ember's Restaurant in Cambridge, Minnesota. "If they seem skeptical about anything, I don't know if they will ...

Some people go into human resources thinking that it's like social work. Here's a news flash for anyone who thinks in those terms: If you're the kind of person who wants to adopt every stray kitten and advise every needy person you meet, you may want to find a different profession. The plain truth is that HR people have limits on ...

Fibbing on your resume is a really bad idea. First, you probably will be found out by the army of commercial background screeners that employers deploy to scour resumes, check criminal records and pull credit histories. Plus, you don't need to. Many bosses are pretty forgiving if you come clean about a minor brush with the law or a supervisor so ...

Mastering a foreign language while you're in college can help you land your first job after graduation. Just ask Lauren Mehler. Mehler, 21, recently graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in political science and minors in Italian and history. She'll soon start her new job as a marketing associate at Minneapolis-based General Mills, the international food marketer that's home to ...

We know it's possible, even if we haven't read The Four-Hour Work Week yet. We know people in our neighborhoods or we've seen people on TV who have dream jobs, so we know they exist. It's the post-millennium workplace fantasy: To do work we love and are passionate about, be paid well for doing it, and to work among smart and ...

Is your paycheck not stretching far enough? Are you considering moving to a new town? Are you just looking to change jobs? If so, it may be time to look at one of the cities at the top of Salary.com’s 2008 Salary Value Index. The compensation experts at Salary.com uncovered the top US cities for building personal net worth by taking ...

In today's economy, you need to carefully present your experience to avoid being seen as unstable. Start by evaluating your situation and determining how bad it really is. If you are panicking about two months of unemployment back in 1984, your job search will probably not be affected. However, if you are dealing with recent periods of unemployment extending for months ...

Culinary conventions can be a great way to meet other culinary professionals, keep up with what's hot in the culinary industry, and experience a new city. They can also be a great opportunity to show off your food and wine if you get a booth. Recently, Chef's Blade went to SFChefs.Food.Wine and even as networking veterans, we learned a lot. ...

No one said that finding a new job was easy. But if your work has become as exciting as a cheese sandwich and you have to drag yourself out of bed each morning, it’s time for a new challenge. We asked three experts how to find a new job that will stop work being a chore. *1. What do you want?* ...

When a woman we'll call Mary was offered a high-level student-services position at a prestigious college, she was thrilled to accept. But two years later, Mary was fired despite strong performance reviews and a reputation as a rising star at the college. The reason? She lied on her resume - and got caught. An HR initiative requiring employees to furnish college ...

The National Institute for Mental Health (NIHM) reports that more than 9 million US adults have difficulties focusing on the job. It also reports that while more than 4 percent of working adults are diagnosed with ADHD, vast numbers of undiagnosed adults struggle with being successful in the workplace. For all these people, choosing a fitting job, handling a job’s essential ...

It may be almost time to hang up the Christmas stockings – but not the job search. Resist that temptation. Smart job seekers will jump in first thing Monday with a clear plan of action for the next six weeks, experts say. Following that strategy paid off for Katherine Smith – twice. She landed a job on Dec. 18, 2006. After ...

No one said that finding a new job was easy. But if your work has become as exciting as a cheese sandwich and you have to drag yourself out of bed each morning, it’s time for a new challenge. We asked three experts how to find a new job that will stop work being a chore. *1. What do you want?* ...

Don't be demoralized when an employer turns you down. The reasons behind a rejection usually have more to do with the company than with you. You've probably read plenty of job-hunting articles. And they're all the same. A so-called expert will advise you to develop a plan, broaden your skills, and network. On résumés, they will counsel you to customize, use ...