the time of year for working day on stay on

[rustedeye]

hey all you fellow pastry chefs and cook. Is everybody getting plenty of hours in at work?

I guess this is the time of year when I tend to get motivated to change careers, mainly because of the hour, and I’m now a year older and I know my body won’t be able to put up with this kind of abuse in 15 or 20 years.

Is there anybody else out there that thinks about career change this time of year? If so or better yet knowing what you know now if you could go back to your golden years of youth, would you choose a different career path? I’m glad I chose the career path I did. But I think its time to make a change and learn something new.

Dan

[pastrymama]

Instead of totally changing careers, you could choose to use your skills in a less demanding job. I am 60 years old and still a working pastry chef, but now I work in a private club that has a fairly small elite membership. We don't do the volume that you have to at hotels and restaurants. Around the holidays we have quite a few banquets but it is not unmanagable. I work around 9 to 10 hours most days, but when it gets really slow some of the summer and in January and February I only work 4 or 5. I am on salary so it doesn't affect my pay if I get to go home early. You could also think about teaching or consulting. Also I know a lot of chefs go into the purveyor field as salesmen.

[Teri Everitt]

Huh! Appropriate topic! Most of the year I work really sweet hours (7 am to 3 pm) or (9:30 am to 3:30 pm) BUT at Christmas all bets are off. My youngest child is autistic and good childcare is impossible to get, so last night I went home at 3:30 to meet my son's taxi, fed the kids supper and went back to work and worked 6 pm to 1:30 am dressing and packaging Christmas cakes. My work has been understaffed for months because of injuries/vacations/etc and we're really feeling the pinch this year.

However, I really love the work (just not always the job), and couldn't really imagine doing anything else. The thought of being trapped in an office cubicle for 8 hours seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me.

If I had known then what I know now when I started in this business 19 years ago I would've spent the money on GOOD shoes.

And I've got that whole week in January booked off.......