What type of culinary school is right for your personality and aptitude?

Before you commit, you might want to work a summer or two at a restaurant or resort to see if this is the kind of work you would enjoy long term. OK, you have decided you want to get serious about your vocation, and it needs to involve cooking in some way shape or form. There are a number of careers open to you and it is important to narrow down your future specialty before committing to a school.

First there is the obvious occupation of chef. Whether pastry, sous or otherwise, it is more than just cooking. You may be called upon to manage the kitchen staff, order the produce, keep the accounts and make sure the concern runs in the black. And there are all kinds of venues for chefs. Picture yourself as chef for Donald Trump or Microsoft. Coming down from the sky a little bit, there are many types of restaurants from the mom and pop diner, to pubs and casual dining and on up to major resorts or cruise ship restaurants. Once you know the skills of a chef, and have managed a restaurant, you may be itching to broaden your field to hotel management or hospitality management.

If the pressure and hours of a restaurant are not what you had in mind, you might consider a vocation in the food industry such as researcher. Companies are always trying to improve their products you find on the grocery shelf, honing in on lowfat, low carb or even high end, sophisticated frozen meals, and they need people to work with food and come up with a new and better product.

Maybe you are more into the why of food rather than the when, and can picture yourself working in nutrition. Educational facilities, or large scale caterers like Aramark need to have menu planners that know what they are doing and can produce well balanced yet tasty offerings. Most every wellness center has a nutritionist and the more serious sports will hire a nutritionist to keep everyone operating at their best.

If you are an engaging personality, sales may be a better venue for you. With a culinary degree, you become more marketable to food companies who need to get their products known and used in restaurants, cafeterias and hotels. Or if you have an eye for color and composition, think food photographer or food stylist. After all someone has to work hard to make that Lean Cuisine cover of Orange Peel Chicken look so delectable.

If you have any inclination toward the food industry, give it a try. But cooking experts agree that you have to have the "wanna" factor...a driving passion to be in the kitchen, experimenting, honing your craft. You also have to have physical stamina. There are food supplies to be brought in, and the "on your feet" aspect of the work may be too much for you. These are things to consider.