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What skills do you recommend for people starting in food service?

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Albert’s Answer

Assuming you're specifically interested in becoming a chef or cook in a food service environment, I'll provide you with some fundamental skills that can give you an edge in any culinary setting. The paramount skill to master is food safety and sanitation. You can demonstrate your understanding of this by taking Servsafe classes and passing the exam, showing potential employers your commitment to cleanliness.

Next, you should focus on honing your knife skills, but remember, the importance of this skill can vary based on where you work. For instance, if you're employed at a restaurant that prepares everything from scratch, you'll likely be chopping a wide range of vegetables, filleting fish, and carving large cuts of beef or pork. I suggest researching proper techniques and practicing them until they become second nature.

Lastly, a skill that will truly set you apart from your peers in the kitchen is understanding how to maintain and repair equipment. Be observant when repair technicians are around and try to troubleshoot issues yourself. In my experience, most cooks are unfamiliar with how their everyday equipment functions.

Of course, having a broad knowledge of food is beneficial, but the specifics of what you should learn largely depend on your particular workplace. This enhanced understanding will not only make you more competent but also more valuable in any culinary setting.
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Brittany’s Answer

Serve Safe Certification can go a long way if you are looking in restaurant management. If you are interested in food and beverage processing or manufacturing, certifications in HACCP, Internal Auditing, Preventive Controls for Human Food, and any kind of sanitation certification will take you far.
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Stephanie Stephen’s Answer

As someone who has and still does work in food service, it really honestly depends on what you want to do in foodservice. But some general skills I would recommend are, cooking, hospitality, restaurant and hotel management. Many of these you can also learn on the job, or through a credited college and trade schools such as the some of the more well known culinary schools. But you will also benefit from food service classes with your state health department, and will be required if you advance into management or start your own restaurant. The last thing I will add is that the more education, and training you have in these fields the better your pay and value to employers you will have.
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