# My career is going nowhere



## dillon green (Jul 29, 2014)

For financial and other responsibilities I had to put my schooling on hold. I am a good cook, but need to learn more basic recipes. I spent one year in college before being forced to drop out.  I want to be a chef one day, but unsure of what path I need to take to get there. Apprenticeship, back to School, or Challenge for  my red seal...  and  what I need to write my red seal in Ontario, I have gotten a lot of mixed information about it,.


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

Hi, Dillon. Can't give you much advice on the red seal path as that isn't something I have experienced (being in the US.) What I will tell you is that experience matters! Work, work, work! Pick an establishment that will work you, that handles volume and some scratch cooking and you will be marketable. As you work, keep your eyes open and your focus on _everything_ around you. Watch when inventory is being taken; look at the ordering process; be part of prep; listen to the managers' discussions. Do everything you can to embed yourself in the operation to soak up as much of the kitchen experience as possible. Read. Read a lot! Experiment. Dine out. It can get frustrating, but it takes time. Plenty of time. And, in the end, there is no end! Just keep going and going and going. Learning to be a vital aspect of the kitchen is no mistake and it has no end. You will go as far as your ability to learn and apply what you have learned.

I hope the best for you. Keep us posted on where things take you!


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