AITC – It’s back to the future

It’s back to the future

Now that Christmas 2017 , New Year and the vacation season are well behind, its time to look again to the future.

Nothing has changed, we still have absurd shortages of staff, incredible unprofessional people who call them chefs, and many people hijacking the title CHEF (Like a friend who recently after two interviews engaged a sous chef at well above the local rate; who just did not turn up on start day, and not even a phone call to inform why)

That is an example the type of person who represents anyone called a chef, a person who has hijacked the brand and destroys your reputation as a professional.

 A chain is only as good as its weakest link. If you are a professional it’s up to you to do something about protecting your reputation. Every chef has a simple choice: to either “do nothing” and be seen to belong to the modern group of cowboy chefs  OR  demonstrate one is a real professional with a simple logo.

Membership of the Australian Institute of TechnicalChefs (AITC) is the new age “chartered” professional chef.

The credential identifies chefs who have gained a higher level of skill or competence in commercial cookery; chefs who are proven to practice at the professional level in their skills, attitude, knowledge, and experience.

You may be a qualified cook/chef, but are you ready to become a credentialed professional chef?

Today’s regular chef carries out the day to day manual food preparation tasks, but are yet to reach the sophisticated level of a professional chef. They fundamentally are the “Jack and Gill of all Trades, Master of none”. Many hold insufficient culinary qualification to indicate competence as a cook, and many have grand titles like sous, chef de cuisine or executive chef. They believe that any culinary qualification or job title is all that is required to justify being called a professional chef, but this is unfortunately untrue.

 Even though a valid qualification may only be obtained from a government accredited source, a qualification only provides evidence that one should be competent at food preparation at the level of the qualification.

A qualification does not indicate the person’s level of experience since completing the course, nor their mindset, status and entitlement to be identified as a professional.

Chefs need to realise a culinary qualification only opens the door to the commercial kitchen, the reality is; the very same day one successfully completes a culinary qualification, becomes the first day of a second learning curve that will in time, add professionalism to a cooks/chef competency.
This secondary “professional education” builds upon their qualification, by developing a mindset of professional: attitudes, behaviours, beliefs, habits, self-discipline and values. It changes an undisciplined emotional connection with food (Sometimes referred to passion) into a controlled outlook of a career and vocation, some will take years to achieve this, and not all will pass this test, but those who do emerge as a real professional chef with a totally different outlook and potential future. Only when a chef realises a need to protect their professional status have they matured into a professional.

The way forward for professional chefs to show they have reached the professional status and entitlement is to be a credentialed as a chef with membership of the Australian Institute of TechnicalChefs (AITC).    Membership is demonstrated by a logo to show the chef is both competently trained at the appropriate level, and has professionally advanced from a competent cook into a professional chef.
If you have achieved the professional level, join now by registering with AITC
Go to http://technicalchef.com

Completing the application form requires time. However you may at any time “save as a draft” ( bottom of application) and return later to login and see  completed details.  Contact any council member or field officer in your state for help or questions.