Career Change at 44 @

[lizlemon19]

Hello, My DH is 44 and has worked as a chef his whole adult life. The past eight years he has been at a hospital. The hospital recently decided to use a private company for food service so he will get laid off in early February. He has the chance to apply for a job with the new company, but he may take the severance (8 weeks for 8 years of service). He is thinking of a career change. He does not have a degree, but he went to a trade high school for Culinary. He is a hard worker and fast learner, but it is hard to break into a new field. He would like a job that is mostly days. We have three kids ages 4-12. Any ideas? He can use his time unemployed to take some trainings or consider school.

He is not great at computers, writing, office type jobs. Aside from cooking, he is good at cleaning, organizing, some basic carpentry type jobs. He has had supervisory jobs before in a kitchen.

Any ideas?

[1yeartogo]

I’d encourage him to look into short term certification programs at your local community college. He might be able to find something that suits his skills and pays decently, like plumbing, hvac, etc. they may have programs that take a year or less to be retrained. He should also look into any workforce programs offered for free through your state. Where I live it’s called Careerlink. They can help him identify his skill set and what local jobs might fit in with that.

[mich1]

Have you looked at the curriculum at the local technical college and what's available there?

[monad]

10+ years ago I worked at a company that made natural personal care products (balms, suscreen, etc) and they loved hiring former chefs for the produciton team since developing formulas was essentially recipes. It's kind of niche, but shows how those skills transfer.

[Deleted]

Would he be interested in teaching in a culinary program? That way it’s still something he loves, but a different pace, schedule, and vibe.

[winecat]

Appliance repair! I’m in the industry and the first appliances that I had to fuss with were commercial ones. I need to go to sleep but I can share more tomorrow if you’re interested.

[jinkies]

I have an uncle who taught culinary skills at a technical high school for years. He didn't have a teaching degree-- I actually think that a lot of the tech school teachers were hired based on practical skills and experience in the area they were to teach. I don't know if that is still the case or not.

[jackie011]

I know a few people who have made similar changes. One went in to a welding program and has been busy working ever since. The other left his office job and has made a few attempts at different things but finds the most satisfaction working for his friend who is a custom home builder. Right now they aren’t building much, but the friend has kept him busy with odd jobs at sites, mainly power washing. He’s going to take over a retiring power washer’s business within the next 2 years.

[Accountingcat]

Maybe he could find a chef position at a nursing home or residential center? It'd probably still be day shifts. Does he like to bake? There are a lot of bakeries around me that want chefs to do the 4am - noon shift for all the bagels/breads/etc.

[macmars45]

My twin sister works at a Technical College in our hometown. They don't offer Culinary school but they do have a great cafeteria on site. It's only open during day time hours on the school schedule so better hours than other restaurant type employment. Maybe something like that? They do offer a bunch of other programs that take between 1 year, 18 months and 2 years to complete depending on the program.

ETA: my retired FIL repaired washer & dryers for most of his working years.

[lizlemon19]

He may try the welding. Our local tech high school has a night program. Our closest community college has mostly academic programs. We should check the career center, thank you.

[imojoebunny]

What about working for a food distributor or supplier in sales? You need the personality and organizational skills to do that, but everything from liquor distributors to restaurant food suppliers uses people to do this job, and it would be useful to have industry experience and contacts. If he has something he wants to do, I say go for it. One of my friend's husband was a fitness instructor, and now he is a nurse. He didn't go back to school, until he was 44.

[Beeps (WOT?*)]

Dec 11, 2020 20:42:50 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Would he be interested in teaching in a culinary program? That way it’s still something he loves, but a different pace, schedule, and vibe.

This is what the husband of a friend of mine did. He loves his job teaching young people how to prepare foods and cook.

[hazelden]

I've heard there's demand for Low Voltage Electricians, with a relatively quick training and apprenticeship path.

[lizlemon19]

Dec 12, 2020 19:30:39 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

What about working for a food distributor or supplier in sales? You need the personality and organizational skills to do that, but everything from liquor distributors to restaurant food suppliers uses people to do this job, and it would be useful to have industry experience and contacts. If he has something he wants to do, I say go for it. One of my friend's husband was a fitness instructor, and now he is a nurse. He didn't go back to school, until he was 44.

A few years ago he was actually approached to do this. This is something I think he could do. He gets very excited talking about food, knows what chefs like and knows a lot of people in the industry. Thank you.

[lizlemon19]

Dec 12, 2020 23:24:37 GMT -5 hazelden said:

I've heard there's demand for Low Voltage Electricians, with a relatively quick training and apprenticeship path.

That is something to consider, thank you.

[keh2oblue]

This is not too common, but my library system built a teaching kitchen recently and has a culinary arts staff person. I’d imagine a lot of school districts and community colleges would have the same?

[SusanBAnthony]

This isn't a career change at all, but my SIL was a restaurant chef, and then moved to a high end assisted living facility. She did have weekends, but she always worked breakfast and lunch so her hours were a consistent ~6 am to 3 pm (I don't know exactly what, but daytime hours).

She liked that she had a lot of freedom- she was the only chef and did everything for the meal for her floor. It was usually ~3 choices of cooked food for the meal + basic stuff like cereal or toast for breakfast and cold sandwiches for lunch.

She now switched to another role at the facility because she wanted to be able to have holidays off.

[lilac05]

I think working for a food distributor is a great idea. If sales aren’t really his thing, he could consider product development (either food or tools). A family member went from being a baker to owning a bakery to working in a lab for a bakery distributor. He worked with technicians and others to develop formulas for new products that fit the specifications of customers. He didn’t have a degree, he was all self-taught. Others in the lab had degrees in food science, but he was able to get in the door with his experience.

If he likes to teach others, maybe he could get on teaching culinary classes. Depending on what your income needs are, he could also consider doing a start-up type thing teaching cooking classes online. I’m not sure what the market is for that right now, but I know people are cooking now more than ever.

[ellipses84]

I know you said not a chef, but my BIL had the same dilemma and ended up working for a corporate on site catering company and loves it, especially the 9-5, M-F aspect. I realize with Covid those places aren’t as busy but I think they will start to return to normal in a few months and those who weren’t making a career out of it will have left the industry and not be available to return.

If he’s good with woodworking and doesn’t want to sit at a desk, I’d look into going into a trade. The best way to get in is to know someone who will take a chance to train him. Sometimes the hours start early and there’s occasional weekends, but it’s mostly a standard work week. There’s a huge need for skilled tradesmen who are responsible and can pass a drug test. Millworkers need workers, both in the shop and on site. Electrician is another job that is less physically grueling than other construction options. I know someone who did an 8 week welding course at a technical college that would also help place graduates in jobs afterwards.

Also, as someone who just had major internet issues with a move, I think internet companies really need field techs. Everyone is WFH and needs reliable internet, but it was difficult to schedule an appointment within a reasonable time frame. The money for all is these is decent for someone just starting out, with room for increased growth.

[ellipses84]

Dec 13, 2020 9:03:37 GMT -5 lizlemon19 said:

Dec 12, 2020 23:24:37 GMT -5 hazelden said:

I've heard there's demand for Low Voltage Electricians, with a relatively quick training and apprenticeship path.

That is something to consider, thank you.

Yes this is a good option. I’d stay away from the messy / physically demanding construction jobs at his age, but a lot of this is just pulling wires. Data cabling, security,
A/V, I know you said he’s not that computer savvy, but and some parts of these trades need some of that, but I bet he could learn on the job.