In professional kitchens, chefs are ranked as per their designation. A sous chef is ranked directly below the executive/head chef, hence he plays a vital role in kitchen authority. Sous chefs are responsible for handling all the kitchen responsibilities in the absence of the executive chef, and hence they have to be well versed with all the cooking proceedings.
Most of the sous chefs get employed in restaurants and hotels; while a few of them find a place in casinos, airlines, and cruise ships.
Sous chef responsibilities comprise handling all the kitchen activities and operations, cooking variety of cuisines, and mentoring the junior chefs in cooking. Sous chefs have to show lots of responsibility in handling the kitchen operations, so that they are competent enough to handle the entire kitchen in the absence of an executive chef.
The key responsibilities of an executive sous chef comprise:
For being a successful executive sous chef, one needs to gather immense knowledge about all the aspects of cooking. Hence, many sous chefs start as dishwashers in a fast-food restaurant or other commercial kitchens, and then they find their way up in kitchen rankings as they gain experience. Another way of finding a position as an executive sous chef is through culinary school. Culinary schools are located across the world, and they offer a variety of programs in the culinary field, and some of them provide direct placements through their campus placement programs.
Experience and skills are the two basic requirements for any chef to climb up the ladder of executive sous chef. A sous chef should be aware of the entire kitchen procedures like cooking, cleaning, and management. For that purpose, he needs to gather relevant kitchen experience in all the departments. Building healthy relationships with executive chefs / managers can also prove fruitful for obtaining this position with lesser efforts.
The position of executive sous chef has lots of growth prospects for establishing a progressive career growth in future. A sous chef can attain the position of an executive chef if he continues to perform well in his current position over the years. Lots of job opportunities are available in restaurants, dining halls, casinos, cruise ships, etc., and the demand for executive and sous chef is expected to increase in the near future. More job opportunities are available in cities with tourist locations which have more numbers of restaurants.
The average salary for an executive sous chef falls in the range of $25,000 to $50,000 per year, and it keeps increasing as per experience. The salary range also depends on the location and type of commercial kitchen in which the executive sous chef is employed.
A sous chef needs to be dedicated and committed towards his work, as he is required to handle the core kitchen responsibilities like cooking and management. A brief look on executive sous chef responsibilities will prove beneficial for deciding if you wish to convert this in your career.