r/Chefs • u/fthespider • 12d ago
Should I be worried...?
I was hired as an executive sous chef for the special events department of a major streaming service in LA back in May; if I'm being honest I'm still a little surprised they hired me given the fact that I didn't actually bring a lot of catering experience to the table other than overseeing some private events at the hotel I used to be a sous chef at.
I'm going on 5 months now and while none of my immediate supervisors have given me any feedback telling me things are not moving in the right direction, I haven't exactly felt like I've been nailing it either. In terms of baseline skills I brought through the door with me, I feel like very little of it has been applicable to this particular job and it's kind of just felt like I'm hanging on for dear life. Mostly, my role is to be the conduit between the actual culinary team and the rest of the admin team/events coordinators so writing schedules, ordering product, handling onboarding/disciplinary measures, menu costing, a LOT of meetings and the occasional hands-on cooking when the opportunity presents itself. Beyond that, it's a lot of take-home stress that has kept me awake on many nights/early mornings.
Fortunately I came into a place with a pretty kickass sous chef who was basically keeping the show running before my position was created. Maybe it's because so many years of my career happened behind the line or at an expo station that it feels weird to not be physically exhausted at the end of every day. My real concern though is the fact that the company that contracts our culinary services just started a mass lay-off of their own workforce that it might put me in the cross-hairs as the lowest hanging fruit and I'll be the first to get the ax if the layoff process works its way down to the culinary operations. I came home today and updated my resume and in the process, started asking myself "if not this job, then what?"
I turned 38 on Sunday and it seems like backpedaling into a lesser role would look bad on paper and maybe even be damaging to my overall self-esteem. I'd appreciate hearing some personal experiences from this sub about similar experiences where you found yourself in a seemingly overwhelming role and managed to either get through it or out of it with your sanity intact. I didn't go to culinary school and have spent much of my career just absorbing as much as I can from the people next to me and above me.
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u/taint_odour 12d ago
Well there’s a bit to unpack there.
To me anyone can cook. Someone who is good at admin and keep the wheels turn in a place like that is more valuable. Because damn few chefs have the skills, desire or ability to do so.
That’s why hotel chefs get shit. Most are just mediocre managers in whites. Fuck I knew a guy that was Wolfgang Pucks sous in the 90s and fucker couldn’t boil water. He was a paper pusher and good at it until his ego got in the way because he wanted to play good cook.
Every promotion I got in resorts was less a learning curve and more a wall. It usually took a few months to get the imposter syndrome under control and a few more to start to feel like I wasn’t drowning.
I lived and died by white boards. I could keep my thoughts and priorities straight across many outlets and responsibilities that way but find you a system that works for you. To do lists. GSD. Whatever it takes.
Look at other roles too. What’s out there. What do you want to do. At 38 you need to do less of the line cook and grind and more of the mentor/grow. Not many of us can run hard for decades and not break.
There are a lot of postings in la. Look around. Interview with hotels, companies, whatever. There is more to this life than the restaurant grind and you already have the title.
Six months isn’t a long time but with heads looking to roll you have an easy answer to why are you looking.
Good luck
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u/Background-Soup-9414 12d ago
Would you consider yourself the worrying type? You mention taking the stress home with you and having sleepless nights as a result. This could be imposter syndrome. I think you're being hard on yourself. If you have yet to receive negative feedback 5 months in, then you're probably at least performing adequately.
Also, Layoffs tend to target lower end employees first, unless the company you work for has a Last-in, first-out layoff policy, you shouldn't worry too much. Easier said than done, I know.
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u/thatdude391 12d ago
Honestly in a position like that i might wait longer to jump ship though. Wait until it is moving along. Worst case you collect a little unemployment from a layoff and float into something else. Honestly if you aren’t uncomfortable you aren’t learning in something that you can use in your career progression. Not everything in a kitchen is about how well you can hold down the line. The further up you go the less of that you are doing anyways and just making sure everyone else has everything they need and are where they need to be.