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What advice do you have for someone in their 30s switching careers and looking to land their first kitchen job?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on November 5, 2024

Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Nolan is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Rebecca Williams

What advice do you have for someone in their 30s switching careers and looking to land their first kitchen job?

Answer

I don't know where you live, but here would be my recommendations that where you start is not where you will finish. By that I mean, getting some practical hands on kitchen experience is great. And I think that going to a reputable catering company might be a very good way to go. I have a lot of friends who have owned catering businesses, and they're always telling me how surprised they are with the increase in requests for foods that are plant-based or vegan. So catering is one way to go. There are many, many vegan restaurants. And I was, when I was thinking about this question, Rebecca, it made me think of, uh, many, many years ago when I was in undergraduate school and it was time for me to do my practicum, and our professor said that we had to find our practicum on our own. And I handwrote a letter to the director of the most prestigious hospital in the Philadelphia region saying that I was an undergraduate student in public health and here's what I enjoy doing. And I told her what my GPA was. Um, and she had me come in for an interview, and then I did my whole semester practicum with her, and then she offered me a job when I graduated. So I think a nice letter to anybody who you follow on social media to anybody whose food you love, as long as they get to see your passion for, uh, the plant-based foods that are important in everybody's diet, I think that is a great way to go. And I also was thinking about this because when I finished Rouxbe, I had a friend who owned a vegan restaurant at the time, and I went to him and said, so I really wanna learn how to work the back of the house. I'll wash dishes, et cetera, et cetera. And he said, well, we could put up pop-up dinners together. And this is before Pop-ups were pop. So I did that with him for, oh, maybe about two years. So just follow your passion, follow your heart, have a good resume, and, um, keep up on your social media because I have also seen many, many people get jobs that way.

Char Nolan

Chef Instructor

Char Nolan is a serious crusader for plant-based education, armed with a degree in public health from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She teaches nutrition and plant-based cooking throughout Philadelphia, and in many underserved communities. Char holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and completed Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification course in 2015. In 2019, Char completed post-graduate course work in social media marketing at the University of the Arts. When she is not cooking or teaching, she manages social media accounts for several plant-based influencers. Char prides herself on learning everything she knows about cooking from growing up in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant. Her favorite vegetables are Brussels sprouts and kale, of course. Char originally hails from Queens, NY, but has lived in Philadelphia most of her adult life. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer.