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I had an old high school chum message me a few weeks ago. He mentioned that he had been unemployed for the last few months and was looking for work in the culinary arts.
A few days after we spoke, he found himself a job, at which he seems to be very happy. He didn't ask me for my advice about job hunting (and I don't think he would have needed it), but if he had, here's what I would have told him to do (remember, he was looking for work as a chef, so the advice is specific to him):
1. Start making every meal at home. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Anything you want, but don't go out to eat.
2. Prepare something different each night. Whatever you want to make, but once it's finished, it has to look good.
3. Get a digital camera and take a picture of each finished meal before you devour it.
4. Write up a brief description of why you chose to make the meal you did. It doesn't have to be a novel, but details help. Why did you choose to mix the ingredients you did? What difficulties did you encounter? Did you have to improvise any detail?
5. Once you have several dozen examples, to Blurb.com and turn your photographs and descriptions of your efforts into a picture book. Put your name, contact info, and the most mouthwatering picture you have on the cover. Order as many copies as you think you'll need and, whenever a prospective client or employer asks you for your business card, give them the book.
If you want the photos to look good, you'll need way more advice than I can give you...but to get you started, make sure that your white balance is properly set, learn about the rule of thirds, and for those up-close shots, experiment with your camera's depth of field.
You might not be a chef, but this could help you make an impression at your next job interview. That goes triple if you happen to be a proctologist.
A few days after we spoke, he found himself a job, at which he seems to be very happy. He didn't ask me for my advice about job hunting (and I don't think he would have needed it), but if he had, here's what I would have told him to do (remember, he was looking for work as a chef, so the advice is specific to him):
1. Start making every meal at home. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Anything you want, but don't go out to eat.
2. Prepare something different each night. Whatever you want to make, but once it's finished, it has to look good.
3. Get a digital camera and take a picture of each finished meal before you devour it.
4. Write up a brief description of why you chose to make the meal you did. It doesn't have to be a novel, but details help. Why did you choose to mix the ingredients you did? What difficulties did you encounter? Did you have to improvise any detail?
5. Once you have several dozen examples, to Blurb.com and turn your photographs and descriptions of your efforts into a picture book. Put your name, contact info, and the most mouthwatering picture you have on the cover. Order as many copies as you think you'll need and, whenever a prospective client or employer asks you for your business card, give them the book.
If you want the photos to look good, you'll need way more advice than I can give you...but to get you started, make sure that your white balance is properly set, learn about the rule of thirds, and for those up-close shots, experiment with your camera's depth of field.
You might not be a chef, but this could help you make an impression at your next job interview. That goes triple if you happen to be a proctologist.