I work at an IT company as an engineer, making 60k each year. I like the job, but can't say loving it to death. But recently the bad performance of the company plus incoming massive layoff makes me feel disappointed about the company and the industry.

I start thinking if I have a future with career in the food industry. I can say that I love cooking to death and I look forward to making dinner every day. I just realized that I have been making different dishes for dinner every day no repeat for months! So I'm thinking maybe I'll enjoy being a chef, and I want to become a celebrity chef!

But then I looked up the average salaries a chef makes (not a celebrity chef), I'm surprised how little they make comparing to how hard they work. In my current job, I'm a relatively new and young guy and I easily make twice as much as a chef does at the same level. Besides, a chef's salary usually tops at no more than 85k as an executive chef, which is pretty much my next immediate pay grade promotion, which I will get after a few years of experience.

If I leave the industry and pursue a career as a chef, my immediate concern is that I can't even support my family with the measly salary, without introducing dramatic change to the lifestyle of my family. If I was single and homeless, I would be fine with it; yet I have a wife and daughter to support who don't work.

Now I feel my future is gloomy. I don't really enjoy the job that I'm working, and yet I can't afford to pursue what I want to do. But I know I have talent and skill, including:
research skill. I can reverse engineer any dish!
I'm very good at teaching difficult concepts to people
critical thinking and troubleshooting skill, which is very much recognized by my coworkers
Design skill - one of my favorite part of my current job, and on the food side, I design my own dishes all the time.

I'm proud of those skills, but I can't put them together and envision a successful _____ (fill the blank). I mean, there got to be something I can do to fully utilize my talent!

Maybe someone here has good ideas for me:) Thanks!

Three people who started in my year at uni dropped out of the Bachelor of IT and enrolled in chef's courses instead. They all hate it now.

The training is fun, getting to make new food, but the actual work is extremely demanding, especially for entry level positions.

Being a professional chef and cooking at home are two completely different worlds. Imagine cooking the same exact dish 10 hours a day 6 days a week. Imagine standing over a hot range that entire time. It's not glorious in the least but it can be some of the most fun you can have while working.

If you are in it for the money, don't do it. It is not a finacially rewarding field. although if you are lucky enough to own a successful restaurant then it can be.

If you are serious about it, take a couple of classes in your spare time to see how well you handle the vibes and go from there

You had this same thread basically in April. http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1178391-will-i-ever-become-a-restaurateur/page__p__17433153__fromsearch__1#entry17433153

The thing with being an advlt, is that you need to balance what you want with what your family needs, you can't just make random life-changing moves, if you have a wife and child. There was some honest feedback/opinions and advice in that thread. If you love to cook then take some formal training, try working part time catering etc., as was suggested. You need to do research while still working. And perhaps, once your daughter is older, you and your wife need to discuss her contributions to the family income as well.

Anyway, since you already had that thread, I am going to lock this one. I can tell you that pursuing a major career shift requires some grit, some financial savings, and the willingness to sacrifice. I quit a very high paying job last year, took a ginormous paycut to do a pretty major career change - it was worth it, but it was a long time coming and most definitely not done without a lot of time, planning, thought.