Pastry Chef

By: Terren Meloro

How it started

Since I was about 12 years old, I had started becoming more interested in baking. My mom used to make the cakes for our birthdays, and she occasionally let me help. The next time she needed to make a cake, I insisted I do it myself. From then on, I have continued creating cakes for any of the occasions.

So over the past few years, I have always had the thought of becoming a Pastry Chef and owning my own bakery. My baking and decorating techniques have definitely developed over the years of being self-taught. I really do see a future career ahead of me in this profession. I have recently been accepted into the Pastry Arts Program at the Okanagan College, so I am half way there into my future career.

Reflection

From completing the recent assignment "Who Am I?" I have learnt that my identified career reflects off of the quizzes I took previously. For example when I took the "Interests and Work Values quiz," hospitality and tourism scored the highest. This result did not surprise me, because it supports my life career of becoming a Pastry Chef.

The Job Market

The Job Market can grow or drop, and it all depends on the labor of the Demand and Supply within the economy.

Jobs in Demand

Some jobs listings that were in demand as of 2016 included:

• Medical and health service managers.
• Network and computer system administrators.
• Industrial engineers.

Expect Change

As I am eventually going to shape my passion of baking into a life long career, I have to keep in mind what will grow and what will decline in demand. Cakes now a days have definitely been trending more and more lately, whether it be in wedding cakes, birthday cakes, or just casual cakes. I feel cake baking will continue to grow in demand.

Employability Skills

The type of people needed to work in this workplace, have to contain certain traits. They have to have 1-4 years of secondary school training to be possibly employed in this trade. It is a specific type of labor force so they look for skills like; teamwork, problem-solving abilities, and communication as important  traits.

Reflection on Personal Interests

After completing the following assignment "Who Am I," I can identity how my identified career reflects my personal interests. When I was done the 'Interests and work values' quiz, most of the results I scored reflected off of my future career. All the quizzes I completed in that assignment were very accurate

Training and Education

To qualify for a Pastry Chef you have to have a certain education and training for the job. You have to have a high-school diploma (at minimum.) Admission requirements for this college include English 10, and Apprenticeship & Workplace Math with a minimum of 50% overall.

These are the requirements, and how my personal interests reflect my future career of qualifying as a Pastry Chef. I will be starting my Pastry Chef program at the Okanagan College this September, and will continue to follow-out that hobby as a career when I'm older.