Any chefs on here?

mallorcajeff

Help please. I have put it here as its the most read forum.
It looks like me and both the mrs are being made redundant at the same time here in Mallorca. I looking at retraining as a chef. I'm 36 and need some urgent advice. I'm thinking of a yacht chef position here I mallorca or private villa chef. I'm thinking of coming act to the uk and doing a six week course at ashburton cookery school. Would this be enough of a qualification and skill level or do I need the 20 week diploma? They said six would be enough but I'm unsure? Any advice greatly received as I'm in the 5hit at the mo, mortgage to pay and family to support. Need to retrain and get a new job. I will be selling all my bikes shortly too as it looks like I won't be cycling any more for the foreseeable, just ad I have bought a huge load of brand new gear and clothes and stuff too. Typical. Thanks boss! Hey I ho what don't kill you makes you stronger.
I'm trying to view this as. Positive situation! Any help advice greatly received if anyone else can think or know of a good job to retrain for anything considered. I have money to fund retraining but will need to get work pretty soon!
Thanks all
Jeff

smidsy

Sorry to hear that Jeff - been there 3 times in 7 years over here in blightly.

I am more interested in the fact you have 2 wives though :-)

Why re-train, your current line of work no good? May help if we know what you do now so we can suggest things.

charlie_potatoes

smidsy wrote:

Sorry to hear that Jeff

+1

bernithebiker

Good thing you didn't buy that Venge then!

I know some of the yacht crews in Palma - one has a chef that is truly atrocious, so you could be in there! But would help to know what you do now.

And besides, better to be unemployed in the sun than in the rain, right?!

VTech

Dont take this the wrong way but there are definitely easier vocations to enter as becoming a chef is incredibly hard work, time consuming and in the majority, very thankless.
As above, what do you do now ?

BTW, sorry to hear of your position.

mallorcajeff

At the moment I work for a billionaire on private estate doing all the "man jobs" as they put it, the cars and stuff. No cooking as there is a resident chef. He gets paid a lot! Me and the mrs do not. The mrs works in the house and does the "women's jobs" as they put it. The house looks like its being sold and everything I being cleared but were not being told anything and its always cloak and dagger there as you never know what's going on. I stayed on his yacht a few time in Monaco and the chef on there was a nice girl, very busy but the difference in pay between the boat and the house was huge. We would consider back to the just to do the same work and I've just found one that sounds ace. That way I can rent my place out on here to anyone who wants a cheap cycling base! And could even leave some bikes here for people to use. Trouble is the mrs has a 17 yr old daughter I college here and needs two more years and we have our dog Colin and he can't come to work at the same sort of job we Do now in the uk, where I am the is 8 dogs to look after as well so Colin comes to work with us but that's an added complication. The suicide rate here in Spain is rocketing and I'm beginning to see why. Mum been diagnosed with cancer ithe same week, makes me wonder what on earth the rest of the year will behold.
Yes good job I didn't buy the venge although the 1500 I just spent on a bucket of new stuff not even touched the bike and the clothes feel some what wasted. Went out today to clear my head and gave up came home lunch time. Anyone interested in three bikes?

VTech

Its a truly sad story jeff, I seriously feel for you. Try to keep your chin up matey.

NewTTer

Jeff, sorry to hear your news mate, try to remain positive and keep looking.

mallorcajeff

Thanks guys

gubber12345

truly sorry about your situation jeff....horrible enough to be losing your job etc but then your mum to be diagnosed with cancer doesnt bear thinking about mate.

hope all works out for you and your mum.

jordan_217

Sincerely sorry to hear this Jeff. I hope you get something sorted.

Is there any chance you could keep hold of one of your bikes at least? Getting out for a ride now and again might be a good way to alleviate some stress and clear your head.

All the best to you and the family. Good luck, chin up

ShutUpLegs

Hope you get things sorted Jeff, as above, keep one bike or get something cheap to keep you going. You can buy all the gear again one day. Post the question in Cake Stop, there may be more useful advice.

mallorcajeff

Thanks guys lots of advice coming in. Thanks.

notnot

Sorry to hear about the rubbish luck Any chance of returning the unused kit you've bought? Or otherwise flogging it 'as new' on e-bay - people can pay near-shop prices for things on there, anyway (oddly). 1500 can go a long way, and sure you can keep riding without.

In the UK, lots of well-trained and pretty skilled chefs work loooong hours for lousy or indifferent money. It's usually hard work, too. It may be easier to get work in Mallorca - and, of course, it's great if you can get a job through contacts - but be careful that your expectations are realistic. You can make a good income if you're skilled and committed, or just v lucky, but not an easy industry to be in in the UK. Do you know any local chefs you can ask about the situation.

As well as looking for a new income, think about where you can cut back on expenses to make the savings you do have last longer (or let you live on a lower income in the long term). As a stop gap, matched betting might let you bring in a little cash http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/for ... y.php?f=41 Take note of the warnings, though, and don't do this if you might end up wasting money on gambling.

Try not to let yourself get down - keeping active (e.g. cycling) should help, and chat to a friend or the Mrs if you are worrying. Even if things seem bad now, people do get through these things - I've had cancer and lost my job already this decade, but things seem more on track now. And I know people who've had worse happen to them and come out the other side.

diy

Its generally better to build on existing skills than retrain. Have you thought about doing property management? Lots of people with Holiday homes pay stupid money for agents to not manage their properties. I'd also say that if you are going to be a crew chef, you should think about sailing qualifications (e.g. day skipper and yacht master), as this will broaden your capabilities to do smaller yachts, where the hubby and wife team are skipper, chef, cleaner, mechanic, tour guide etc.

My best advice is to:
1. evaluate the market for your current skills and see what tweaks you need to make
2. secure any kind of employment you can (you are just coming in to holiday season, so should be able to get something for the summer)
3. retrain as needed while you are working
4. look now, don't wait to be fired where you will then be competing with otjher staff.

realistically if I am going to pay top money for a chef, I want one who has been trained in the best schools and worked in the best restaurants or for famous people. Its going to take you more than 6 weeks to make that a reality.

mallorcajeff

Great advice there really good advice. When the 5hit hits the fan it's easier to see through it when others put it into perspective. Have got a meeting this week with something I'm thinking of bike related here in Mallorca. Fingers crossed! Thanks all
Jeff

smidsy

Yea bike tour guide or something, linked in to renting out rooms (if you have spare).

You must have built up quite a knowledge of the routes to use and places to stop etc.

ugo.santalucia

Try to contact the operators working on the island... they might need people.. only problem cycling holidays are very seasonal, as I understand

notnot

smidsy wrote:

linked in to renting out rooms (if you have spare).

That's a good idea - if you have a spare room, you could put it on http://airbnb.co.uk in the meantime too. Assuming you don't mind having a stranger to stay, it can be a nice way to earn some extra cash.

Camus

smidsy wrote:

Yea bike tour guide or something, linked in to renting out rooms (if you have spare).

You must have built up quite a knowledge of the routes to use and places to stop etc.

Sorry to hear this, I was in Valencia quite recently and things do seem bad economically/employment wise in Spain.

I was going to suggest something similar to this, don't know if you live in/on your current/ex boss's property, but either way a cycling hire centre with on site accom could be a good option. Advertise it as the place Team Sky train and it's sure to attract people. Also this way you may not need to sell all your gear, if you can stomach some of it being used for rental. Eventually you could buy more for personal use when it comes good. Are there any other cycle businesses looking for employees and what did you used to do before this job? The chef-ing route could be difficult as it's not a very good lifestyle and the pay is average unless you're at the high end.

bernithebiker

Just bear in mind that there are already many, many bike tour operators in Majorca, some cheap, some expensive, and starting one up from scratch, with all the advertising that involves, is not easy.

But as a small scale, word of mouth thing to start with, why not? You are well placed for it.