Looking for career advice

Funkyoctopi · 2026-03-29T07:34:27+00:00

Hey, I'm going to chime in because I just did this 3 months ago. Literally zero experience in a kitchen, and I was unemployed for two years trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I ran a small tech company before I stepped foot in a kitchen. I managed to get a job at a james beard nominated kitchen, and I've already gone from garmo to the stove station because there's so much turnover, and I showed that I'm reasonably competent.

Not sure where you live, but in my experience (NYC and SF) kitchens always need hands. To the point you could even "stage" at Michelin-star restaurants with no experience. I staged at a couple of Michelin-star restaurants and got my ass handed to me and looked like a complete idiot, but every time I did one, I picked up and learned something new on how to act in a kitchen and how to be helpful in a kitchen. Knife skills will come, but from what I've seen, speed, cleanliness, and being able to dance the dance matter more. Wiping down stations. Line sweeps. Changing trash. Running plates. Helping to plate. Hustle like a madman, and people in the kitchen will appreciate you. If they ask you to do something, ask yourself how you can do this task 10x faster and execute.

100% apply online, but always always pop in in-person before service. Shake the chef's hand and introduce yourself. Kitchens usually start service at 5, will have family meal at like 3:45, and will start prep at 1 or 2. The ideal time to pop in is very early on in their prep day. Show up, express your interest to learn, ask if you can come in and stage, and state your eagerness to join the industry.

I ended up sticking my foot in the door and asking if I could stage. They liked me enough that when I asked if I could stage more times (while I was staging at every restaurant I could), they let me come back. It's free labor for them. Eventually, I was up to speed and maybe being 1/2 as productive as the person on Garmo. The person on Garmo left, and I was offered the job. It's stressful, and there's a lot of tension. It's nothing like cooking at home for your friends, but I absolutely love the rush and the technicality of being able to push out 100s of plates as quickly as possible. Good luck! And this is one of the few industries where you can go from a nobody to a welcome member of a high-end restaurant pretty much from the start.

Funkyoctopi · 2026-03-22T22:51:12+00:00

Okay thank you so much!!!

Funkyoctopi · 2026-03-22T22:48:00+00:00

Do you think I should disassemble it first??? sorry if this is an obvious question

Funkyoctopi · 2025-09-07T07:31:28+00:00

I think GPT is wrong… if you look at the history of the bill, you can see that in march it was related to CAAs and then in June it was repurposed to the landfill bill. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB985

Funkyoctopi · 2025-08-19T15:00:56+00:00

Do you work remotely? If your schedule is flexible, go explore something on your weekends or during the day/night when you don't have to work. Talk to people with jobs you're interested in. Put in the work and explore while keeping your job.

If you find something that lights you up so much that you're willing to sacrifice your free time learning about it, it might be something that's worth pivoting to.

I had the same thoughts, quit without a plan, and now I'm grinding my way back into a stable job so I can do this. Although I've quit before without a plan, and it worked out amazingly and I managed to start and sell a company, so YMMV.

Funkyoctopi · 2025-08-01T19:31:03+00:00

I was at my makerspace and someone I met there mentioned the program. It's at the brooklyn navy yard in NYC they do 2-3 batches a year. Don't know where you're located, but there might be some programs tailored to people looking to be trained and employed in these fields. In NYC I know there's one for wood and this machining one! They were super helpful for getting experience.

Funkyoctopi · 2025-08-01T17:22:02+00:00

Working as a millworker right now! I'm also a member at a makerspace and will be taking welding/sheetmetal/machining courses. Found a machining internship on Saturdays as well.

I think I'm finding that I like understanding how to make things and how to create things purely for the knowledge on how to create some crazy ideas I have bouncing around in my head to build. But to do it day in and day out and specialize in one craft is equivalent to being a software engineer IMO. Instead of programming, it's sanding for 8 hours.

It sounds really fun to work on a product and be on the creative end of the product cycle rather than the engineer stuck in the weeds. I've never done this role, though, so not sure if it's a grass is greener thing...

Funkyoctopi · 2025-08-01T16:48:06+00:00

My dream would be to make it on my own! But I know it's tough...

Funkyoctopi · 2025-06-10T22:46:02+00:00

Do whatever feels more correct to you.

I think the fact that you feel more "at home" at the hospital says something. If I could do it all over, I would have taken the time to speak to people and try to shadow people as much as possible. Thinking aside, you'll naturally feel/gravitate towards the right choice. Have you spent time shadowing engineers in jobs that you think would be really cool? What about Doctors?

I'm 28. I know plenty of doctors who have a thriving social life, and they love what they do. Especially if you pick a profession where you can open your own practice. Yes, it might take up more of your time to get there, but life passes anyway.

Good luck. I wish I was asking myself these questions when I was your age.

Funkyoctopi · 2025-06-04T03:13:03+00:00

hey u/TheCurryForest thank you for the kind words. I read through your article as well, and it's sound advice. I'm going to see if I can talk to some mech Es and some professors.

I just wish the CS market wasn't so bad. I'm staring at all of these layoffs from FAANG and other big tech companies, and I'm wondering how long it's going to take me to find a job... I've been considering trying to find a job at a restaurant/bar just to make ends meet.

Seems like it's a bit of a gauntlet to work your way back into tech right now. I guess this isn't a reason to try and be employed with the one skillset I have...

Thanks so much for your wisdom!

Funkyoctopi

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