How to Become a Private Chef and Elevate Your Culinary Career

A private chef is a professional who has undergone extensive culinary training to prepare and cook dishes for their clients in a specific location, usually the clients’ own homes.

Private chefs can either work on a permanent or temporary basis for their clients. The former will involve a private chef having to prepare and cook meals daily, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner, unless instructed otherwise. On some occasions, private chefs may even cook for dinner parties or special events hosted by their clients also. 

Private chefs on a temporary basis may only be employed by their clients to prepare and cook meals on scheduled days of the week, which could be set or interchangeable. 

As previously mentioned, there is an increasing demand for private chefs around the world. Reasons for this include that having someone to cook all of your meals, shop for groceries, and clean for you is convenient, particularly for those who work long days or who have difficult working schedules.

Other people have specific diets and dietary restrictions. Therefore, having a private chef who is knowledgeable of food contamination, allergies, and different dietary requirements is beneficial for those who need a tailored culinary service to suit their individual needs.

While many people may believe that a private chef and a personal chef are the same, there are some nuanced differences between the two professions. So, it’s worthwhile being familiar with these differences if you’re considering how to become a private chef. 

The predominant difference between a private chef and a personal chef is that a private chef often only works for one client while a personal chef will work for several clients. In some cases, private chefs may even be required to live in their clients’ home for ease and convenience. Private chefs also work flexible hours in many cases, particularly if a client is hosting a special occasion or dinner party. 

On the other hand, because personal chefs work for several clients at once, they normally reside in their own homes and work set hours visiting and cooking for clients. When cooking meals for their clientele, personal chefs will often leave instructions for how food needs to be prepared in their absence.

To become a private chef working for discerning clients, you’ll need to have developed a variety of skills and have several innate qualities if you want to be one of the most adept professionals in your field. We’ve highlighted some of the core skills and qualities you’ll require if you want to become a successful private chef.

• Highly Organized: You must stay organized in several ways to be a good private chef, including planning grocery stores and preparing dishes in advance, staying up to date with clients’ changing schedules, and cooking multiple meals in a short period of time. 
• Time Management: An essential skill required to become a successful private chef is time management. You’ll need to know client deadlines and meet these regularly, as well as alter schedules if necessary to meet your goals in the kitchen. 
• Work Independently: You need to be able to work alone without the support of others, unlike working as a chef in large kitchens, where you’d have the support and supervision of other culinary professionals. 
• Kitchen Skills: You’ll need to have impressive kitchen skills when it comes to the preparation of ingredients and meals, and be able to handle kitchen equipment safely at all times.
• Creating Personalized and Tailored Meal Plans : As a private chef, you’ll need to create personalized meals to suit a client’s culinary preferences and dietary needs, and potentially alter existing recipes to do so. 
• Food Safety: Private chefs will be knowledgeable about how to safely store, handle, and prepare food so as to keep clients and themselves safe.
• Knowing Nutritional Information: As a private chef, you’ll be aware of the nutritional value of meals, especially for clients who have specific nutritional goals and requirements. 
• Presentation Skills : You’ll be able to not only create delicious-tasting dishes but also make them look delicious as well. 

• Personable and Good Communication: Private chefs will have a friendly and approachable nature, and brilliant communication skills to manage their clients and meet their needs. 
• Creativity: You’ll be creative in the way you craft meals and recipes for your clients, and in the way you present your dishes. 
• Attention to Detail: A private chef needs to have great attention to detail, particularly for clients who may have food allergies and intolerances. 
• Flexibility and Adaptability: You’ll need to be able to quickly adapt to your client’s changing needs, be flexible with your schedule if necessary, and think on your feet should you need to change existing meal plans. 
• Problem-Solving: Should your client’s schedules or needs change at the last minute, or you make a mistake that requires you to alter your plans, you’ll be able to quickly resolve these problems to keep your clients happy. 
• Professionalism: A private chef must show a high level of professionalism and competency in their craft.
• Ability to Work Under Pressure : As a private chef, you’ll need to be able to work to deadlines and under pressure at times, being unbothered by changing circumstances or working in difficult conditions.

Private chefs have several responsibilities that they’ll have to adopt when working for their clients. There are also several duties that a private chef at work can expect to fulfil. Below, we’ve outlined several duties and responsibilities of a chef who would be working on a private basis for clients:

Meal Planning

A private chef must be able to plan several meals for clients each day of the week. This may even involve crafting original recipes to suit their clients’ preferences, dietary restrictions, or allergies, which is particularly important. 

Grocery Shopping

As a private chef, you will need to shop for ingredients, sometimes well in advance to be able to prepare several dishes at once. This requires exceptional organisation skills, and may even involve sourcing ingredients from several different stores and suppliers, depending on the clients’ needs and preferences.

Keeping Food Preparation, Storage, and Cooking Areas Clean

While preparing and cooking all meals, a private chef must be capable of keeping kitchen and storage areas clean and tidy to avoid accidents and stay hygienic. Surfaces, storage areas, and preparation zones will also need to be meticulous at the end of a work day so the client is left satisfied. 

Preparing and Cooking Meals 

A private chef is required to prepare and cook meals for their clients on a regular basis. This could be three meals a day every day of the week, or just select meals on select days. Having a pre-planned schedule determined by communicating with your clients is essential to understand the extent of your role and responsibilities.

Normally, in Switzerland, private chefs are required to have completed at least an apprenticeship or higher education qualification in the culinary arts, such as attending a prestigious culinary school. 

In addition, while not essential, having completed courses in food safety and hygiene, or other culinary-related subjects, can really support you in your application to secure a private chef position. 

While not a qualification as such, alongside the above, having citizenship of an EU or EFTA country, demonstrating that you’re eligible to work in Switzerland, is an additional requirement. 

In some cases, it may also be required to be fluent in certain languages, particularly English, and having a qualification to support this is beneficial, but not essential. Driving licences are also required in the case that you need to drive to reach a particular client’s household, which is worth considering and may open more doors for securing private chef roles for yourself.

To give yourself the edge when you’re applying for roles as a private chef, having as many years of experience working at prestigious gastronomic, Michelin, or fine dining establishments is often necessary. Some roles will require a minimum of 3-5 years of experience working in these types of environments. 

Alternatively, showing evidence of working as a private chef previously will strengthen your application. Any letters of recommendation from any clients you may have previously worked for will also demonstrate that you’re a trustworthy and proficient professional in your field, and make you more likely to secure a role as a private chef. 

For particularly luxurious clientele, it’s important that you can show evidence of working with particularly high-profile households too.

A private chef can make differing salaries, which vary based on age, education, experience, and job specifications. Typically, a private chef’s salary if you live in a client’s home can range between CHF 75,000 and CHF 120,000 per year, depending on the days worked. A private chef not living at the client’s home can expect to make roughly between CHF 70,000 and CHF 100,000 a year.

In some cases, private chefs who have much more experience might request higher salaries, and if you’re working seasonally you may be paid a fixed rate. Please note, however, that these figures are a reference only, and rates for private chef salaries can vary considerably for reasons including the factors already mentioned above.

Securing a role as a private chef can be made all the more simple by working with a luxury staffing agency with ample experience in positioning private chefs with discerning clientele. Here at Heritage Staffing, our experienced team of recruiters has a deep understanding of the private chef industry. We help recruit high-calibre candidates for private households across Switzerland, placing them in positions perfectly suited to their needs and supporting them to excel in their careers. 

You can get in touch with our team who will be happy to assist and offer their services to help you find a private chef position that’s perfect for you.