Whats is it like to be a cook in Australia?

Nearly everyone is a cook in Australia. There are cooks who cook for shearing contractors & their teams; there are cooks that cook for stock camps on cattle stations; there are cooks in all our armed forces; there are cooks in roadside service stations; there are cooks at mining camps; there are cooks at mining camps; the list goes on.... But it is a completely different story if you are a qualified chef...& in Australia a cook & a chef are completely different. To be a chef you need the personality of a spoilt child, the tolerance of a warthog & the charisma to match a kick in the nuts. Whereas the unqualified old cook just battles away on hospitality award wages. Most cooks are only employed on a casual basis so the employer can give you the flick whenever s/he wants to.

Cooks receive the award wages as a minimum. Some places pay more depending on the skills of the cook. To get an idea of the jobs available for cooks and the wages paid, look in the employment section of the Sydney Morning Herald on a Saturday http://www.smh.com.au You might not be going to Sydney but the pay and conditions are similar across the country, at least it will give you some idea.