(In a five-star hotel or high-end restaurant or stand-alone bakery) Start as a junior chef: Rs15,000Salary grows with experience and position. A pastry chef can go on to earn lakhs and even become an entreprenuer or start his/her own bakery. 

• 6-10 a.m: Work on breakfast buffet
• 10 a.m-3 p.m: Prepare daily orders
• 3-9 p.m: Prepare dinner buffet & Pastry Shop Menu
• 9 p.m: End work, plan next day

If you have a good palate, an eye for detail and are willing to work for hours at a stretch, then a career as a pastry chef is right for you

• Creativity — It’s a field for those with an artistic bent of mind
• Attention to detail 
• Customer service: some pastry chefs may supply other businesses with baked goods, while others may serve their confections at their own neighbourhood shops. No matter   who their customers are, pastry chefs need people skills in order to establish thriving businesses 
• Ability to handle long hours with patience: It’s a satisfying but physically demanding profession requiring long hours on the feet. For most, the day begins pre-dawn. Cooking   and baking can be a long-drawn process so one has to remain patient and cheerful at the end of it all. 
• Punctuality: At a hotel/restaurant, chefs have to plate and deliver a pre-prepared product to the table within a few minutes of an order coming in. If you prepare goods on   order, you have to ensure the cake reaches the customer fresh, cooled down, and at the allotted hour

• Creatively satisfying
• Scope for endless experimentation and innovation
• Your workplace always smells heavenly  
• Need to start very early in the morning
• The job can get mentally and physically exhausting
• Good salaries and job perks
• Opportunity of being exposed to global cuisines
• Your creations can make or mar a culinary experience

As it is a specialised field, a degree/certificate course in baking after Class 12 is ideal. However, many chefs believe hands-on training works just as well. You can get on-the-job experience while doing an apprenticeship programme or learn the ropes after doing a degree in hotel management. The latter gives you a holistic view of all departments in a kitchen and is required if you wish to  be promoted to the position of executive chef.

• Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, www.ihmpusa.net
• STEP programme at The Oberoi hotels, www.oberoihotels.com/careers
• National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology, nchmct.org
• Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, www.bcihmct.ac.in
• Culinary Institute of America www.cia-culinary.com 
• The French Culinary Institute, New Yorkwww.frenchculinary.com