What does it take to succeed at a cooking school or culinary institute, and at the careers that such schools can make available to you? Here’s what a couple of professionals think.

Alejandro Granes, a former line cook at the renowned Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA, has immediate advice for those who want to work with food. “You have to love the kitchen, to love preparing the food. You can have all the skills in the world, but if your heart’s not in it, it’s no good.”

Jeff Mack, a Chef-Instructor at Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, AZ, agrees. “You need to have a passion for this.” Even if they’re aiming for a career in a highly regimented field (as food service often is), students need to “have an open mind; there’s always more than one way to do things.” For any type of food or hospitality work, he also urges students to think about their physical condition: “Can you be on your feet constantly for eight or ten hours a day?” For aspiring chefs, he adds this consideration of the rigors of working in a restaurant or hotel kitchen: “Can you lift heavy boxes and containers on a regular basis?”

Granes talks about dedication as well. While his remarks are about making a customer’s meal, they’re equally applicable in many service and industrial contexts, including responding to a management emergency or tending a critical experiment in a food-research lab. Though you should get immediate attention for the rare serious injury, “if you’re chopping and you give yourself a mild cut, or cooking and give yourself a mild burn, you can’t just walk away from the meal you’re preparing to nurse the injury. You need to be able to quickly wash it, slap an antiseptic and bandage on, and keep going until the job is done.”

Mack cautions those who have misgivings about a culinary career, and can’t afford to be trained in the field just as a hobby or sideline: “If you’re pretty sure going in that this isn’t something you can do for a living, it might be better to spend the time and money on a line of education that suits you better.”

That being said, there are certainly rewards involved in a culinary career beyond just a paycheck. Every day millions of people greatly enjoy well-prepared meals, friendly restaurant get-togethers, and comfortable hotel stays. You can play a major role in bringing people that kind of satisfaction.