The Recipe for a Successful Career Change: How Yash Sabhani Plans to Pivot from Chef to Hospitality Asset Management

Full-time MBA (‘26) student Yash Sabhani shared the steps he’s been taking to transition from a career as a chef to that as a hospitality asset manager. In doing so, he successfully completed an internship with Compass Group at the new JPMorganChase headquarters as their only MBA Operations Intern.

A Personal Statement from Yash Sabhani:

I was born in Adipur, a small town in India that I knew mostly through summer vacations. It is the place where my love for food—and eventually hospitality—began. In 2001, I watched that town collapse in the Gujarat earthquake. It was the first time I understood how deeply a community depends on the built environment. Months later, my grandfather, a retired civil engineering professor, returned to Adipur to help rebuild. When I visited him, he took me through the ruins and then to a shipping container where he and a small group of engineers were coordinating the town’s recovery. That moment shaped my belief in resilience, disciplined problem-solving, and the responsibility to build things that endure.

As I advanced in my hospitality career, managing a $15M multi-unit portfolio and leading teams through high-pressure operational challenges, a thought stayed with me: excellence in service and design should not be limited to a small audience. I wanted to understand how assets are conceived, financed, and improved—not just operated. That question pushed me toward real estate and, ultimately, toward combining operational experience with financial rigor.

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A Chef in Mumbai, India 

If you had a career path already set for you, and all you had to do was follow it, would you still leave it behind for a different one? Such was the dilemma for Yash back in his home city, Mumbai, India. After studying hotel management for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, he pursued becoming a chef. Though he moved to Utah, United States, for an internship at the age of 19, Yash soon returned to India to work for Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, where he entered a management training program as a student, then advanced to manager just two years later. Upon graduation from the program, the company wanted Yash to open a private members’ club. Yash then played a significant role in opening the food and beverage portfolio, including seven restaurants and event spaces, coordinating food and beverages, dealing with vendors, overseeing team members, and training teams. More notably, Yash had the privilege of cooking for many people of importance in India, including ministers, Heads of State, celebrities, and sportsmen, to name a few. Eventually, Yash made the decision to pursue a slightly different career path: while he would remain in hospitality, Yash wanted to become a hospitality asset manager. He consequently moved to New York City to attain an MBA degree from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. One year into the program, Yash shared the steps he has taken to pivot careers. And while there is no particular way to do so, Yash’s experience thus far outlines a recipe for a successful career change. Ingredients 1 moment of Self-Reflection Courage Transferable Skills  Determination  Consistency  Momentum Step 1: Take one moment of self-reflection and incorporate it into your career decision-making. 
 
Although Yash would have become an executive chef had he stayed another two years at his previous role, he questioned whether being a chef was really what he wanted to do long term. He had business and financial skills that he wanted to put to good use; he wanted to learn about hotel investments and development; he wanted to create more impact in the hotel hospitality industry. So, Yash contemplated: Should I reinvent myself? He still had many years ahead of him, and if there was ever going to be a perfect moment to pivot, that moment was it. He needed to make a move. And so, he did.  
 
Step 2: Whisk up the courage to take the first step toward making your decision a reality.  
 
After careful consideration, Yash finally decided to move to the U.S. He now lives in Manhattan, the heart of New York City, while studying at Baruch. Step 3: Combine determination and consistency, then identify all your transferable skills and add them to your resume.  Establishing a different career path, especially in a different country, is not an easy feat. The process requires determination and consistency. By way of illustration, Yash not only took MBA classes, but he also visited the Zicklin School’s Graduate Career Management Center (GCMC) for professional career coaching. There, he regularly made appointments with GCMC career coach, Lindsey Plewa, to identify his transferable skills and to reframe his resume.   “No matter where you work in the hospitality industry...a service mindset is at the center,” Yash stated. A hospitable, service-oriented way of thinking was therefore his primary transferable skill. “And then comes all your other technical skills: being able to manage teams, knowing the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day life of a hotelier...” Yash added.  After identifying his transferable skills, he worked with Lindsey on revising the language of his resume. For every bullet point, Lindsey pointed out a transferable skill to highlight. “To give you an example,” Yash explained. “I had a bullet [point] that said ‘curate menus’...That’s of no use to anybody unless I apply for a job as a chef again. But the idea behind that is development.” After going through the entire resume, Yash then continued to tweak it, adding relevant courses, certificates, and experiences.    Step 4: Knead all ingredients from steps one through three into a new work experience.  As a result of meeting with the GCMC regularly, Yash was able to secure an internship with Compass Group, which focuses on corporate hospitality. Through that, he worked with Restaurant Associates at the new JPMorganChase headquarters. As an MBA Operations Intern, Yash helped with pre-opening teams such as marketing and tech, made sure payment transactions went smoothly, and ensured there was enough food and water for about 100 people who were on the construction site. Yet this was nothing new to Yash, as he had done similar activities in his previous pre-opening project.  Given his internship experience and the process of securing one, Yash learned the importance of networking in the U.S. Back in India, his career path was simple: he started as a student, entered a management training program, and became a manager. Networking was not a priority, nor necessary: “[My career path] was sort of there for me...the next opportunity was laid out. I got lucky, for sure.” By contrast, the U.S. emphasizes building professional connections. “Not to say that I wasn’t doing that before,” Yash said. “But that was in different capacities...When you deal with, say, a guest at a restaurant, that’s different. [Developing professional relationships in the U.S.] is sort of doing it for your own benefit. That’s something I had not really had the chance to do before.”   Step 5: Pour momentum into your job search.  As noted in the previous step, Yash secured an internship that was similar but slightly different than his former jobs. As an MBA Operations intern, he was indeed still making sure people had enough food and water supply, just as he would ensure his guests were well fed when he was a chef. But Yash also had the opportunity to learn about all other aspects of operations: marketing, information systems, payments, and facility requirements in New York City. In essence, Yash was gaining experience that would prepare him for his transition. Upon successful completion of the internship, Yash kept the momentum going through coursework. So far, he has completed 33 credits in his first year of the MBA program. Building on his recent internship experience, Yash has also continued to meet with the GCMC and use job search strategies and tools to search for a full-time job in hospitality asset management and hotel investment.   Secret Ingredient: Target career adjacent opportunities.  For a successful career pivot, Yash recommended taking small steps at a time. “Start with what you know best,” he suggested. “Look for career adjacent [opportunities], instead of the ‘final goal’. My internship was career adjacent. It wasn’t luxury hospitality, but it was hospitality. It wasn’t hotels, but it was food and beverage. Finding these adjacent points make your pivot simpler.”    And there you have it: a recipe for pivoting careers. A blend of reflection, courage, transferable skills, determination, consistency, and momentum can lead you closer to the career path you truly want. And while it may be tempting to take a huge leap from one career to an entirely different one, the secret ingredient to success is taking smaller steps. Of course, be creative and add your own seasoning to this recipe – your journey is supposed to look different than Yash’s. But take it from the chef himself: following the core of this recipe will ensure a delightful result.   About the author: Elizabeth Moy is a graduate student at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College, pursuing an MA in Corporate/Strategic Communication. She is also a College Assistant with the Zicklin Graduate Career Management Center.