Some chef positions warrant more than just a casual, glancing interest. Here are a few unusual positions chefs hold that exemplify what is possible out there in the Big Wide World for those inspired by the culinary arts:

Walter Scheib III - White House Executive Chef

The White House Executive Chef position does not necessarily change during each Presidential administration and is governed by the First Lady's office. The current executive chef, Walter Scheib, has been the Whitehouse chef since 1994 and hopes to serve there until retirement. Scheib won the position over 4,000 applicants, undoubtedly due to his extensive and impressive credentials: formal training at the Culinary Institute of America, executive chef of the Capitol Hilton in Washington, DC, executive chef at Florida's Boca Raton Club and Resort, and executive chef of the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia.

Chef Scheib supervises five staff members that work full-time and up to 20 part-time staff. He travels with the president to prepare food for official state functions and often remains on-call in the event he is called at home, picked up by a White House car, and requested to prepare an off-hours meal.

Jamie Johns - Personal Chef

Jamie Johns did her stint at the Texas Culinary Academy and landed her unusual job with a Central Texas family right after finishing her apprenticeship. The family is not what one would consider the typical Texas family, however. This family only lives in Waco, Texas part of the year, spending four months in the Cayman Islands and another two months in Aspen, Colorado. Johns' job consists of traveling along with the family, whose tastes are polar opposites of most Texans' Tex-Mex, steak, and deep-fat-fried fare. Instead, Jamie concentrates on creating the family's preferred Thai, ocean vegetables, and vegetarian fare. She loves her job and the family, but admits she does sneak off occasionally to "find some good, old-fashioned meat" to cook and eat for herself.

Steamboat Paddlewheel Chef — Mark Amatangelo

Executive Chef Mark Amatangelo presides over the galley of the historic Delta Queen steamboat that cruises up and down the Mighty Mississip'. Chef Mark serves up "regular" fare along with Louisiana southern specials that include Frog Legs in Piquant Alligator Sauce, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Turtle Soup au Sherry. On a typical steamboat cruise, Chef Mark and his staff serve up 25 different lunch entrees, a variety of 35 dinner entrees, and the customers' choices from 14 different soups - in addition to an array of appetizers and salads. Mark landed this job after working for his uncle's New Orleans restaurant as sous chef, then studying culinary arts and business while attending North Carolina State University. The Delta Queen Steamboat Company hails all the way back to 1890 and is the oldest continuously operating riverboat line in America.

These are just a few unusual places you may find yourself if you choose to pursue a culinary quest - but there are many more. For instance, whom does the NASA space program select to cook for its staff? And movie stars are well known to keep their own private chefs on hand. What about the chef for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus? Do they even have a chef, or do they survive on popcorn and peanuts?

So don't feel you'll be stuck in some highbrow, low-interest, golf-course-ridden resort just because you've now got your official cooking papers. Shoot for the stars! Or the steamboats! Or, hey - even the White House!