Hands-On Experience With Guidance and Feedback<\/h2>\n
In your culinary classes, your Chef Instructors<\/a> can be there to teach, guide, and encourage you in a controlled classroom environment. However, opportunities to practice and apply these skills in real kitchens are essential to becoming the best chef you can be.<\/p>\n Externships can provide you with opportunities to develop your craft under the direction of veteran culinarians. These professionals can give you feedback that can make you a stronger cook, and they may be able to help you develop new skills. They can provide experience using commercial equipment, scaling recipes, and managing competing demands in the kitchen. Escoffier Pastry Arts graduate Kjersti Walker, for example, was able to practice her piping during her externship with Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.<\/p>\n \u201cHoning in on the skills [in an externship] is so important. I was able to hone in on my piping \u2026 I was able to play with that and delve into [it] and make different desserts.\u201d* Before beginning her externship, Walker knew that she had a strong grasp of flavor, but that her piping skills and technique could use improvement. After several weeks at this establishment and plenty of practice, she walked away with improved cake decorating skills<\/a>.<\/p>\n This hands-on experience can potentially translate to better job prospects, too. When hiring new chefs or cooks<\/a>, restaurants tend to fill positions with the most experienced candidates. They want to know that you have what it takes to keep up in fast-paced and fluid kitchens. The more time you spend in professional kitchens before graduating, the more prepared you may be to blend seamlessly into a new kitchen after graduating.<\/p>\n\t A day in the life of an Escoffier extern.<\/em><\/p>\n What exactly you learn from an industry externship is up to you. You may target any of the following subsets of skills in your placement and more:<\/p>\n Once you decide what you\u2019d like to specialize as a cook, you can find a food service operation where you\u2019d like to extern that can give you room to exercise and expand your talents within this specialty. Every externship is different\u2014there is no one-size-fits-all\u2014just as there is no single type of chef.<\/p>\n As a student, you can have the opportunity to find your own externships that align with your career goals. The Escoffier culinary school curriculum<\/a> is designed to help you start thinking about these goals early on, so that you are prepared to pursue them when the time comes. But if you\u2019re not yet sure what type of job you\u2019d like after graduation, you can explore your options through varied externships.<\/p>\n As mentioned, some cooks know exactly what they want to do before they even enter culinary school, but many others need time to choose a path for themselves. Culinary internships and externships can help you gain a sense of direction and purpose.<\/p>\n Externships are great for exploring different interests because they are often shorter than internships and more specific. They can help students visualize what they may want and try on many different hats until they find a good fit.<\/p>\n But don\u2019t think you have to wait until graduation to experience working in a top restaurant! Culinary Arts graduate Parker Wilks-Bryant<\/a> worked hard to secure an externship at Pujol, one of the top 50 restaurants in the world. This not only gave him experience working with talented chefs, but it also showed him what it takes to produce this level of food.<\/p>\n \u201cThat stove top range that they use in the back kitchen\u2013there are two kitchens at Pujol\u2013it\u2019s just constantly going sauce prep there. It\u2019s pretty heavy,\u201d says Wilks-Bryant. \u201cThe workdays there can be up to 16\u201318 hours a day. Those burners are constantly going, and it\u2019s hot back there. It\u2019s very hot.\u201d*<\/p>\n Even if you think you have a good idea of where you want your culinary career to take you, you may change your mind after shadowing different kitchens and testing out several different options. Who knows what a great externship may inspire you to do?<\/p>\n You might not think that networking is important for chefs, but that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. In reality, chefs need to network<\/a> with other professionals in order to keep refining their skills as well as learn about new opportunities.<\/p>\n Escoffier can help pair you with capable mentors during your time with the institute, but there\u2019s no reason you can\u2019t look to other professionals for mentorship. You may meet a chef in one of your externships that you really admire, and you can\u2014and should\u2014ask them as many questions as you can on your path to becoming a better chef.<\/p>\n Sometimes, networking with the right people can help you land the job of your dreams. By being proactive about not only seeking out excellent positions, but also about making your time in those positions worthwhile, you can potentially build a career. Build relationships with people you meet in your various professional experiences and keep in touch with them, practice the skills you explored in the classroom, and don\u2019t hesitate to inquire about a longer-term position.<\/p>\n Every restaurant you have the chance to work in as a culinary student may have an impact on your career. Since every kitchen and the people in it are different, each place can teach you something new.<\/p>\n As a chef, your resume<\/a> starts when you\u2019re in school, and a culinary externship can give you a robust skillset as well as show that you have experience working in a busy kitchen. This may make you an appealing candidate to hiring managers, who look for cooks and culinarians that are flexible and quick on their feet.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to be able to name what you\u2019ve learned from your hands-on experiences on your resume, as this will help employers to see how your craft has grown and developed. Rather than simply listing you spent time working at a restaurant, you can highlight how you advanced your plating skills<\/a>, learned to work with a certain cuisine, or created a certain number of salads each night.<\/p>\n Think of culinary externships as extensions of your career. If you know that you want to work in a kitchen that specializes in cutting-edge tasting menus, give your career a head start by choosing an externship at a restaurant that strictly serves tasting menus.<\/p>\n Or if you’re planning to become a\u00a0vegan chef<\/a> and want to cook\u00a0inventive vegan dishes that put the spotlight on great produce, an externship that gives you experience sourcing fresh and high-quality ingredients, coordinating with farmers, and studying ways to cook more sustainably<\/a> belongs on your resume.<\/p>\n All Escoffier students must secure and complete externships<\/a> before graduating. And although you have a lot of say in what these will look like for you, you\u2019re not alone in selecting them. Escoffier Career Services staff<\/a> is committed to helping every student find shadowing positions, whether they attend the school in-person or online.<\/p>\n If you aren\u2019t sure where to complete an externship, your mentors and Chef Instructors<\/a> can also provide guidance. They may have a good understanding of where you excel and what you still need to practice, as well as what skills restaurants and employers look for in culinary school graduates.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re ready to commit to a culinary education, and all of the valuable experiences that come with it, reach out<\/a> to our team to get started with your application.<\/p>\n Here are a few more articles on the importance of a well-rounded culinary education:<\/strong><\/p>\n *This information may not reflect every student\u2019s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors such as geographical region or previous experience.<\/em><\/p>\n This article was originally published on April 19, 2021, and has since been updated.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Internships and externships allow students to work in professional kitchens and develop skills outside of the culinary school classroom. Here’s how. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":23060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1285],"tags":[1304,1299,70,1323],"class_list":["post-18081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-value-of-culinary-education","tag-academic-success","tag-career-advancement","tag-externship","tag-hiring-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Chef](\"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Chef-with-bandana-with-pan-with-flaming-pan-fire-768.jpg\")
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\nKjersti Walker, Escoffier Pastry Arts Graduate<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\nWhat Can You Learn From an Externship?<\/h2>\n
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![\"Smiling](\"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Smiling-chef-with-black-hat-holding-baked-french-bread-baguette-768.jpeg\")
\nOpportunities to Explore Your Interests<\/h2>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.escoffier.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Two-chefs-working-over-the-stove-preparing-food-768.jpg\")
\nChances to Network With Other Professionals<\/h2>\n
Build a Resume to Launch Your Career<\/h2>\n
Finding the Right Externship For You<\/h2>\n
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