Posted by Gerard on May 21, 1997 at 22:25:41:
In Reply to: Culinary School vs. Vocational Tech posted by Larry on May 08, 1997 at 12:42:23:
: Currently I am looking at two schools. One is a culinary
: school in Chicago, and the other is a local two year
: vocational school. I can complete the culinary school
: in 8 months with certificate in Baking and Pastry arts,
: and complete the vocational school in a year and a
: half with an associates degree.
: My question is what difference, if any, will employers
: distinguish between the two schools? Will the
: Associates degree carry more weight?
: I'd appreciate any information I can get. And please
: feel free to e-mail me if you wish to offer any advise or
: encouragement.
: Larry
: lnew@indiana.edu
Will a degree carry more weight ? with whom?
just what business do you think your looking at?
I wonder if theres a hoax going on here in the food biz.
All the degrees in the world won't make you a baker , I'm a pastry chef with over 25 yrs exp, my own business in Boston and I think its kinda sad to see all the money spent on classes and all the people who think their present jobs are too stressful....so they want to work in a kitchen?. Sounds like a Greek tragedy.
My brother went to a technical college to start in baking and whilst he has a great depth of tech knowlidge about baking ,as a pastry baker he SUCKS bigtime.(hehe)
In the end NOTHING else is more important than the product you are able to produce, its a trade and you either have the SKILL in your hands or you can't do the job. A school cannot put the skill in your hands or expose you to the pressure you WILL encounter in the real world.
As an employer I can honestly say I'd have zero interest in what school you went to, I only want to know what can you do for me.
can you whack out 30 trays of eclair shells , 15 trays of croissants , 3 batches of breads, 20 dozen petite fours ? (sometime before lunch OK?),if not your not skilled enough and I need to train you. NO school can teach you that..but they are great at taking your money.Get into a a good bakery kitchen first then supplement that with a few classes if you want to understand the chemistry etc.
Cooking is an art but baking is a science.