Bon Appétit Chefs Recruit Le Cordon Bleu Students
- by Guest
Most culinary school students do it for the love of the profession — and expect grueling, family-unfriendly hours, and low pay when they graduate. But Le Cordon Bleu students were thrilled to learn more about an alternate path, into an elite food service company with locations right there in the Sacramento, CA, area!
Bon Appétit General Managers Albert Hall and Andrew Tescher with Regional Manager of Recruitment and Safety Jen Takara at Le Cordon Bleu
Bon Appétit General Manager Andrew Tescher and Café Chef and Safety Champion Terrell Evans from Folsom Café, along with General Manager Albert Hall from Genentech – Vacaville, joined Regional Manager of Recruitment and Safety Jen Takara for a visit to talk about their programs and currently available positions.
Andrew even had part-time positions available — stellar news for students who wish to work now while still attending their classes! It became apparent during the presentation and Q&A session that many of the students were single parents who needed part-time opportunities to support their families while also furthering their culinary education. The students were also pleasantly surprised to hear that most positions are Monday through Friday and allow for free weekends, unlike most food industry positions. The benefits and retirement contribution matches are also nearly impossible to come by in the food service industry.
The students were also impressed with the diversity of regional cuisines Bon Appétit specializes in. Eyes popped when they realized just how big the company is, at 33 states and counting, and a part of Compass Group. All were happy to hear about the commitments to from-scratch cooking, sustainability, and using local vendors.
And thanks to the number of Bon Appétit cafés in and around Sacramento, there weren’t any students for whom the recruitment team couldn’t find likely opportunities!
The Bon Appétiters all agreed that the best tool in recruiting is actually sending managers and chefs to participate in the outreach. A recruiter alone can’t reproduce the excitement, passion, and sense of ownership that the actual manager/chef at each site brings to the table. Andrew, Albert, and Terrell were able to illustrate their points with personal anecdotes, which added to their existing cachet as seasoned industry professionals.
Update: Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, in partnership with CareerBuilder, recently began advertising all of Bon Appétit’s culinary production and management positions to their current students and alumni via their career portal.
Submitted by Jen Takara, Regional Manager of Recruitment and Safety