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ForumRead Message
| Subject: | looking for an internship in Strasbourg |
| Date: | Friday, July 01, 2005 |
| Name: | Sandra |
| Message: |
I'm a honor student at Le Cordon Bleu in the US and would like to further my studies in France. I am 34 years old and have a 8 year background in event planning and catering sales. I'm looking for a nice restaurant in Strasbourg to do my 3 month externship. Can anyone help?
Thanks,Sandra |
Replies Posted 1.
| Name | Simone |
| Message |
Before you go about your search I would pin point what exactly you are looking for in your expereince. As professional chef (American born, American trained) working and living in France for over 7 years I have come to the opinion that French foods/restaurants are not neccesarily better, or more interesting. Though Strasbourg is more Germon so the food might be more different (A lot of this has to do with the work ethic, and labor laws of France, one reason so many French chefs are moving to the US or asia, and many students are coming the US to learn.) Also remember that most French stagaires are about 15 years old. Your culinary degree doesn't really mean anything until you prove it does, or unless you can find someone to vouch for you personally. (You should be done with your schooling). Also your hospitality background is really usefull, again, unless you are very assertive, or can get someone to personally connect you with a house. You will need to have a pretty high level of French if you want to do anything beyond cleaning lettuce, if only to assert yourself. Three months is pretty short, in my experience most chefs want 6mos-1year, and most Americans aren't offered housing like the French students are. Also don't expect to get paid. This is most of the information I have gathered from professionals French and American alike. That said here is my experience.
Network, Network, Network is the key! First your culinary school should have a career center that can help you. If not, if there is a chef from France, talk to them about making a connection. I used to work on private yachts in the summer and in the winter look for a stage to pass the time. I have worked in restaurants in Dijon, Antibes, and Brittany(my favorite, I learned so much about seafood). What I did was translate my resume into French, instead of presenting my diploma I summed up school activities on my resume (really stress the number of hrs on-the-line you worked, stations, and number of customers). Then I went to the town and walked around looking at restaurants, menus and opened up the Guide Michelin and found some restaurants that interested me. Then I walked around trying to talk to anyone who would talk to me. Some were rude, some were freindly but said no, eventually I found one. In the case of Brittany, I had read about the restaurant in a French cooking magazine so I wrote the chef a letter. If you get a chance to talk to the chef, stress your interest, not so much try to prove how much you know. Now a little bit about the region and major products. Also in the case of Brittany I wrote the chef telling him I was weak in Seafood and wanted to work in an intense seafood environment). In all three cases I did grunt work, to prove myself, and to prove my ethic (which is hard to do as a woman);and had to be assertive in getting other opportunities. When I knew more than the people there I sort of stuck it in with a question, or a "that's interesting in the US we...." In all cases I was taken under the chef's wing and got to accompany him to the market, and fishing docks. I hope this has been helpful, my advice would be go when you have more than 3 months, unless you set up a very concise program before you go. If this doesn't help contact the web sites of: American Culinary Federation and the IACP, International Association of Culinary Professionals. Best Wishes and Happy Cooking! |
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