The end of the school year is here for many of you so here is an article for ending the school year.

I think it is just as important—perhaps more important—to teach your students life skills and job skills and not just cooking skills. Whether they are in high school, technical school, community college, or a culinary academy, students need to learn how to find a job.

(Note: You may wish to take a look at some articles I previously published on helping your students obtain jobs: Interview Skills, Teaching Your Students How to Get a Job Part I, Teaching Your Students How to Get a Job Part II, and Teaching the Value of Real Networking. Another article of interest for you to go over with your students at the end of the school year is Teaching Your Students How to Keep Their Job.)

Nearly all students feel that when they complete a culinary training course their only option is fine dining. That is far from the case. There are literally over 100 different options for them, but they get tunnel vision focused on fine dining. To get students to think out of the “fine dining is the only way to go” box, I play a little game in my class. I start at one end of the room and have each person name a type of place where she or he could get a good job utilizing a culinary background and write it on the board. I stress that they are to state a category, not a specific place. For example, someone can say “casual dining” but they can’t say Applebees, Dennys, Fridays, Waffle House, etc. Below is a list of 50, in no particular order of importance, but don’t give it to your students until AFTER they play the game. Make them think for themselves first—that way they will have a higher level of buy-in for considering other avenues of employment besides fine dining. (Note: One time my class took this up to over 120 items. The only limit is how long you want to spend on the game.)

1. Corporate Dining
2. Hospitals
3. Casual Dining
4. Food Trucks
5. Catering (on site)
6. Catering (off site)
7. Food Courts in Malls
8. Sample Presenter (such as you see in markets)
9. Delis
10. Bakery
11. Supermarket
12. Sports Arena
13. Pre-schools
14. Elementary Schools
15. High Schools
16. Colleges and Universities
17. Train stations
18. Bus stations
19. Trains (such as Amtrak)
20. Trains (such as tour trains or wine trains)
21. Food Tour Guide
22. Food Blogger
23. Produce Stands or Produce Markets
24. Airports
25. Food Distributor Driver
26. Warehouse for a Food Distributor
27. Sales
28. Food Stylist
29. Food Photographer
30. Cruise Ships
31. Farmer’s Markets (selling food, working with farmers, etc.)
32. Airlines Food Preparation (Yes, this still happens. I have many students preparing food for first class and international flights.)
33. Fast Food (your students should be managers very soon)
34. Pizza Places (your students should be managers very soon)
35. Carnivals
36. Fairs
37. Night Clubs that serve food
38. Bars that serve food
39. Supper Clubs
40. Boardwalks
41. Amusement Parks
42. Sandwich Shops
43. Tourist Attractions
44. Gyms and Athletic Clubs that serve food
45. Teacher
46. Retirement Center
47. Brew Pubs
48. Convalescent Home
49. Assisted Living Facility
50. Bulk Food Production
51. Coffee Houses
52. Military Bases (most have large civilian staff)
53. Seafood Distributors
54. Pop Ups
55. Wine Tasting Room. Being a culinary student allows for better guest discussion around pairing food and wine and for selling wine if your graduate is of age. If not of age, many wineries have private events, on site food service, picnic items for sale, etc. for your graduates to prepare.
56. Meat Distributors
57. Meat Packing Houses
58. Commissaries for QSR’s and Fast Food Establishments (many have their food prepared off site and just heat and serve.)
59. Food Importers
60. Food Exporters

(Yes, I know I said I was going to give you 50 examples and I went beyond that. That’s what happens with this game. When you start going you just keep coming up with more and more ideas. Let me know what ideas your class comes up with that aren’t on this list.)

Chef Adam Weiner, CFSE, teaches a 20-week Introduction to Cooking program for JobTrain on the San Francisco Peninsula, and is a frequent presenter at CAFÉ events throughout the nation. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Antonin Carême Medal.