Culinary Arts Internships

Can you take the heat in the kitchen? Learn more about culinary arts internships.

What is a culinary internship?

Culinary Arts InternshipA culinary arts internship is an opportunity to get valuable real-world cooking experience in a professional kitchen. After all, there’s a big difference between studying something and actually doing it.

Culinary internships offer invaluable on-the-job-training with a professional chef who can later serve as a mentor and teacher. You’ll hone your skills and knowledge in a real-world, but controlled atmosphere.

In general, culinary internships are offered to students who are currently enrolled in culinary school. Because the hospitality industry is so broad, you can find internships in a variety of settings, such as country clubs, restaurants, and hotel kitchens.

What is a culinary externship?

Unlike a culinary internship, an externship is generally not paid and is shorter than an internship. Externships can be as short as two weeks or as long as a couple of months. Because of their truncated time horizons, externships are easier to squeeze in between semesters or during school breaks.
Another difference between the two is that externships don’t have partnerships with schools as often as internships do. This means that time spent working an externship may not lead to college credit.

Even without money or credit, externships offer you a great chance to augment your resume with real-world experience. Externships can also help you land a job after graduation, or lead to a better internship in a more competitive kitchen.

Since many top chefs know one another, it’s very important to take internships and externships with well-respected chefs and to cultivate relationships with their teams.

How do you find an internship?

Some culinary schools have a dedicated office to help align students with internships and externships -- both before and after graduation. Before selecting a culinary schools, it's a good idea to ask whether they offer such a service.

Never pass up the opportunity to take an internship as these types of hands-on programs offer invaluable cooking experience and can be the key to getting into a competitive and respected kitchen.

Related Articles

Is Being a Chef Right for You?

Rocket Fuel