Need info from anyone who knows where to find resources

Talk to your school councilor pronto!

That's your best source of:

• financial aid
• job opportunities
• angels
• mentors

If it is not, you're in the wrong school!

Talk with your instructors, they have contacts.

My apologies, please forgive me for fumbling and offering useless information.

Good luck.
 

I don't know whether this will work or not, but sometimes the longshots pan out, and since winning a grant is not gonna happen, we gotta get creative.

My idea would be more easily verbalized, but I'll try to be as comprehendable as I can be in writing.

If I was in a desperate situation like this, I would try to work out a commitment deal.

Armed with letters of reference (not form letter, but personal) from your instructors and anyone else of value, go to every viable potential employer, large and small, and sell yourself.  You'll need to offer to work for free for a period of time over the next couple weeks so that they can get a feel for what kind of person and worker they'll be getting.

Here's what the deal would be:

You'd work for them part-time now - the hours that your schedule allows, and then full-time after you graduate, for an agreed amount of time that makes sense given how much money you need.

For example, you're committing to work for a year at an average of 45-55 hours a week, for a total of $20,000. That's following whatever the length of time you'll be working part-time, as you may not really be needed given the hours you're able to work while in school.  You're basically asking for a loan, that you're going to pay back through working for them, and consider the part-time hours now the "interest".

You'll be upfront with them regarding how much money you need each month to pay your bills and stay afloat, and you'll get that from the beginning.  The length of the commitment can be worked backwards from the total "loan" and what you should be making per/week for that position.

Unless you pay off the loan, you won't be able to quit.  And they won't be able to fire you without taking a loss on you, so they'll want to have some confidence going in, just like any lender would.

As I said, it's a longshot - but if someone in your situation would come to me, and we went through a vetting process and I saw you being able to progress as a full-time employee, I'd be willing to do it.

Some final thoughts.

You're not going to be able to replace an outgoing cook - your hours don't allow it.  I think you need to get lucky and find a business that's growing, and hasn't yet taken the step to place an ad for an additional worker.  Some place that can take on your salary/loan, be able to utilize you during the hours you'll be available, and hope that by the time you graduate, they'll be able to handle you on a full-time basis.

Good luck man!

You might say that, while in college, and broke, I got a job as a short order cook in a cafe that opened at 10 PM and closed at 6 AM, yeah, you read correctly, basically the graveyard shift.

It was located near a railroad division point, where freighter crews changed shifts between 10:30 PM and 2:30 PM and, of course, we got a lot of after bar traffic.

It did not interfere with my class hours, just had to rearrange my sleep schedule and eliminate any social life for a year or so.

Bakeries often start between midnight and 4 am and the shift end is around 8-10 am, that may not fit with your school commitment though.

Also, look into school/institutional kitchens, they often start very early in the morning.

Look into other types of work as well, night shift at a mini-mart/gas station, early morning shift at a donut house, nightwatchman, it doesn't HAVE to be culinary if it means staying alive!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ds41980 

Thank you for your apology. If you think of anything else please let me know it seems you've had a lot of experience. Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ds41980 

OMG that is a great idea. Thank you so much. That is a glimmer of hope and I am going to start looking into it tomorrow. I am sure I won't have any trouble getting a reference and I am a terrific interview because I truly love this profession. Btw, I am of the female persuasion (no big deal). Thank you, Thank you! Also for that idea of the growing company.

my "good luck man!" was meant to be more personal than just a "good luck".  So...let's just say the "man" part was a generic term for person 

Hope and a positive attitude is good and very healthy, but be careful and just be mentally prepared for rejection and being flat-out dismissed.  What you're shooting for is out-of-the-ordinary, and while I'm sure you interview great and with tons of passion, there's a big difference between hiring someone you can fire at will, and hiring somebody with a commitment attached.  Yeah, the C word.

I hope you get lucky real early in the process, but if you don't, don't let it get you down.  You only need 1 match.

Maybe reaching out to former graduates and sourcing connections that way could be a good starting point.  The school office should be able to assist.

Illigitimus non carborundum!  (freely translated from my ancient HS Latin: "Don't let the ba$tards grind you down!")

BTW, I would STILL bug the begeebees out of your school placement office, course, councilors, financial councilors, and your instructors, two or three times a day, if necessary, don't argue, just be persistent with the attitude that there IS something that will fit your situation.