CIA Prerequisite

First, thank you for your 21 years of service from a fellow veteran, albeit about a tenth of your service.

Have you considered discussing the requirement with the CIA course adviser with regards to your military service? You may find a possibility for substitution.

From what little I know, the six month requirement is to weed out those who have never been under pressure or having to take orders, something that you obviously have endured
 

If your not discharged yet talk to your CO or who ever is in charge of the kitchen if there is one on base. No doubt a letter (wink wink) from the appropriate person saying you spent six months in the kitchen would satisfy the CIA.

AFAIK the only program Keller had was charging $1200 for a stage but that wouldn't fill your requirements. You could also see if volunteer kitchen work would satisfy the admissions department.

Best of luck either way.

Dave

I agree w/ DuckFat. I had no problemmo getting into the mess hall kitchens if I ever wanted to put in some time. Nobody ever stops you from asking. There was never any lack of work to be done.

Hello Michael, Welcome to ChefTalk, and thank you for the 21 years that felt like 35 years. I took a lot of classes at CIA Napa in the past, I realty enjoyed the time I spent there. There are a lot of people at the school with some "pull " in town. I wouldn't worry about the Thomas Keller Restaurants, be happy with a place like Mustard's, or any one of the great restaurants in that area. The Head Kitchen Chef may be of some help, call the school and ask if you can set up a meeting with him/her and then explain your dilemma. If I can be of any help, let me know. The instructors have changed since I have been there, but there is always someone willing to help. If those ideas don't work, walk into a restaurant, ask to speak with the Chef and ask him/her if you can work in their kitchen for free under their guidance for the 6 months that's needed. After the 6 months is over, the Chef may hire you to work in the restaurant while attending school..................Take care....................ChefBillyB

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael W ... I have asked many places if the would let me work for free for six months but they all claim liability issues, I just don't think they want to be burdened with breaking in a new rookie!...

I believe it is because you are in California, The DoL frowns on unpaid labor as do the Workman's Comp insurers, which is paid as a % of payroll. Even interns are supposed to be paid unless they do no productive work and are there strictly for education.

LOL. Only in California. Pete ... (I'm not cracking wise here, this is serious) How can someone do "no productive work"?  If you are "working", particularly for free, how can it no be "productive"? 

IceMan, for the State, "productive work" means the work a PAID employee would normally do, in other words, it is not legal to have someone do something for FREE that someone else normally does for pay.

As interpreted by some state officials, if someone peels potatoes that will be served, you must pay them at least minimum wage, even if you might be training them! I do not believe that applies to a school situation.

In other words, in the view of the State, an unpaid intern is depriving a paid worker the opportunity to work, I guess

Pete ... I'm OK w/ your explanation ... however, as I guess it got past you ... that where I did claim not to be cracking wise, I didn't mention anything about not being sarcastically rhetorical. I was saying that I can't see anyone doing work that I would take as acceptable, to be productive. If it was not productive, I wouldn't have them doing it. Thanks for your answer. I'm sorry for not being as clear as I could have been. 

Tain't you that is the conundrum! It is the bloomin' State!

As I understand it, interns cannot do anything that might result in a benefit to the employer. As such, why in the world would anyone take on an unpaid intern unless they were running a school?

Your point is "on the mark"! It makes no sense to anyone but a government bureaucrat!

Quote:

Originally Posted by IceMan 

Pete ... I'm OK w/ your explanation ... however, as I guess it got past you ... that where I did claim not to be cracking wise, I didn't mention anything about not being sarcastically rhetorical. I was saying that I can't see anyone doing work that I would take as acceptable, to be productive. If it was not productive, I wouldn't have them doing it. Thanks for your answer. I'm sorry for not being as clear as I could have been. 

this is a lot of Bullshit, the Chefs need to remember where they came from. Without people helping me in the beginning, I would have been stuck between a rock and a hard place. This guy gave 21 yrs to our Country and these Chefs are worried about Liability. I'm sure this guy went out on a few high "Productive work"  missions keeping our butts safe back home. This guy is full of passion, when is the last time any Chef on this site had someone with passion ask for a job. If they wanted to do this, they could, it takes a bit of thinking, maybe that's the problem...........ChefBillyB

BillyB ...................... When you were you, "in the beginning" ... who was the President? ... what was the price of gas? ... how many TV channels were there?      It seams that the times have changed. 

     The Times They are a-Changin'

Maybe the times are changing for you young guys, but us old guys don't think the same as you. This guy has the guts and passion to persue his dream, . I would do all I could to help  him,

    There are ways around every law,and loopholes all over the place.. I would put him to work in my kitchen right away under the guise of education and get away with it.. Sometimes laws are dumb and deserve to be challenged. Keep in mind in Washinton there are 545 lawmakers who try and control the destiny of millions of  other people. Their main jobs are to try and fix whatever rules and laws  that are  messed up .Yet they are the very ones who created the law and rules  in the first place.

 IceMan,some days I just and think the world is going ...............I started in this business, knocking on the back door of a Restaurant complex in Hawaii, I told the catering mgr, I would be in charge of the restaurant in 6 months if he gave me a chance. He laughed, brought me upstairs to the GM, told him the same thing, he laughed and said, I'm going to hire you just to see you fall on your ass. I was the only white guy there, 80% of the crew hated me, just for that reason. It was a up hill battle for months, I worked my ass off as a Catering Steward, in a Month I was head Steward, then Restaurant Mgr is 6 months. Both of the Mgrs are now friends, I went on in life to become  a Chef and owning my own Catering business and Food Service Management Company. If it wasn't for people helping me, I would have been down a different road, who knows where.

   My point is, everyone in this business has gotten help a long the way, some one trusted in their ability to cook the food in their Restaurant to help them succeed. I'm just saying, remember where we come from, we all needed a bit of help in the past, to get where we are today. In my business, when I had the FEW people with Passion, it made me and my business better. The Chefs in the Restaurants  near CIA, need not to look at why they can't bring him in, they need to find a way they can. The problem is, it would take some thinking and work, maybe going out of their way a bit to help out a guy, with Passion, trying to support a family while going to school.........I would hire this guy in a heart beat, not because he served our country and kept my family safe. I would hire him for his passion, you can't put a price on that.........

Now to answer your question..........George Washington was President.......... no gas needed yet............no TV..........

At least we knew who was the President and V.P.   Today ask 20 young people who is VP, they have not a clue. Just watch Jay Leno at night when he ask questions of people  in the street. It's scary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael W 

Thanks DuckFat, I talked to the school and they told me that volunteer work at the VA kitchen was sufficient to fulfill their  prerequisite requirements. I then headed back down the road to the VA hospital and was welcomed with open arms and completed all the paperwork required and today I have orientation at 1030.

 

Thanks again for your help, Michael 

Cool! I'm glad you found a way to work it out and I hope you let us know how things go in the future.

Dave