Auguste Escoffier School Of Culinary Arts Launches Enhanced Online Career Center To Help With Demand

Published
07/14/2021 by

Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, a leading accredited provider of online and campus-based culinary training and education, today announced the launch of their ramped-up Escoffier Connect™ Platform with the addition of a new real-time talent matching tool designed to connect employer partners with 12,000+ Escoffier students and alumni. This new online Career Center gives Escoffier direct access to 10,000 current positions including industry-insider externships and career opportunities and is designed to match a candidate's level of training and credentials with employers seeking to hire skilled staff for long-term culinary careers.

The announcement comes as the National Restaurant Association reports almost half of culinary establishments are operating with 20 percent less staff than pre-pandemic employment levels and, as accommodations and food service job openings spiked to nearly 1 million in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Now more than ever, our employer partners are looking to us to help them find qualified candidates and not just for a short-term fix," said Escoffier's vice president of Student and Career Services, Patricia Souza. "Our partners know they're getting professionally trained culinary candidates who can hit the ground running and are invested in career growth and development at their establishments. Our students benefit from insider access to positions that match their credentials and culinary growth plans."

Escoffier employer partners are represented from all seven segments of the culinary industry including: lodging, catering, restaurants, retail food, institutional and commercial dining, leisure and recreation and food manufacturers/wholesalers.

"Escoffier provides a real-world flexible learning environment allowing for relevant, hands-on training in our hotels in addition to their online educational component," said David Harker, corporate executive chef, Omni Hotels & Resorts. "Escoffier students, alumni, and Omni associates all benefit from this professional partnership. Engaged associates and team members are vital to our success, and Escoffier has been a big supporter of this philosophy and worked closely with us over the last few years. Escoffier has truly been a collaborative, forward-thinking partner."

The institution's Escoffier Connect™ platform was originally established with an alumni association that quickly grew as a way to connect alumni with students for volunteer support such as mentoring. Now with an emphasis on making connections between students, alumni, and employers, Escoffier's new Career Center is free and available to Escoffier students and graduates for the lifetime of their professional careers. In addition to the Career Center, Escoffier's advisors partner with students to provide one-on-one, industry-specific resume writing and portfolio assistance, interview preparation, and career planning and self-evaluating tools.