The Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) announces dates of 2010 events.

March 5-7       Front-of-House Operations National Symposium, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Las Vegas

June 18-20     Mastering French Cooking: from Classics to Contemporary, L’Academie de Cuisine, Gaithersburg, Md.

June 25-27     6th-Annual Leadership Conference, Baltimore International College

July 23-25      The Healthy Menu—Cooking for Tomorrow, Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, Chicago

For more information, visit www.CAFEMeetingPlace.com or contact Mary Petersen at (410) 268-5542, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Olson Communications, a full-service agency that specializes in delivering innovative marketing communication strategy to its portfolio of select food-industry clients, announces the winning recipient of its second-annual 20th Anniversary Chefs of Tomorrow™ grant program for culinary educators.

David Colombe, a culinary student at Okanagan College in Vernon, B.C., was the grand-prize winner in the 20th-annual Florida Tomato Committee’s Best of the Best Recipe contest. The contest, the longest-running competition for student cooks, is open to entrants from the United States and Canada.

McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, Ill., welcomes Thomas Kaltenecker, a European-trained chef, as the new full-time instructor/executive chef for its first-ever culinary-management certificate program.

La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs of Greater Washington hosted the Mid-Atlantic Assemblage on May 30, 2009. The festivities began with the multi-Bailliage Grand Induction and black-tie dinner at the elegant Park Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The American Academy of Chefs (AAC), the honor society of the American Culinary Federation, honored Dr. L. Timothy Ryan, CMC, AAC, president of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., with the Sharing Culinary Traditions Award during a formal ceremony and dinner at the 2009 ACF National Convention held at the Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Fla., July 10.

The interviews for your first jobs are critically important because these jobs will help set the course for your career.  Treat these meetings with the reverence and respect they deserve and you will project the professionalism and confidence that will put you head and shoulders above the other applicants.

The purpose of one’s resume is not to get a job, but to get the first interview. Interviewing skills are very important, no matter the skill level or career level of the individual.  Communication and chemistry are very rarely overlooked just because a candidate’s skill level is high.  In hospitality we do not work alone.  We work as part of a team, and therefore companies rarely ignore a potentially disastrous culture fit because someone’s skills are superior.

Even though text-messages, email and casual attire sends the message that the world is a totally casual place, many “old school” business communication standards still thrive.  Using these methods effectively will establish you as a proper professional.  Crafting persuasive cover letters and courteous thank you notes will help set you apart as the right candidate for the job.

In this section you can read essays composed by students in the foodservice industry:

• Interview with Farmer Lee Jones from The Chef's Garden
• A Blind Student's Culinary Journey