Education in the Czech Republic as a cook / waiter

Occupation Type          apprenticeship, completed with journeyman's certificate
Training type               Vocational education at vocational schools
Duration of training     3 years
Training sites              Vocational school

What do you do in this job?

In this profession, you do all the work for which the cooks and serversare responsible for. Cooks do all the work that belongs to the preparation of food. They organize the workflow in the kitchen and make sure that the dishes are completed on time and in the correct order. Cooks in smaller kitchens, roast, bake and decorate all the dishes themselve. In commercial kitchens cooks are mostly specialized in the preparation of certain foods, such as side dishes, salads, fish or meat dishes. The duties also include calculating prices and advising guests.
The servers wait on guests for food and drinks. They welcome and advise guests, plan events, organize autonomously service processes and present and serve food in consideration of various kinds of service. They also prepare food and drink at the guest's table. They create receipts and collect the bill.

Where you work?
Employment establishments:
Cooks find employment
      • In kitchens of restaurants, hotels, cafeterias, hospitals, nursing homes and catering companies
servers find employment
      • in hotels, restaurants, guesthouses

Workplaces:
Cooks work primarily
     • in kitchens
     • in storage and cold storage rooms

servers
     • in a restaurant, hotel
     • at a buffet and bar
     • in Hotel rooms, in offices

Which graduation is expected?

Primary education is expected.

What is important?
Requirements:
    • Organizational skills, team skills (e.g. in coordinating workflows, when scheduling and directing staff)
    • care and sense of responsibility (e.g. hygienic work in the kitchen, complying with the food regulations)
    • skill and a good physical condition (e.g. from cutting and filleting of meat or fish, when working in a standing position)
    • creativity (e.g. when arranging food, the serving)
    • ability to organize smaller events, to talk with the guests (e.g. advising guests)

School subjects:
   • mathematics (e.g. when calculating and converting proportions in recipes, cashing)
   • food and nutrition (e.g. composition of foods and their changes during production, storage and preparation)
   • basic cooking methods (e.g. cooking of food)
   • guest service technology (e.g. correct serving to the guest)
   • Czech (e.g. correct speaking to the guest)

Internship:
The training lasts 3 years. Students have to go one week to school and every other week the internship is in the school kitchen or in hotels and restaurants.

What you earn in the training?
Cooks and servers get a reward from the school for productive work. This reward is confirmed by the Internship teacher.