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If you’ve been working in kitchens for a while, you might have asked yourself whether culinary school is worth it. You already know how to cook, and you have some experience. So what could formal training add?
A lot.
While culinary education teaches foundational cooking skills, it can also connect you with mentors who’ve logged time in world-class kitchens, deepen your understanding of the chemistry behind complex techniques, push you beyond your current menu, and give you the credentials you may need to move up, change directions, or build something of your own.
If you’re wondering whether culinary school could support your career goals, here are three ways it could make a difference.
What Culinary Education Can Cover
| Culinary Skills | Business Skills | Professional Skills |
| Cooking techniques | Menu planning | Kitchen management |
| Baking & pastry | Food costing | Team leadership |
| Knife skills | Purchasing | Communication |
| Plating & presentation | Budgeting | Time management |
1. Mentorship from Chefs Who’ve Been Where You Want to Go
During culinary school, mentorship can show up in the feedback on your technique, the nudge toward a better approach on a difficult dish, and the kind of perspective you can only get from someone who’s worked at the highest levels of the industry.
Escoffier has more than 100 Chef Instructors with a wide range of experience. A Lead Chef Instructor in Escoffier’s online programs, Albert Schmid, is a great example. Chef Albert has worked in the industry for more than 30 years, authored 11 books, and earned three Gourmand Awards. He’s also a Master Certified Food Executive and Certified Executive Chef through the American Culinary Federation.
Escoffier Lead Chef Instructor Albert Schmid is an experienced chef and an accomplished author.
The chef instructors’ personal experience helps them provide valuable feedback on your work. Whether you attend culinary school online or on campus, you can receive insight into your technique, plating, and flavor development from professionals who have spent years in the field themselves.
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2. A Culinary Network Built Through Real-World Experience
Culinary school can put you in the room with people who take food as seriously as you do. Your fellow students—the ones sweating through labs or grinding through online cohorts alongside you—tend to share your level of commitment, and those bonds can become some of your most valuable professional connections down the road.
At Escoffier, another significant networking opportunity is built into the program through a required hands-on industry externship.
Building connections with fellow students, Chef Instructors, and industry professionals can create opportunities throughout your culinary career.
All of our students, including those who study online, take part in at least one externship, where skills are applied in professional kitchens for real-world training. Students can work in approved restaurants, hotels, bakeries, or other foodservice operations.
Sometimes, these externships can convert into job offers*. Suhalia Gant, an online Baking & Pastry graduate, externed at Sugar Fix Pâtisserie in Chicago, which gave her the opportunity to prove her skills and work ethic. She was hired when her externship ended.
Escoffier maintains strong industry relationships with employers like Disney and Omni Hotels, who regularly seek out our graduates, and Career Services can help you find externship sites that align with your goals.
3. Culinary Credentials That Can Open Doors
Culinary education has a way of opening doors you might not have considered. For some people, that could mean moving into a leadership role. For others, it might mean changing careers entirely, or finally pursuing the food business they’ve been thinking about for years.
Moving Up in Your Current Role
For those already working in the industry, a culinary diploma or degree can provide the credentials to pursue roles that experience alone may not unlock. Whether you’re a line cook eyeing a sous chef position or a baker ready to step into management, formal credentials may help make that case.
Omni Hotels & Resorts Executive Chef Josh Hasho shares his thoughts on the benefits of a formal culinary education.
Making a Career Change
Culinary school isn’t only for people already working in food. Career changers often bring skills from their previous lives that translate surprisingly well into professional kitchens: discipline, time management, the ability to work under pressure. Culinary school can build on those transferable skills and add the technical foundation that makes the transition into food work more viable.
Kevin Fuller spent nearly 30 years as a firefighter and EMT before enrolling in Escoffier’s online culinary program. Fuller completed his coursework while still pulling 24- and 48-hour shifts at the firehouse.
After graduating, he competed on MasterChef and launched The Red Line Table, a food truck serving elevated dishes like duck, lamb, and beef Wellington alongside his signature smoked meats. His culinary education gave him the technical foundation to turn a longtime passion into a second career.*
Starting Your Own Food Business
For some culinary students, the goal isn’t to work in someone else’s kitchen. Tiffany Moore, an Army veteran who graduated from Escoffier with honors, went on to win several grants and launch her own catering business while working toward opening Lola Pecan, a farm-to-table restaurant in Atlanta.
Moore’s culinary education gave her the skills and credibility to pitch her concept, compete for funding, and build a business plan that investors and grant committees took seriously.*
If you’ve ever thought about opening a restaurant, launching a food truck, or turning a specialty product into a real business, culinary school might help you get there. A structured program can help you build the business skills that take you from a solid idea to an actual operation.
Is Culinary School Right for Your Career Goals?
Culinary education can open doors through mentorship, real-world networking, and credentials that support your career goals. Many Escoffier students start with a passion for food and discover their specific direction along the way, whether that’s restaurant work, entrepreneurship, food media, or teaching.
If you’d like to find out about the possibilities for career advancement through a culinary education, contact our admissions advisors and get a conversation started. We’re here to help you succeed.
LIKE THIS ARTICLE? HERE ARE SOME OTHERS YOU MIGHT LIKE, TOO:
- Career Options For Culinary School Graduates
- Alternative Culinary Career: Recipe Developer
- Why Culinary School Is So Important For Networking And Career-Building As A Chef
This article was originally published on May 26, 2017, but has since been updated.
FAQs
Escoffier diploma programs generally take 30–60 weeks to complete, depending on the program and campus. Associate degree programs typically take 60–84 weeks, with longer timelines for programs that include additional industry-related general education and externships. Online programs follow the same expected lengths, though completion time may be extended due to distance‑education course sequencing.
Yes. Many Escoffier students work while enrolled, especially in online programs designed for flexibility. Online learners usually spend about 15–23 hours per week on school activities. Campus programs run in concentrated weekday blocks, which can still leave time for part‑time work outside scheduled lab and lecture hours.
Escoffier’s degree and diploma programs are designed to provide instruction on skills for a career in the culinary industry. Both provide theoretical and practical knowledge and require an industry externship. Diploma programs may allow someone to start their career sooner than those in degree programs. The degree programs build upon theoretical and practical knowledge with additional instruction in general or industry-specific business courses.
No. Many professionals advance through on‑the‑job kitchen experience alone. However, formal culinary education can accelerate skill development, provide a structured foundation in technique and business, connect you with chef‑instructors and mentors, and offer required externships plus Career Services support to help with networking, job searches, and long‑term advancement.
Yes. Escoffier offers fully online diplomas and associate degrees in culinary arts, baking and pastry, food entrepreneurship, plant‑based culinary arts, holistic nutrition and wellness, and hospitality management (associate degree only). Online students study via interactive lessons and live virtual classes, complete hands‑on cooking assignments in their own kitchens with chef feedback, and complete at least one in‑person industry externship before graduating.
