Whining (not Dining)

Hello!
Our Externship Workshop session was last night. An enjoyable four hours spent listening to externship coordinators and experts in the field stress us all out about Trailing, Volunteering, Experience, Resumes, Cover Letters and Pitching. The first two hours were about Trailing.
Trailing is the equivalent of a job interview in the culinary world, only the two experiences are so different that the comparison is laughable. A trail begins as an ordinary interview would, in business clothing and resume in hand. Also on your person should be your uniform, a lock, knives and tools. Arrive fifteen minutes early for what will be a 7 to 12 hour interview process, in which you will be another kitchen hand, doing whatever task the chef asks of you, as well as the standard interview questions. You must spend an entire shift there, straight through until clean up. You must trail at least three different restaurants. You must devote your life to landing this externship.
Who has three entire days to spend in kitchens? Answer: People who have Saturdays or People who don’t have full time jobs. If you recall, I don’t have Sundays off entirely, as I have class on Sunday night (shifts routinely end at midnight). I need to begin my externship within fourteen days of ending class or I get kicked out of the program. This is problem #1.
Problem #2: My totally lack of experience. Most people in the class have no experience, only most are also in the position to get it. To gain experience, you need to volunteer at charity events, or “stage” (pronounced Stodge) which is basically an unpaid internship you don’t get credit for that lasts at least 6 weeks. I could make it to some volunteer events (some means maybe one or two), so maybe it’s not hopeless!
Problem #3: Even if I had all of the time in the world to volunteer, stodge, trail, network and wash my uniform, I don’t have any place where I really want to work. I mean, how many upscale kosher bakeries do you know of in the area? How many four start kosher restaurants are there? Even the “fancy” restaurants aren’t known for their desserts. For one thing, they usually have to be parve, which limits things A LOT. If anyone has any ideas, any desserts you were impressed or excited by in any restaurant or bakery, let me know!
As you could imagine, we left this session stressed out. As of yet, my classmates and I don’t have the skill set to make it in any restaurant or bakery kitchen, and the thought of doing this in just two short months is daunting. No time to dwell on it though, as our exams are tonight. Sorry for the short-ish post, but I have studying to do in my remaining lunch break time!
-Sarah Baer, Extern Extraordinaire