# Do businesses (bakery, hotel, casinos) really care where you get a certificate from?



## laser (Sep 10, 2008)

I've debating on whether or not to go to a local techinical school or LCB in LV for the baking and pastry program. The school locally is $4k cheaper than LCB. Another concern of mine is getting a job afterwards. There's not many bakeries, big hotels, or casino's where I live versus LV where there are many big hotels/casinos. Please help and thanks in advance for your opinions/advice!


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## rainliberty (Jun 10, 2008)

Well go to LCB if its only a 4k difference. For most technical colleges the difference in price is around 40k, **** for the Art Institutes it's more like 70k


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## ras1187 (Oct 3, 2006)

What I look for (as well as just about every other Chef I know) when hiring a culinary grad or extern is a solid work ethic, humbled attitude, and willingess/desire to learn & grow. No school can teach you this, which is why what school you came from is probably the last thing I would look at.


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## d.c. (Nov 2, 2008)

I don't entirely agree with RAS1187.

Yes - work ethic and attitude are important but when applying for your first job, I think where you attended school could be an important consideration.

Consider for example the explosion of "Le Cordon Bleu" culinary schools.

I know of one school that doesn't enforce standards regarding student attire, completion of assignments, punctuality, or basic _mise en place_. The result? Students are slovenly. They're late. They aren't prepared for class.

Come the end of the program and the time for students to find externships, local restaurants WOULDN'T TAKE STUDENT EXTERNS from this particular school. Why? The bad habits they picked up at school found their way into the workplace with disastrous results.

Having a degree from a bad school isn't a career killer as you can offset this by developing a positive track record ... but landing that first job when coming from a poor school can be challenging.


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