What does a culinary internship do?
In a culinary internship, an intern's responsibilities primarily depend on the directives of a supervisor. Usually, they must gain industry insights and practical work experience by performing support tasks in the daily kitchen operations, such as measuring and preparing ingredients, sanitizing tools, maintaining and monitoring supplies, participating in food preparations, and maintaining the cleanliness of different areas. They may also formulate recipes, developing menus, and ensuring that customers receive optimal services. Moreover, an intern needs to learn and adhere to the government and company policies and standards.
Culinary internship responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real culinary internship resumes:
- Supervise cooks and manage the preparations, portioning, garnishing and storage of all food items.
- Manage inventory and facilitate product orders of the culinary and science departments.
- Manage cold kitchen production for a luxury hotel with a Michelin star restaurant
- Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, and fryers.
- Demonstrate proper ServSafe techniques and strict health code practices
- Show compassion during the job and are well receive.
- Follow and help design recipes for sauces and soups.
- Utilize POS system for entering and sending guest orders.
- Utilize POS system for purchase transactions and balance of register.
- Prep menu items for hot and cold line, assist with buffets
- Interact in front of house with guests on action stations for buffets.
- Operate stoves, food processors, streamers, slicers, and ovens.
- Exercise proper HACCP procedures such as hourly temp logs and proper chemical use.
- Work all areas of the banquet kitchen; saut, broiler, and fryer.
- Assist chefs in gathering all ingredients in recipe and preparing carts for specific banquets.
Culinary internship skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Culinary Interns are proficient in Culinary, Kitchen Equipment, and Food Handling. They’re also known for soft skills such as Sense of taste and smell, Dexterity, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Culinary Interns that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Culinary, 29%
Completed a three month culinary internship program in an environmentally focused, seasonally-influenced restaurant and worked closely with local farmers.
- Kitchen Equipment, 11%
Assist in preparation of teaching stock recipes, executing knife cuts, and the proper handling of machinery and kitchen equipment.
- Food Handling, 9%
Inspect food preparation and serving areas to ensure observance of safe, sanitary food handling practices.
- Cleanliness, 7%
Organized and sanitized the kitchen daily and for each event to ensure cleanliness and regulatory compliance.
- ServSafe, 6%
Trained and certified by the National Restaurant Association and Education Foundation as a ServSafe Sanitation Manager.
- Fine Dining, 4%
Trained with the Executive Chef, Sous Chefs, Line Chefs and Prep Cooks at a well-known four-star fine dining restaurant.
"culinary," "kitchen equipment," and "food handling" are among the most common skills that culinary interns use at work. You can find even more culinary internship responsibilities below, including:
Sense of taste and smell. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a culinary internship to have is sense of taste and smell. Their role and responsibilities require that "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." Culinary interns often use sense of taste and smell in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "prepared exquisitely refined cuisine incorporating exotic and specialty ingredients. "
Dexterity. Another essential skill to perform culinary internship duties is dexterity. Culinary interns responsibilities require that "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." Culinary interns also use dexterity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "performed hands on culinary training and techniques taught by the chef/owner. "
Physical stamina. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of culinary interns is physical stamina. This skill is critical to many everyday culinary internship duties, as "cooks spend a lot of time standing in one place, cooking food over hot stoves, and cleaning work areas." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "reduced food and labor costs and implemented monthly physical inventories. "
The three companies that hire the most culinary internships are:
- Compass Group USA52 culinary interns jobs
- Hyatt Hotels10 culinary interns jobs
- Legends Hospitality8 culinary interns jobs
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Compare different culinary interns
Culinary internship vs. Banquet cook
A grill cook's primary role is to take charge of grilling food in restaurants or a similar establishment. Aside from grilling different kinds of food, they are also responsible for the plating, ensuring that it looks presentable and mouth-watering. Moreover, grill cooks have other duties such as preparing supplies and ingredients, maintaining the cleanliness of the work area, and training new members of the workforce. It is also essential to coordinate with other restaurant staff at all times as the operations can be fast-paced and will require accuracy and speed.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a culinary internship are more likely to require skills like "servsafe," "sous chefs," "sanitation standards," and "caf." On the other hand, a job as a banquet cook requires skills like "sauces," "customer service," "dependability," and "dexterity." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Banquet cooks earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $41,429. On the other hand, culinary interns are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $38,284.The education levels that banquet cooks earn slightly differ from culinary interns. In particular, banquet cooks are 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a culinary internship. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Culinary internship vs. Grill cook
Prep cooks are responsible for preparing ingredients. They are usually part of an assembly line-like structure in the kitchen. They are often the first station in this assembly line. Prep cooks are in charge of thawing, skinning, cutting, mincing, slicing, and chopping ingredients so that the line cooks can just get these ingredients for their own stations. Prep cooks may also start doing some of the initial activities in the cooking process, such as preparing water for boiling, laying out ingredients, and ensuring that the stoves are clear.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real culinary internship resumes. While culinary internship responsibilities can utilize skills like "servsafe," "food service," "banquet kitchen," and "dinner service," grill cooks use skills like "safety standards," "math," "good interpersonal," and "dexterity."
On average, grill cooks earn a higher salary than culinary interns. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, grill cooks earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $30,806. Whereas culinary interns have higher pay in the media industry, with an average salary of $38,284.In general, grill cooks achieve similar levels of education than culinary interns. They're 1.8% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Culinary internship vs. Prep cook
A lead cook, or lead line cook, is an individual restaurant employee who is in charge of supervising the chain of food preparation done by line cooks. Lead cooks work directly under head cooks or chefs who provide instructions in preparing meals. They are well-versed in the restaurant's food health and safety, such as regular hand washing, utensil sanitizing, and proper garbage disposal. To be a successful lead cook, they must obtain knowledge of various cooking techniques and be passionate about food.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, culinary interns are more likely to have skills like "servsafe," "banquet kitchen," "menu planning," and "sous chefs." But a prep cook is more likely to have skills like "team work," "worksheets," "safety standards," and "dishwashers."
Prep cooks make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $33,423. On the other hand, culinary interns are paid the highest salary in the media industry, with average annual pay of $38,284.Most prep cooks achieve a similar degree level compared to culinary interns. For example, they're 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Culinary internship vs. Lead cook
Types of culinary internship
Updated January 8, 2025
