Baking and culinary placements
The programme ends in a kitchen job, not a certificate
Baking and culinary placements are worked on inside the course, not bolted on afterwards — CV clinics, mock interviews, grooming and direct introductions to recruiting chefs, from the middle of the programme onwards.
How it works
Placement is a process, not an event
Most institutes treat placement as something that happens at the end, in a hurried fortnight of interviews. At Servo it starts in the middle of the course, because a student who has already rewritten a CV, sat a mock interview and been corrected on grooming interviews very differently from one sent in cold.
The work runs alongside the kitchen. From the third block onwards students build an assessment portfolio, practise talking about their own food, and meet chefs who are actively hiring. Nothing about it replaces bench time — it uses the hours that would otherwise be revision.
Two routes come out of it. Domestic placements across bakery chains, patisserie cafés, hotel pastry sections, cloud kitchens and resorts. And international kitchen internships in Dubai, the Maldives, Mauritius, Malaysia, Qatar and Malta, several of which include stipend, accommodation and airfare support.
No honest institute guarantees a job. Attendance, kitchen assessment and how you interview all decide the outcome, and any school promising a guaranteed overseas placement at enquiry stage is worth questioning closely. What is guaranteed here is preparation.
What you get
Six kinds of placement support
All of it sits inside the programme fee. None of it is an optional add-on sold separately later.
CV and portfolio work
Written CV clinics plus a photographed portfolio of your own production work, which matters far more in a kitchen interview than a printed certificate.
Mock interviews with chefs
Practised with people who actually hire, and corrected honestly. Most first interviews are lost on nerves and vague answers rather than technique.
Grooming and conduct
How to present, how to take correction, how a brigade expects you to behave. First jobs are lost on conduct more often than on skill.
International placements
Kitchen internships in six countries, subject to assessment, attendance and a valid passport. Visa and documentation guidance is handled in-house.
Direct chef introductions
Recruiting chefs meet students on campus. A recommendation from a mentor who has watched you work carries weight no application form can.
Entrepreneurship guidance
For students opening their own bakery or kitchen — costing, pricing, shelf life and small-batch production planning rather than a job hunt.
After placement
How a kitchen career actually progresses
This is the honest ladder. Nobody starts near the top, and any institute implying otherwise is selling rather than advising.
Commis
Prep, mise en place and following a spec exactly. You learn speed, consistency and how a real kitchen behaves when it gets busy.
Demi chef de partie
Running a station alone — viennoiserie, entremets, larder or sauce — and training the commis who joins after you.
Chef de partie
Full responsibility for a section's output, ordering and waste. Recipes get costed by you rather than handed to you.
Sous chef, head baker or owner
Running a brigade, or running your own place. A steady number of alumni take the second route once they can price, produce and sell reliably.
An international internship shortens the first two rungs noticeably, because a graduate returns with a season of high-volume service already on the CV.
Who hires
Where graduates actually go
Recruiter categories rather than logos, because a logo on a webpage proves nothing about whether your batch was hired.
Baking & pastry
- Premium bakery chains and artisan bakeries
- Patisserie cafés and dessert brands
- Hotel and resort pastry sections
- Chocolate and confectionery producers
Culinary
- Hotels, resorts and standalone restaurants
- Cloud kitchens and delivery-first brands
- Cafés and casual dining groups
- QSR central production kitchens
Overseas
- Dubai and the wider UAE
- Maldives and Mauritius resorts
- Malaysia and Qatar
- Malta and cruise operations
Before you apply
Questions about placements
No, and be cautious of any institute that says otherwise. Placement support is built into every course and a placement is arranged for students who want employment, but the specific role depends on attendance, kitchen assessment and how you interview.
From the middle of the course rather than the end. Diploma students begin portfolio and CV work in the third stage; certificate students in the third block. That timing is deliberate — preparation done in a rush rarely survives a real interview.
Dubai and the wider UAE, the Maldives, Mauritius, Malaysia, Qatar and Malta. Availability changes by season and partner, so the admissions team confirms live options rather than publishing a list that goes stale.
Several include a stipend, and many include accommodation and airfare support. Terms vary by partner and role, so ask for the current arrangements for the specific placement being discussed rather than a general figure.
Commis-level pay in India varies widely by city, brand and whether accommodation and meals are included, so a single figure would mislead you. Ask your counsellor what last year's batch actually received rather than an advertised number.
Only for international placements, but apply early if there is any chance you will want one. Passport delays are the most common reason a student misses an overseas opportunity that was otherwise theirs.
Entrepreneurship guidance replaces the job hunt — costing, pricing, shelf life, packaging and small-batch production planning. Say so at counselling and the placement team will point you that way rather than towards interviews.
It matters more overseas than at home. Indian employers weigh your trial shift heavily; international recruiters read the awarding body first, which is why the CTH-awarded diplomas open doors the certificates alone do not.
Yes, and several graduates do, particularly in bakery and café roles. That said, the widest choice of kitchens is in the metros and resort destinations, so be open about where you are willing to move.
The alumni network is genuinely active, and chefs hiring for their own kitchens frequently come back to the institute first. Staying in touch after graduation is worth more than most students expect.
Admissions 2026 — open
Ask what last year's batch actually got
A counsellor will tell you where recent graduates were placed and in what roles, for the specific course you are considering. Ask every school you shortlist the same question.
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