TasTAFE partnership kickstarts cooking careers

Cookery Teacher David Hobba instructing Kitchen Kickstart learners at TasTAFE’s Collins Street Campus.

A partnership between TasTAFE and the Glenorchy Jobs Hub is kickstarting the hospitality and cooking ambitions of Glenorchy jobseekers.

Kitchen Kickstart is a 5-week training course delivered by TasTAFE from our Collins Street Campus. During the course, participants learn essential cookery skills and receive hands-on experience through work placements in cafes, bars and eateries in the Glenorchy municipality. If they perform well on these placements, they could pick up kitchenhand work before they even finish the course.

One of these learners is Nazmul Hoque, who began his hospitality training in Bangladesh 14 years ago. Now, living with his wife in Tasmania, he’s looking to re-ignite his cookery career. Namzul discovered the Kitchen Kickstart opportunity whilst scrolling through social media.

“I saw that the Glenorchy Jobs Hub were offering a free course for students that are looking to build up their career in the kitchen or as a chef. So, I contacted them and they provided an application form, and I filled it out,” Nazmul explained.

“Then I went to the Jobs Hub for a discussion, and they provided all the information: what I need to do, where I need to go to collect my uniform... They're always in contact and any information they get; they circulate to us – they are very helpful.”

Nazmul said that he enjoys the whole cooking process – from preparation to cooking to plating-up.

“When a customer feels good and the food is tasty and it looks delicious, and if I’ve done everything, I feel very proud,” he said – adding that he’s been enjoying his time in the Collins Street kitchens.

“The TasTAFE campus is very organised with all of the equipment, and it's very handy for everyone to use. My teachers are very experienced and so supportive and helping us in a lot of ways. When we make mistakes, they're providing feedback and helping us out. When I'm here, I feel very good,” Nazmul said.

Speaking on Day 3 of the program at Collins Street Campus, TasTAFE Cookery Teacher David Hobba has been supporting Nazmul and the other Kitchen Kickstart learners to gain fundamental cooking skills.

“We've gone over food safety units, we've done WHS, and we've moved into preparing simple dishes: things like sandwiches, fish-and-chips and salad, tandoori chicken and yogurt sauce... Dishes that are appropriate for small cafes, small theatres, 24hr truck stops and places like that,” David said.

“We’re getting them to cook from scratch, which helps them become more confident with using tools like deep fryers. I'm looking forward to seeing them evolve – and they already have. Yesterday, lighting a gas stove was really scary; today, they're lighting them without any help.”

Leon Thompson, Business Relationships Partner at Glenorchy Jobs Hub, explained that Kitchen Kickstart evolved through funding from Jobs Tasmania to deliver a hospitality-based program.

“We were talking with Hospitality Tasmania about the fact that chefs are hard to find,” Leon said, “– and that sometimes, the hardest part of attaining these skills is not knowing where to start. So, we designed a program to assist people to get into that space, with accredited training as well as on-the-job work experience.”

Leon said that the Kitchen Kickstart learners come from a range of backgrounds, with a range of practical experience.

“One of our learners is only young, but she’s passionate about cooking and wants to be a chef. We've got a couple of career-changes too, and some learners from overseas who are looking to upgrade their skills – they're qualified chefs in their home countries and now they're looking to get started in Australia,” Leon said.

“We wanted to make sure that the training wasn't just specifically fine dining, or a specific kind of cuisine. We wanted to give the learners background in, say, pub grub, as well as fine dining and bulk cookery – making burgers in a pub right through to cooking in aged-care facilities and fine dining in places like MONA.”

Nazmul Hoque is keen to make the most of the work placement opportunities.

“We’ll get a chance to see some real work environments,” he said. “They might even have a job there: if I get the opportunity, I can start immediately.”

Kitchen Kickstart is one of many training programs that TasTAFE delivers in collaboration with Tasmania’s Regional Jobs Hub Network.

Kitchen Kickstart learner Nazmul Hoque enjoys the whole cooking process from preparation to cooking to plating-up.