Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Internship Program at The Sugar Suite



The way that we have managed to grow such an excellent team over the past 4 ½ years is through our internship program. We are a “teaching” bakery, and interns are a big part of what keeps us going and what makes us successful. Interns are students who sometimes have no experience in the baking, pastry or cake world that come into our bakery to learn the basics.  Every experience is different, and each student comes to learn different parts of the business. The students are unpaid, which for gives them the flexibility to learn without a strict time table. Most of our students are interested in specifically wedding cakes and sugar flowers. Although the cakes being produced, as well as the skill set of the intern determine what they will learn, generally in the course of an internship we are able to cover:
-        Torting, assembly and stacking of wedding cakes
-        Covering cakes in fondant
-        Piping cupcakes
-        Production support and culinary work, baking & buttercream
-        Some basic sugar flowers
-        Bakery maintenance, communication and how to operate as a team
We interview all our interns to ensure they will be a responsible member of our team, as well as a fast and neat worker. The interview process is also a good time to talk more specifically about the intern’s area of interest and their schedule. With such a small team, anyone that enters into our bakery must be 100% committed to the mission of the bakery. We cannot guarantee a position will be open at the end of their internship, but we can guarantee that we only hire from within. Everyone on our payroll has at one time been an intern. The only strict requirement of our internship program is that you must have completed a pastry degree and require an internship as part of your degree.
If you are interested, please contact Jennyfer@thesugarsuite.com
We have lots of advice to share and hope you will consider being an intern at our bakery. Here are some thoughts from our employees on their internship.



Nicole Giordano, Pastry Chef
My internship at The Sugar Suite was life changing. I learned so much more during my internship then I did at school. Working onsite taught me the pace and quality that was expected.  While I was an intern at The Sugar Suite, I got thrown into so many different types of duties such as baking, making sugar flowers, decorating wedding cakes, and making beautiful desserts. The Sugar Suite is top rated in the country, so the clients expect nothing but the best, which taught be to strive for nothing but perfection in my work. I was so lucky to get hired out of my internship because I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. I have worked for The Sugar Suite for almost 2 years now, and I have learned so much and have met so many influential people. 

Danielle DeCrenza, Assistant Manager
The Sugar Suite has been such a great experience for me. When I first started as an intern, I was a little scared. I was in a new place with new people and it was myfirst bakery job coming out of school. Everyone at The Sugar Suite was amazing. They were there for me every step of the way. I have learned so much from everyon here and they have become my family. I was so lucky to complete my internship here, it has been the best experience of my life and I am proud to call this place my home.

Nicole Griffen, Assitant Manager
When I first started my internship at The Sugar Suite I thought I would be doing a lot of piping cupcakes and busy work. But I was wrong! I got the opportunity to work on some really amazing custom party cakes and wedding cakes on my first and second week there. I learned so many things during my internship that I never would have learned at school. I learned things like how to place fondant on a cake, how to make flowers out of gumpaste, how to properly stack a wedding cake and so much more.  When I first started looking for an internship I was looking for a paid internship, but I didn't find one. Looking back now I'm glad that I didn't find a paid one, because I probably wouldn't have learned all the things I know now about decorating wedding cakes. I most likely would have wound up working in a hotel learning how to make plated desserts, cookies and small cakes, which may be interesting to some people, but for me that kind of job does really utilize my creative capabilities. The Sugar Suite is at great place to get an internship! You may not get paid for what you are doing but it is worth it because you are getting paid in experience, and get to learn from the best in Orlando.