Pros
The kitchen assistant works during the cooking classes. Depending on the class and the loudness of the dishwasher, some of what the chef was teaching could be heard. The 40% off discount was nice, though the prices seemed to be marked up by at least 20%. Interaction with the students was enjoyable.
Cons
This is basically a dish washing and janitorial position. Some of the Thai classes even involved washing non stop dishes for up to 3 hours! Everything had a dish--every ingredient. The assistants made the name tags, prepared the tea, put cheese on a dish, folded aprons, greeted the students, cleared the tables, washed dishes then swept the floor, wiped down tables, and took out trash. Most all of the other items listed on the job description were not actually part of the job. The work pace was often extremely fast. Often when one class was done, the assistants scrambled to get things cleaned and set up before students arrived for the next class. Not enough time between classes. Employees were required to have much availability, but then were only given about three 4-hour work days per week. The schedule was put out only days before the shift, sometimes it even changed the same day, making it difficult to impossible to schedule personal time in advance. Many more classes were scheduled during busy seasons. For a late date night class, a kitchen assistant could work until 11:30 pm or later. Often seasoned kitchen assistants were critical to newer employees, reprimanding them for things as trivial as cutting a piece of cheese "too long" or putting something in the dishwasher the "wrong" direction.
