ProStart Engages Students to Address Expanding Industry Demands for Talent
By Sandy Joiner, Senior Recruiter and Scott Sherman, Senior Executive Recruiter

The National Restaurant Association’s special program, ProStart, offers high school students the opportunity to learn about culinary arts and food service management by training with professional chefs and foodservice managers. According to the National Restaurant Association, the number of jobs in the restaurant and foodservice industry is projected to increase by 1.8 million from 2009 to 2019. That includes approximately 47,000 management positions. ProStart is already working with 78,000 student participants in 1,650 schools, across 47 states, territories and districts, and through this work will help to fill future foodservice industry positions and attract the next generation of talent.

Sodexo is proud to be a national ProStart sponsor. Since 1998, we have been helping to provide college scholarships to top performers. Sodexo General Managers work with ProStart through classroom presentations, in-unit training, and by offering year-round, part-time employment. Other opportunities for college-bound ProStart students include internships and potentially full-time employment upon graduation.

Reuben Sandoval is a Sodexo employee whose career path exemplifies that of a successful ProStart Alumnus. Rueben became interested in cooking around 9th grade. His high school introduced a new ProStart program to jump start students with an interest in a culinary career, as well as college. He joined the program in 2001 and was part of the team that went to the State ProStart Competition for 2001/2002. His team won the state competition that year as well as the State Competition for 2002/2003. He then led the high school team to win the National Competition in 2003 with a near-perfect score. No one expected a small high school from Cheyenne, WY to have the advanced culinary skill and presentation their team was able to bring to the competition!

Having a strong interest in the Arts, Rueben had previously considered pursuing a career as a commercial artist but he researched the culinary field and discovered how "mainstream and cool" the industry was becoming. He determined it was a field where he could indulge his artistic side and earn a good income in an industry with a lot of opportunity for growth. He attended Johnson and Wales in Denver and graduated with an Associate’s degree in Culinary in 2005. After graduation, Rueben joined Sodexo as a Cook in February of 2006, and was quickly promoted to Kitchen Supervisor at a Campus Services account in Denver, CO.

When asked what advice he would give to someone entering the culinary field, Reuben responded, "Make sure that it’s what you want to do. In order to be successful, you have to be committed, focused and dedicated to what you are doing! BE HAPPY doing what you do!" Rueben said he feels Sodexo is a company that actually "walks the talk" and values their employees as highly as they value their clients and he is looking forward to many more years with Sodexo.