As the Industry Training Organization for the tourism and hospitality industry in British Columbia, go2 has been instrumental in developing and piloting an enhanced assessment process for the certification of trade challengers. These are often individuals whose knowledge and skills were acquired outside the apprenticeship system. This new approach seeks to give skilled workers an improved and more flexible way to obtain trade credentials, and it has already proven to be of particular value to Professional Cook Challengers
In the culinary sector, enhanced assessment involves having a trained Red Seal-certified cook assess the ability of a cook challenger, who must meet occupational performance standards set by the industry. The challenger receives certification only after demonstrating competency in those standards, which are published and freely available to both the assessor and the challenger.
The new assessments include:
- A self-assessment
- A portfolio review, which includes evidence of training, work experience and letters of reference from employers
- A technical interview, known as a competency conversation
- A written assessment
- A practical assessment
The assessors come from the industry, are certified in their trade with a minimum of 10 years' experience and have received formal training in the assessment process. After an assessment, a challenger receives a transcript indicating whether each standard was achieved. (In the Cook program, for example 35 of 38 possible standards must be met.) If there are identified gaps in knowledge or skills, a challenger needs only to be reassessed on the identified gaps, rather than on the complete set of performance standards.
According to Daryle Nagata, chef and director of food and beverage at Edgewater Casino in Vancouver, the enhanced process is shaping up to be a useful complement to the Professional Cook program; at his previous position with Pan Pacific Vancouver, he put two of his cooks through the enhanced assessment model in its pilot stage. “It is an ideal certification alternative for talented cooks because it takes a holistic approach to assessment,” he says. “It provides multiple assessments — written, verbal and practical — that collectively determine the candidates’ competencies. Amongst other things, it will more consistently quantify the holder of a Red Seal due to its multiple assessments. Prior to this, the Red Seal didn’t have a lot of value in my eyes. For example, someone could obtain the Seal by just passing a theoretical test without having to do a practical exam.”
Reinhard Foerderer, a culinary arts instructor at Okanagan College in Kelowna, BC, serves as a chef assessor for the Cook program. "Being an immigrant myself," he says, "I can see that the new system opens the door to people to not have to go through the entire system of training again. Instead, they can demonstrate an overall competency. It has been a tremendous tool for people who felt left out."
Matt Chamberlain is one of those who have experienced the new process from a challenger's perspective. "In some workplaces you get a performance review, but a lot of time there's no way to know how you're doing as a cook and whether you're moving forward," he says. "Going through the program and earning my Professional Cook 2 credential was a good way to get a sense of how far I've come. I feel as though I really earned it.
For more information about the enhanced assessment process, contact Linda Halingten, Customer Service Manager, Industry Training; lhalingten@go2hr.ca or call 604-633-9798, ext. 223. Click here to find out how to challenge a cook credential.
