“I’m taking this opportunity to look at what I’ve done historically and explore the influences that have led to my decision-making.” Tim says of the intensive Assessment of Prior Learning process he is undertaking at Capable NZ in order to become degree-qualified in one year.

Building skills and experience

Tim began his career washing up in the cafes of Dunedin, but progressed through the ranks completing basic cookery courses. It was not until he accepted a job as head chef at the Cardrona Hotel outside Wanaka however, that he really began to see clear a future for himself in the industry. 

“That was the first time I got to create a menu that I was comfortable and happy with. The hotel was in a rural setting and I found I enjoyed the direct relationship with the environment and how that could affect what I was putting on the plate – there was the merino lamb from the paddock next door and the kitchen garden was out the back.

“I realised that I enjoyed the creative process and making something that people respond to and can form an opinion on.”

Several years working within different kitchens in England, France and Dunedin allowed him to hone his craft, be it in the ‘no-limit budget dream job’ as a personal chef in the Alps, under the guidance of a sous chef to Marco Pierre White or in the kitchens of New Zealand’s only genuine castle.

Working with Capable NZ

Now back in Dunedin as kitchen manager at popular cafe/deli Everyday Gourmet, Tim is approaching the business end of his degree. His challenge is to assemble and deliver a presentation to an international panel of judges that will prove that the skills he has amassed through work-based learning are equivalent to those he would have gained had he completed his degree in a more traditional educational environment.

“Preparation for this qualification has involved a very deep retrospective of the elements of my career this far. The opportunity to reflect is very valuable, but also quite time-consuming.  You can spend hours and hours trying to drag bits of information out of your memory, and then you look at your computer screen and you might only have two sentences, but those two sentences might represent something that happened six years ago which was quite formative.

“Working through this process and earning this qualification allows me to pause at the end of a sentence, so to speak.  I can move onwards in my career with something on my CV that actually backs up what I know.”

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Enquire about the Bachelor of Culinary Arts at Capable NZ

Find out about studying the Bachelor of Culinary Arts at the School of Hospitality (three-year programme)