Ready, Steady, Cook at SKYCITY

New Zealand’s largest single site employer food and beverage industry apprentice programme begins again in January at SKYCITY giving ten young chefs the opportunity to train onsite for the, industry’s valuable NZQA Level four qualification.



The SKYCITY Modern Apprentice Programme is run annually accepting the ten best and brightest young chefs across the country to train in 15 of SKYCITY’s kitchens. The three year course exposes the chefs to all parts of SKYCITY’s food and beverage operation. This allows participants to experience everything from prep work in the large scale convention centre, to creating the delicacies of a pastry kitchen, to the technical aspects of a butchery.



Over 140 applicants took part in this year’s selection process which took place over a three month period, and included rigorous interviews, an assessment day and a practical chef test.



All assessments throughout the programme are overseen onsite by 20 of SKYCITY’s professional in-house chefs which sets it apart from any other apprentice programme in the country.



SKYCITY’s executive chef Mark Wylie is pleased with this year’s selection of apprentices.



“This year’s modern apprentices all come from a variety of different backgrounds and experiences but are here for the same reason, to learn. At SKYCITY we are looking for the industry leaders of the future.”



“SKYCITY’s Modern Apprenticeship Programme is unique in the hospitality industry as the apprentices are all assessed on-site rather than at a university so they receive real hands on experience within our practical environment. The apprentices experience a wide diversity of cooking, across 15 different kitchens on the SKYCITY site from fusion cuisine at dine by Peter Gordon to Cantonese cooking at Ming Court.”