SPC offers various opportunities to enable young adults to realize their dreams of working in the bakery business. One of the key talent development programs is SPC Corporate College. This year, it has been renamed ‘Paris Croissant Youth Camp (PCYC)’ with new students being recruited for this program. To learn more about Paris Croissant Youth Camp, we interviewed some of the newly hired SPC employees who have completed the program.
Practice and Follow Your Dreams at Paris Croissant Youth Camp
Paris Croissant Youth Camp is an employment-linked training program run by SPC.
SPC is operating the program to train young professional bakers and employ all of them after graduation. The 10-week program, which is part of SPC’s human resources development initiatives, consists of onboarding education, specialized technical classes taught by SPC’s professional instructors, and hands-on field trips. All of the program’s graduates can choose to get hired at their discretion.
The semi-annual program enlists 42 students for each of the three classes, namely Bread & Sandwiches, Food, and Barista. In the first half of the year, the program holds a recruitment for two-year college graduates and those who have finished their military service, while in the second half, recruitment focuses on applicants who are scheduled to graduate from high school and two-year college. SPC also runs SPC Food Science College, which is the industry’s first associate’s degree program accredited by the Ministry of Education. The college allows SPC employees and employees of SPC partners to pursue accredited degrees of higher learning and secure employment.
A great opportunity to acquire professional knowledge!
Seung-hwan Sohn, a graduate of Paris Croissant Youth Camp, H2 2023
Sohn started working at La Grillia in January.
Q. Please tell us about what you learned at PCYC.
The program was primarily about professional cooking and recipe training. In the bakery and pastry class, I learned to make regular bread, doughnuts, other types of bread and pastries, and drinks like coffee, as well as learning about theories and food hygiene. I thought that all the classes were very useful. The program even included English class, which was great because I always wanted to improve my English proficiency.
Q. What moment stands out as the most memorable during the program?
As an introverted person, I am clumsy at expressing myself, but I wanted to show my sincere gratitude to one instructor who did his best in every class. My most memorable moment was when all of the students jotted down a comment for the instructor on a large sheet of paper. We presented him our comments with a cake, and he looked very delighted. I felt happy and grateful too. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our instructor Ju-ho Lee.
PCYC has helped me find my career path.
Soo-jin Park, senior food scientist , SPC Samlip
Soo-jin Park, senior food scientist at SPC Samlip
Q. Soo-jin Park, senior food scientist at SPC Samlip
When I was little, I enjoyed watching the TV show “Yumeiro Pâtissière” and thought I wanted to become a baker. As an aspiring baker, it was quite natural for me to become familiar with SPC, Korea’s leading bakery company. So, I decided to work in the bakery industry when I was in middle school and enrolled in Seoul Tourism High School that offers a culinary course as part of its curriculum. Since my high school was affiliated with SPC, I became well acquainted with PCYC. Upon successfully completing PCYC, I am currently working in the R&D and Quality Control Department at SPC.
Q. After completing PCYC, you started to work at SPC. And then you went to a four-year college, which is an unusual step to take. What made you choose this path?
Since I started working in the field earlier than most other SPC employees, I was pretty confident when it came to my practical skills. But on the theoretical front, I definitely felt I needed to learn more. While I was considering my coursework studies, I landed an opportunity to enroll in a four-year college through a special admission process available to SPC employees. During high school, I had participated in SPC’s joint industry-academic program, which is the predecessor to PCYC and learned about baking theory and skills. By joining the program, my passion for continued learning grew even bigger.
Also, I wanted to work in research. To be a researcher, I would need to have a solid theoretical background, so I thought long and hard and finally decided to enroll in college. I realized that the company had opened up an opportunity for me to learn by showing their faith in my hard work and potential, which motivated me to study harder. If anyone wishes to deepen their theoretical knowledge in their chosen field, I would advise to seize the opportunity and benefit from the trust and support SPC offers you.
Q. What did you learn at PCYC?
Rather than choosing to focus on a single subject, I gained hands-on experiences on a variety of brands. At Paris Baguette, I learned to make dough and cakes and at Dunkin Donuts, I learned to make doughnuts. I also got to learn about ice cream making. Overall, I was lucky to be able to learn about various SPC brands and essentials skills. The best part of all was that I was able to find what I truly loved to do.
I am grateful for SPC’s generous support
Si-woo Park, barista course graduate, H2 2023 PCYC
Si-woo Park started working at Pascucci
Q. What part of PCYC curriculum was the best for you?
My favorite part of the curriculum was that an expert from each brand taught us how to make the brand’s food items and drinks firsthand. It was a rare opportunity to learn from the best about various food items and drinks of multiple brands in a single program. Plus, the class atmosphere was also great. We supported and encouraged one another to learn further rather than treating others as competitors, so that we would concentrate better on learning. For all these reasons, I always looked forward to the class.
Q. What aspect of PCYC’s field-customized classes was the most satisfactory?/strong>
The field-oriented curriculum enabled me to do the job better in the field because I was able to actually apply the skills and knowledge that I learned at PCYC. The best part of the program has been that I could work as a permanent employee of SPC upon completion. The generous support we received during the program was particularly impressive. The company sponsored the total cost of developing a signature coffee drink, so we were able to try so many different things without incurring any cost.
I have broadened my perspective.
Eun-ae Gong, baking engineer, Lab of Paris Baguette
Eun-ae Gong, baking engineer, Lab of Paris Baguette, Pangyo
Q. You acquired an associate’s degree in culinary arts at a two-year college and then also completed the bakery course at SPC Food Science College.
I was able to learn about different fields of cooking in the culinary arts course and gained a keen interest in bread making. I thought I wanted to hone my professional baking skills, so I decided to join the bakery course at PCYC. Although I thought I had solid fundamental baking skills, I somehow constantly felt a sense of shortcoming. Since I also wanted to expand the scope of my skills beyond baking, I was so glad that I was able to build upon my basic skills by honing advanced baking and confectionary skills through the program.
Q. After completing PCYC, why did you move on to enter SPC Food Science College?
After I learned all the basics at PCYC, I became interested in honing my advanced skills for making various SPC food items and different kinds of bread, so that’s why I enrolled at this college. It offers a broad curriculum that covers a variety of fields including sugar craft, wine making and coffee brewing. There’s so much to learn, and I’ve been working really hard. Since it is an in-house college, I get to learn with employees from various parts of SPC Group, which presents opportunities for me to learn about what they do, as well as my job, broadening my perspective.
So far, some of the PCYC graduates have shared their stories, which are quite unique and inspiring. Years later, some of them may become the next “Baker King, Tak-gu Kim”, like in the hit TV drama. Paris Croissant Youth Camp is intended to foster young, talented and passionate future baking specialists and help kickstart youth employment. We look forward to more young aspiring baking specialists actively seeking out the opportunities to join PCYC.