Considering that we’ve written an article about watching tv to find jobs, it shouldn’t be a surprise to you that we actually practice what we preach. We’re big fans of Top Chef and watch its new episodes every week. We like it because we learn from it, but also because it’s a reality show that rewards people for talent, not for being jerks. Although we sometimes manage to completely zone out, we do our best to pay attention and keep an eye out for entry-level job ideas. The most recent episode of Top Chef featured Common Threads, a non-profit organization that educates children on the importance of nutrition and physical well-being and fosters an appreciation of cultural diversity through cooking. We made a mental note on Wednesday night, and here we are on Saturday morning writing about them.

Delicious and Nutritious

Although the Top Chef fans probably already know, Common Threads is a Chicago based organization that offers free cooking classes and summer camps to kids who are 8 to 12 years old and qualify for free or reduced price school lunches. By teaching these kids to cook, Common Threads helps students and their families become healthier, more cultured, and more economical in their food buying decisions. It’s amazing that a few free lessons can do so much for children, but it really is empowering for a young child to prepare a meal for his or her entire family.

How can you be a part of Common Threads’ good work? You can volunteer, or you can consider a job with them. The difficulty with finding job prospects on television is that the research can be a little more difficult, and the likelihood of finding an actual job opening can be quite low. Still, you’ll never know if you don’t look. So many jobs that are offered are never listed, and the only way that you’re going to find out about them is if you ask; in fact, sometimes asking isn’t enough. Sometimes you need your first contact to tell a potential employer why they need you for a position that may not even exist. This is a scary thing to do because the risk of rejection is quite high, but the possible reward is worth it. Now is the time to suck it up, read our article on cold calling, and approach Common Threads (or another employer) about an unlisted opportunity.

Common Threads has made it easy for you to apply for a job by including a field in their contact form for employment inquiries. Just because they don’t list any job openings doesn’t mean that they’re not hiring.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• CommonThreads.org
• Contact Common Threads
• Common Threads in the Media
• Volunteer with Common Threads
• Classes Offered by Common Threads
• Common Threads’ Staff

Do you watch Top Chef? Who do you think is going to win?

We've identified Common Threads as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• food
• Illinois
• non-profit

---

Jobs Near You

---