AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!! I am still so new, and wanting to learn as much as possible. I called a local bakery and she asked me to bring in a resume and talk with her tomorrow morning!!!! To all of you bakery owners out there---- any advice would be so greatly appreciated! I would absolutely even be willing to do an unpaid internship just to learn more. How should I let her know that without losing sight of getting a paying job?

Wish me luck guys!!!!

good luck...i am not a bakery owner or have i ever worked in a shop.......but i just wanted to say good luck!!!!!

Well, I know where you're at because I did the same thing myself, and now I'm getting ready to open my own business. Currently i'm managing and decorating at an already existing bakery, so I interview people a lot...I never seem to get people who are actually really interested in the trade. So that fact that you show interest works to your advantage, first of all.

Second of all, here's what I did, and what my experience was: I took whatever paid-position they offered me (which ended up being front of the store), and started staying on my own time after my shifts to watch and practice and learn what was going on in the back. Depending on the kind of bakery you're interviewing at, summer will probably be slow, so this may be a good time to be able to 'bother' people back there .

People told me I was stupid for working and not making money for it, and I did have to fight to be paid for my work in the end after I improved to where I was actually working and not learning (so easy for people to 'forget' to pay you...helped me to grow a backbone, though), but the skills I learned were invaluable. I interview a lot of people who have paid large sums of money to institutions and trade schools to learn the very same skills I acquired in under a year. Mind you, that year was filled with 80-hour work weeks, but I was willing, and now I have the knowledge and skills to show for it.

So good luck! Tell them you'll fill in where you're needed, and let them know what skills you DO have (with anything, not just decorating; like customer service, etc), and let them know you'd like to learn more and if they will be patient with you, you'd like to apprentice on your own time. Working in the front of the house helps you understand the back, it really does.

So good luck! Let us know how it goes!

I agree, just the fact that you have the passion to work very hard is a BIG plus. A lot of bakeries get people who don't really understand the work involved, hey think its like just ice a cake and you are done. I would really stress how much you want to learn, but also how you are willing to work. Especailly evenings, weekends, and extra stuff like shows and working with people, etc.

I know it sounds weird, but I would never volunteer to work for free. It sounds like you don't 1) have enough confidence in yourself to get paid and 2) aren't serious about this being a job. Believe me, you won't get paid much (you earn more working as a bagger at the supermarket) but at least ask for SOMETHING.
Good luck!!!

Do not tell them you will work for free, or even for cheap. Believe me, you're gonna work for cheap enough! There's another thread on here that's eye-opening about working for free.

Get paid and learn on the job, like millions of others do. You learn all jobs on the job, even ones you have degrees for.