What is your life like as an apprentice/commis chef who hasn't done a Hotel Management/Culinary course? Also, how did you get in?

Two disclaimers: First: I'm from Germany, our system of training cooks appears to differ a fair bit from that in the USA. Second: My start in the profession was decidedly non-standard. In Germany, an apprentice will have a special kind of contract, that allows them to visit a vocational school alongside their work. It used to be three days a week at work, two at school, but nowadays it's one week per month in school. To take on apprentices, a business must meet certain criteria, and the local chamber of commerce will have a fairly close eye on that. They are also the ones who will administer the final exams (written and practical). So, for an apprentice in Germany, it's the norm to not have any culinary schooling when beginning, they take that “course” during their apprenticeship (which usually lasts three years). Nobody expects them to pull their full weight (at the beginning, at least. Many apprentices in their third year will effectively work as commis' or demi-chefs). They are supposed to learn during that time, primarily. A commis, on the other hand, is a fully trained cook. Most cooks will work as commis for about two to three years after they finished their official training. Many realize quickly that they are still learning at full speed, but at the same time /are/ expected to pull their weight now… Personally, I started out as a dishwasher to earn some spending money while attending University. I quickly went from just washing dishes to doing all sorts of prep work on the side. That joint fell upon rough times I got a construction job for a time, and when a Restaurant opened in the house I lived in at the time, I asked the owner if he needed a kitchen helper. Over my third or fourth after-work-beer. When he replied that they were really looking for a cook, and if I thought I was up to it, I said: “Sure”. That was a nice bit of overconfidence. To cut a long story short, I learned /very/ quickly indeed (out of necessity), and I still feel sorry for our poor guests from the first few weeks/months… After about three years at that joint, I was officially the chef de cuisine (and quite a bit out of my depth, as I know from hindsight…), and running myself into the ground fast. After the inevitable breakdown, I went to work as a kitchen helper (since I wasn't a formally trained cook) for a staffing services company, and despite ridiculous wages and working conditions that were pretty grim even for the restaurant business, I had the opportunity to work in kitchens from cafeterias to first-tier hotels, and mom-and-pop restaurants to /big/ caterers. The biggest (company-size-wise) was probably Aramark, the highest quality one the Berlin Interconti. That was when I realized I really needed to get back in a restaurant kitchen, seriously start cramming theory and take the exam (anybody who can demonstrate working relevant jobs for 1.5 times as long as an apprenticeship would last is eligible to take it, although they have to pay for the privilege) if I ever wanted to get ahead in the field. My engineering studies? I was technically still immatriculated, but hadn't seen an auditorium in two years. I scored a job with a small, but fairly good restaurant in the neighbourhood I was living and started to get serious about learning the craft systematically. Took the exam a year and a half later, and that was that. Do I feel I missed out on something due to not visiting a culinary school? No, not really. It would have saved time and perhaps some energy, but this way, when I applied for my first regular job without the benefit of personal recommendations I had almost six years of kitchen experience, two gigs as chef de cuisine and experience in an impressive range of different types of kitchens under my belt. Which has proven to be a good thing time and again. I also never got into a position where I was tempted to believe I'd learned everything important there was to know, which I think was rather helpful, as well…