21st February 2018 newspage
Rarely can it be accused of being a dull life in a chef recruitment office.
I am back in the main office this week covering for perm head and sous chef recruitment while Jessica is on holiday.
We had a good chef from Lanarkshire booked for a chat about the pros and cons of relief work yesterday afternoon. Two chefs pitched up and I met the first one, who I quite possibly met a few years previously and we had a good chat about chefs he had worked with at well-known Scottish Hotels such as Gleddoch House, The Popinjay and Cartland Bridge in Lanark.
It gives us a better feel when you have a chat face to face over a cup of coffee without the constant interruptions of phones ringing. “How many cigarettes do you smoke per day?” “What would you look to be doing in an ideal world when you get to 50 years old?”
Meeting chefs also brings home what a hard physical job being a chef is; hitting a plateau as head chef early on in your career and then looking for the next direction. Or doing the rounds as a career sous chef or chef de partie and pushing on, working hard, trying to get up to being a head chef.
There is a lot to it, there are positives, such as the lifelong friendships made along the way, the camaraderie and the buzz of a good kitchen service (not that I can quite remember this one) The opportunity for self-betterment, the almost always availability of work at some level. Accommodation, which is not always the best, but often no bills. The most basic, food.
It is interesting to have a chat and get a feel for someone’s life, rather than just seeing a piece of paper and looking at dates and judging.
This week, as we move towards the end of the month in the CIS office, the amount of adverts and relief jobs have increased. Monday, we took a whopping 11 adverts and they still pile in.
I am off to walk the dogs now up the back before hunting for head chef candidates for two well know hotels up the west coast; both of which I have visited and dealt with for getting on for two decades.
Pablo Picasso can wait a little longer.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Michael
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