How important is on the job training within the hospitality industry?
How important is it that you receive on going training through your work? Whether it is in the kitchen, front of house or even here in the office; I feel that on-going training is extremely important to grow as a person and to enhance the skills you already have. The restaurant/ hotel industry is a fast changing environment with new trends and skills being brought out every day. It’s important that your sk...ills and techniques are up to scratch with the demands of today’s industry.
A lot of jobs offer on the job training which is perfect for those who are straight out of education. This allows them to learn from an experienced head chef and allows them to touch up on any skills they may feel they didn’t have the time for when at college.
As well as on the job training, many establishments will send their chefs out on advanced courses, send them for a stage at other establishments to help them gain new skills. I personally think sending chefs to other establishments is an excellent way to gain new skills and to see how other places work on a daily basis. It also allows chefs to solely focus on a skill they have been trying to master, for example some chefs may look into gaining more pastry experience; this allows them to take back the knowledge they have gained and put it into practice at their own work.
Do you feel that on the job training should be encouraged?
The relief work coming in is fairly quiet and when jobs come in we give priority to the chefs who are well known to us and have worked all last season and previous seasons.
If you are looking to register for relief work you must be willing to come to Moffat to have a meeting as we are looking to have met all relief chefs we send out.
We are getting lots of CV’s sent out for permanent and seasonal positions all over Scotland including the Isle of Harris, Isle of Skye, West Coast and beyond. If you are looking to get away from the City for a season then look no further we will have the job for you 😊 just pop over your CV to recruitment@chefsinscotland.co.uk
Lots of establishments will now be getting there spring menus organised and ready to launch in the few weeks or so.
Don’t forget it is never too early to get a chef organised to cover any holidays that are already planned, we have excellent availability and suggest getting a chef to you on the same day or the next day depending on distance.
Here are a few of the chefs we have out just now
Ryan Williamson is at The Garfield Hotel
Gian Devey is at Martha’s in Glasgow
Mick Kitson is at Glenisla Hotel
Glenn Richards and Ally Brown are both at Macdonald Forest Hills Hotel
Dougie Gilles is at The County Hotel in Stornoway
Mike Scotford is at The Old Manor Hotel
Graham Smith is at Balmacara Hotel
Michal Njoroge and Ally Elder are both at Onich Hotel
Keren Tweedie is at the Nethybridge Hotel
Thanks to all our relief chefs for your hard work and support 😊
The latest trend on my social media at the moment is the ‘Meatless Monday’s’ trend. Beyoncé and Jay – Z have promised free tickets to fans that are willing to go Vegan for at least one day of the week. The response has been crazy and social media has blown up over it. Being a big meat eater myself I wonder if I could really stick to a Vegan diet for the sake of Beyoncé tickets but I would certainly give it a go!
The idea has been inspired from Beyoncé’s personal trainer who has released a ’22 day nutrition green print project’ designed to introduce meatless Mondays into your diet or to consume 2 plant based meals per day to qualify. Entries will be submitted and a winner will be chosen on 22nd May 2019.
I can fully understand why there is a growing trend for veganism at the moment and I think the challenge of ‘meatless Monday’s’ is a good idea. It is certainly something I will consider for the sake of 1 day out of 7. It really just shows you the power celebrities have over social media and what some people will do to get something for free.
Would you ever consider a vegan diet if your favourite singer/ band was offering free tickets to their shows?
Still quite quiet on relief just now with some jobs coming in, we still have over 20 chefs out working.
We would like to meet the relief chefs that are registered and that would like to do relief work for the up and coming season ahead. We are available Tuesday to Friday either 11am or 2pm.
Please can all relief chefs who are registered email over your up to date hygiene certificate to jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
We are happy to get new chefs registered for relief work but the priority will go to the chefs who are known to us and have worked all last season. All you need to do is email your up to date CV and 2 recent contactable work references to the email address above.
We have lots of permanent and seasonal work available you can have a look at all jobs by visiting www.chefsinscotland.co.uk
We have a few relief chefs booked for the summer season also, it’s never too early to get in touch!
Relief chefs finishing up this week are
Lillian Clarkson has been at the Grantown East Heritage Centre in Grantown on Spey since 21st December and is finishing on Sunday; they have appointed a new head chef.
Stuart MacColl is also finishing on Sunday after completing his 4 weeks stint at The Drovers Inn near Loch Lomond, they have also taken on a couple of new chefs for the season ahead.
Jason Keenan was at the County Hotel in Stornoway where he was for a couple of weeks.
Peter Norrie is still at Baxter’s in Fochabers but he will soon finish as new head chef Kevin Hay starts on Monday.
Taylor McFarlane is finishing on Sunday at The Fife Arms in Braemar he has been there since 21st December.
Yousef Shengheer finished yesterday at the Eglinton Arms; he started back there on the 13th December.
Luke Webber is at the Kitchen Brasserie and has taken on the role of permanent head chef.
Thanks to all our relief chef’s even if you are still awaiting a call we really do appreciate all your hard work.
Head chefs
If paying good money and in a central location such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee, Aberdeen and Perth the availability of head chefs is very good, basically, the more central and the larger local population the better availability. Now is a good time in general to recruit for staff.
What is good money for a head chef? This can vary from a small pub to a large five star or 3AA Rosette Hotel and can be anything from £15 per hour for a one-man job cooking simple food to £45,000 and upwards.
For a standard hotel job we would suggest in the region £32,000+ with overtime paid pro rata over 45 to 48 hours sanctioned by management.
Bonus schemes always help and can be based on getting a gross profit margin of over say 65 to 70% and it is always advisable stressing in advance how often the bonus is paid and what the exact criteria are. Other bonuses may be based on increase in sales. Keeping wages ratio down and helping to achieve certain net profits subject to maintaining quality of food, kitchen cleanliness and staff retention.
In more rural Scotland it is harder to get and retain chefs and often accommodation should be offered to attract suitable candidates.
Sous chefs
The availability of sous chefs in rural Scotland is good. Sometimes, a mature former head chef will be happy to take a step back to work alongside head chef.
In more central Scotland, there are candidates about if paying decent money (i.e. upwards of £26,000 or £12-13 per hour) and offering good working conditions there is no reason why you cannot keep a good sous chef with a stable track record.
In rural Scotland, there can be a need to think outside of the box to retain and attract good sous chef candidates. Its is almost essential that you will need to provide accommodation in rural areas.
Chef de parties
Availability is very good in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the central belt.
In rural Scotland with accommodation there are candidates and you will get applicants if wages are decent, suggesting £10 to £12 per hour or a salary of between £20,000 - £24,000. The more money you can pay the better the availability there is.
Commis chefs
There are usually a few candidates available centrally or further afield if offering accommodation.
Pastry Chefs: this is quite a specialist position and there can be a couple of specialised pastry chefs looking, not always though.
Enclosed link to minimum wages.
www.minimum-wage.co.uk/
Availability of Relief Chefs changes, and we can advise daily. The rates of pay are £13 to £17 per hour according to the position.
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