Its hard to believe that I have been working for Chefs In Scotland for nearly 3 and a half years and during that time I have seen quite a bit of change in the day to day goings on in the office. When I first started it was originally just to help doing a bit of filing, chasing of references and answering of phones while I decided my next move after taking time away from the kitchen after an accident. The job was initially just seasonal and that was in April in 2015, the rest they say is history…
During the entirety of my time here Johanna has always dealt with relief and when I started Michael was dealing with recruitment and I started up picking up the junior chef recruitment as the months went by and my ongoing training continued.
When October rolled around it was decided that I would continue placing chefs and in January 2016 I was in full swing. In the February Alannah joined us for the season and I began placing a few more senior chefs and come the end of the year it was decided that I would take over the senior chef recruitment from January 2017 and Alannah would re-join us and pick up junior recruitment. As I have never worked as high up as head chef level it was great to be able to get help and training from Michael while still getting chefs placed.
Day to day, chef recruitment, I suppose like anything does have its ups and downs and I feel it always works in cycles and you get a run of placements all at once. I still love the fact that no two days look the same and there is always a new story to listen to and a new job to fill. As Tom joined us in the office last October when Alannah begun her maternity leave it was his job to start working through the junior placements to get chefs placed and he did exactly that after a few months settling in. He even placed a few head chefs during his time here which was excellent. Although Tom enjoyed his time here and got a lot of chefs placed, he was ready to move on and start his new project with Lowland Brewing.
So now nearly 3 and a half years on and with a head chef list which is growing on a daily basis, things look quite different than they did when I started. Now we have Jade starting with us and although to begin with she is just doing admin work and references as well as answering calls, the plan is that she will be placing the junior chefs down the line bringing to the team a strong background in hospitality in Moffat.
As we go through this period of change it is a very exciting time for us all as we progress on with Chefs In Scotland to ensure we are getting lots of chefs placed in permanent and relief placements all over Scotland and doing our best to advise establishments and help in the best way we can.
Jessica
We have over 70 chefs out working, 20 chefs booked out this week so far.
We have a very large list of jobs needing filled, I update this list regular so if you just let me know which number you would like more details on I will either call or PM you with them. If you are a new chef looking to register for relief work we ask that you email over your updated CV and contactable work references.
We have been meeting relief chefs also so if you want to set up an informal meeting please get in touch for our availability.
Chefs out working are
Tom Williams, Michal Mozdzen and James McInally are at Dalhousie Castle in Bonnyrigg
Robin McCrindle is at Inverlochy Castle
Jim Miller is at Portavadie
Bobby Ainsworth is at Bakur Bar
Johan Sikkema is at Carrbridge Kitchen
Craig Morris is just finishing at Deeside Inn and heading to The Glenburn Hotel
James Hardy and Scott Bolton are both at Glenburn Hotel
Jonny Lewis is at Deeside Inn
Tim morris is at Go Glasgow Urban Hotel
Steve Ali is at The Kastille
Ionel Rizea is at Mackays Hotel
Thanks to everyone for all your hard work we have been getting some excellent feed back 😊
Now that the brewery is close to completion I will be moving out of the Chefs In Scotland office and into the Brewery in Lockerbie full time. From the 1st of August my desk will be occupied by Jade who the girls in the office will train up to take over junior chef recruitment.
When I started at Chefs In Scotland I wasn’t expecting to do much chef recruitment but as things worked out with the brewery and waiting for various council departments to process us I have been talking to chefs left right and centre!
Initially I was doing more of the admin work; producing invoices, calling references, some filing and interviewing chefs on the phone. As time went on the girls taught me how to search for chefs in our database and how to find the right chefs for each job. In October last year I placed my first chef at Monachyle Mhor in Perthshire. As 2018 kicked off I developed my own way of trying to place chefs; rather than look through the database for the right chef for a job I would look for a good chef then find them a job that suits. With my new technique I began placing more chefs. In total there are almost 30 chefs still working at hotels and restaurants that I have placed.
I am ready to move to the brewery now for a new challenge. It has been great getting to know our regular chefs and meeting some of the ones who popped down to Moffat. I never thought that I would learn so much about the hospitality industry!
We have 82 relief chefs out working just now all over Scotland. A bit of a struggle getting chefs out this week but we still have 17 confirmed with a day to go.
Jessica did very well on getting relief chefs out last week when I was off.
We are still meeting relief chefs here in Moffat to discuss relief work and permanent senior positions get in touch to check our availability.
Here are a few chefs Jessica got booked out
Sebastian Luzczynski at The Ballachulish Hotel
Sarah Jeffrey at Scripture Union at Lendrickmuir
Jackie Karanja at The Kirkwall Hotel
Sarah Jeffrey at Murray Arms Hotel
Mark Shaw at Mackays Hotel
Thomas Mclean at Dram Glasgow
Ross Hunter at Ingram Wynd
Tom Smyth at Baxters in Fochabers
Angela Richards at The Garrison Hotel
Maddison Duffy at Killiecrankie Hotel
Sarah Pozzi at The Glenisla Hotel
George Mccallum at Kames Hotel
Steven Ballie at Ingram Wynd
Ross Sharp at Kings Manor Hotel
Stephen Faloon at The Links Hotel
Thanks everyone for all your hard work it is very much appreciated 😊
When we are dealing with recruitment for permanent positions we arrange any interviews or trials between the chef and the establishment. We stipulate that any more than half a day’s trial should be paid for but it is at the discretion of the prospective employer. If the chef is looking to relocate I always advise that an interview and trial should take place at the same time to speed up the process and refrain from inviting the chef back in for a trial.
In the 3 years that I have been working here I have arranged a lot of interviews and trials and sometimes the establishments are very specific in what they would like the chef to trial on. Rather than just a trial day in the kitchen it can be a cook off with a mystery box of ingredients or a skills test. I have in the past for more senior roles had establishments ask that the chef prepares a 3 course menu which wouldn’t look out of place on their menu. This is generally reimbursed by the establishment or they can cook using ingredients they already have.
We try to avoid doing phone or Skype interviews where possible as we find them sometimes to be unsuccessful but on occasion if the distance warrants it for example Thurso to the South of England then we will arrange.
What is your experience of the interview process? Do you think a trial period is necessary and what should it entail?
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