By Johanna
Relief is still busy and we have a few jobs already for October.
Michael George is working at The Dryfesdale Hotel in Lockerbie where Jason Keenan is Head Chef.
Lillian Clarkson is at The Grant Arms in Monymusk before she was at The Ramnee Hotel in Forres.
Rosie Robertson was over at Cromdale outdoor centre working for 3 days.
Glyn Musker is back at The Archiestown Hotel working until the end of October.
Allen Jack still over on Islay at The Islay Hotel and getting on very well.
Martin Nel is back at the Crusoe Hotel in Fife.
Steve Nye has taken the permanent head chef position at The Eglington Arms, thanks for all your hard work on relief Steve.
Ally Elder’s time is coming to an end at Kastille in Turriff and is back off to Thailand.
Andrew Bruce is still over in the Borders at The Dryburgh Abbey Hotel.
Max Nisbet managed to fit in 5 days work at Glenapp castle between shoots.
David Ironside’s time is also coming to an end at The Kinloch Hotel on Arran.
Lots of great work from our relief chefs.
Thanks again everyone.
So I have now been working as the permanent recruitment consultant here for 5 months. I enjoy the job although there is a lot more to placing a chef than I ever thought. There is so much than can go wrong such as chefs not turning up for interviews, un-contactable references and midnight flits to name a few. But when you hear that someone you have placed is getting on well it is all worthwhile. I am working hard on meeting my targets this week which were 30 CVs out 2 perm placements and 10 adverts. So far I am up to 32 CVs out, 1 perm placement and 4 adverts and it is only Wednesday so I am pretty happy with that.
Today I interviewed my first chef. It is interesting to meet the chefs but I had never interviewed before so it was a new experience. After having an informal chat with the chef regarding jobs, life plans and what their ideal job is I take them upstairs to meet the rest of the team, Michael, Johanna and Bentley who has already imposed his way into the interview room. My job now is to try and get the chef placed. After talking to them it seems easier to have a better picture of what the chef is looking for and having spoken to employers knowing which job suits which chef. So I do understand now why it is so important. I sent his CV and reference out to 6 places in the hope of getting him placed in the next two days.
We do have a number of highbrow jobs on the list at the moment, 2 and 3 rosette establishments and even a couple with Michelin-stars, it hasn’t been easy to find candidates for these jobs but they are both at interview stage now so fingers-crossed we can make some more placements this week.
For now it seems as though the availability of chefs is becoming slightly better; however it is finding the job that matches the chef and vice versa which seems to be the key in chef recruitment in my limited experience so far. So I go on to chase up some references, arrange some interviews and get some searches done on what I imagine to be one of the last sunny days in Moffat this year.
Jessica
Relief remain busy as we go into September.
I hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful sunshine.
Alan MacPherson is back at The Pierhouse Hotel in Port Appin.
Also over in the West Coast is Jenny Quashie, Blair Mackay, Victor Garcia, Robert Birrell, Chris Roberti, Tom Williams, Mark Murray, Iain Scholes, Andre Burney, Paul Chlebek, Ryan Williamson, Derek Snedden and Mark Bellingham (sorry if I have forgotten anyone)
Sara-Jayne Moffat is working up at The Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown on Spey along with Obed Omwoma.
Ismail Kilicaslan is currently working in Montrose at The Links Hotel.
Peter Cullen is doing a 2 weeks stint at the Dores Inn in Inverness-shire.
Kai Stutzkeitz is working at The Torridon Inn while Sam Bernard is working at The Torridon Hotel.
David McConnachie has been extended at The Old Library Inn run by Alan Ritchie.
Over in the Islands – Kirsten Grant is at Harris Hotel, Michael Buchan at Hotel Hebrides, Marion Pohlman is in Orkney at The Albert Hotel, Don Craig, John Ferguson and Rene La Barre are all at The Lerwick Hotel on Shetland.
Lots of Chefs still out working all over Scotland.
Thank you for all your hard work ladies and gents.
With the nights getting darker and Christmas quickly looming it has been a busy week at Chefs In Scotland. This week I made my first head chef placement in the North of England. We have also made placements in the centre of Glasgow and one for a commis chef in Perthshire. Adverts are flowing in steadily with positions available all over Scotland and with the new CIS for chefs tab you can register for jobs in your area to be sent directly to you via email.
The CVs continue to come in with more and more people using our websites and applying for jobs. We are happy to help chefs write their CVs and we do have a basic model we use, so if you are struggling with CV writing please give the office a call. I understand that it is difficult in this industry and sometimes having the correct wording and layout on your CV can be the difference between getting the job and not.
At the moment I am trying to get in touch with colleges and universities offering this service as well as placements for new chefs in places that they would get good training with stable head chefs and a good team in place. However this is proving difficult as the colleges don’t seem to be responding at the moment. But we will continue to push on, as we are with Moffat Business and Training Centre. We are still proceeding with this project as the unsightly old Mercury building continues to lay empty.
Relief is as busy as ever as you would expect at this time in the season. If you need cover please let us know with as much notice as possible.
For now I must get on with chasing up references for chefs so they can then be progressed for jobs they have applied for.
Jessica
Counted up and we have 108 chefs still out working on relief that we have placed this summer.
We stop charging after 8 weeks so there are many we are not charging for anymore
Relief still remains incredibly busy as expected for the time of year. It may ease off a little in the next two weeks, possibly not.
Our “magic 15” list will be getting worked out over the next few weeks and will appear at the beginning / middle of October.
There has been some excellent work from the relief chefs on our books this season and a lot of chefs staying on in their relief jobs along with those chefs who have permanent jobs being able to help out the odd day / week when they have a bit of time off. It is all very much appreciated and noted.
Jonny Lewis has returned up to Tongue at The Ben Loyal Hotel working as sous chef.
Scott MacIntyre is fitting in well at Kincraig Castle in Invergordon.
Daniel Imbuye got excellent feedback from his time on Shetland at The Scalloway Hotel.
Victor Garcia and Blair Mackay are extending their stay at The Oban Caledonian Hotel and reminiscing about working in Edinburgh.
Lillian Clarkson is finishing up in Forres at the Ramnee Hotel where she has been working as Sous Chef.
Allen Jack has also extended his stay until the end of September at The Islay Hotel.
Thanks to you all for all your hardwork.
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