I have been in the Chefs In Scotland office now for almost 3 months, I have been dealing with the junior recruitment since I started. I enjoyed taking over the Sous Chef recruitment whilst Jessica took over relief when Johanna was on annual leave. This gave me an insight into the hard work that goes into senior recruitment and relief work.
During my time at chefs In Scotland I have learned that not everything always goes to plan. Over the course of 3 months I have managed to successfully place 8 out the 15 chefs I originally placed. A lot of the time the chefs leave due to not enjoying the position they were placed at as they sometimes feel the position isn’t right for them. These things happen and it’s just part and parcel with the job.
On a lighter note, many of the chefs I have placed in long term positions seem to be content within their roles in the kitchen. It is great to here that chefs are getting on well and enjoying their job; it’s a great feeling and makes the job worthwhile. I am still continuing to receive jobs in from many hotels and restaurants and still receive many CV’s on a regular basis. It is great to still receive jobs in at this time of year, especially so close to Christmas.
The process of getting chefs in is a straight forward process. We use a simple chef interview form to get up to date details from the chef and to understand what they are ideally looking for. We then chase up references to see how the chefs got on in previous employment. This gives us an understanding of their ability within the kitchen which helps us to evaluate a suitable level that the chef can work at. References must be contactable and we would ideally like 2 recent references. Ideal references would be from a previous manager or head chef that you have worked with. We then decide which hotels or restaurants would be suitable for the chefs. Interviews or trials are set up after this process which gives both the chef and the establishment a chance to evaluate the suitability for the chef. After this process the chef is either offered the positon or regretted.
We have many establishments in rural areas of Scotland and as far up at the Shetland Islands. A lot of the time chefs are happy to go anywhere to gain experience which allows them to progress in their career and get experience in new environments. Working in rural areas of Scotland can be challenging, especially during the winter periods, however many rural jobs offer better career prospects and a higher salary as oppose to the city. These are however subject to each establishment. Many junior chefs see this as an opportunity to leave home and live on their own; this can be a very rewarding time in a young chef’s career and can often lead them on to promotions within establishments.
I’m still looking for chefs for positions around Scotland which will be starting in the New Year and will continue to work with young chefs.
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