Chef: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a chef

Depending on their level of experience, a chef can bring new cuisines and culinary skills to your catering team. They may also work with a head chef on developing new recipes or refining customer favourites. Chefs usually work as part of your wider catering company, communicating frequently with your waiter and kitchen staff to deliver food quickly and efficiently to your customers.

Qualities of a great chef:

– combines speed, precision and flair to create memorable customer meals

– works with and listens to feedback from customers and the head chef

– understands and complies with health and safety in the kitchen.

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance chef

Whether you hire a full-time chef or a chef on a temporary contract will depend on the amount of work that there is available. Hiring a chef on a contract or freelance basis is a great idea if you are looking to cover a permanent chef who is away on holiday, sick leave or parental leave. Your new recruit should, however, be able to follow your usual chef’s recipes and understand how to produce dishes to a similar standard. You might also choose a contract chef if your restaurant, hotel or catering company is unusually busy and your permanent staff need some extra support delivering to customers.

What are the different types of chef?

Building a team of permanent chefs will save you time and money in the long term, as you will not have to keep training your staff. They will also be familiar with working and cooperating with each other, which is essential to a functioning kitchen.

You will also need to consider what kind of chef you are looking for. Try to recruit chefs that understand the cuisine that your business specialises in. These can be grouped by a country’s cuisine such as Italian or Indian but can be more specific to a region or style of cooking such as Tandoori. It can be important to find a candidate with the right experience here, as it means that your team will not have to spend as much valuable time training them. There is also the kitchen hierarchy to consider, with the chef executive at the head of your team, and commis chefs as your junior or assistant chefs. 

• Executive or Head chef: this is the chef that oversees your kitchen, making sure that all operations run smoothly
• Chef de cuisine: will help prepare speciality dishes as well as create new recipes
• Sous chef: responsible for food preparation and delegation of tasks to more junior chefs
• Chef de partie: is responsible for a particular production line in the kitchen
• Commis chef: is also known as a junior chef and handles duties in one part of the kitchen usually designated by the chef de partie.

Where to find a chef

One of the best ways to start your search for a chef is to look locally. However, for more specialist cuisines, you may have to broaden your search. If you already have a team of good quality chefs, then they may refer you to other suitable candidates in their personal network. If you are recruiting for a top hotel or restaurant, consider headhunting through your network, specialist recruitment service or from other restaurants. Ideally, you are looking for candidates with an excellent reputation that precedes them and a strong track record of excellent dishes. If you are aiming to recruit chefs currently working at other restaurants, make sure that your offer is enticing. 

To find the right chef for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Referrals from other chefs in your team: your other chefs may know of potentially available candidates in other restaurants who are looking for a change or better offer
• Via a recruitment service: use a recruitment service to begin your search more easily and discreetly
• Network with culinary schools: find graduate hires with the required training by setting up a stall at a culinary school jobs fair
• Headhunting candidates working at other restaurants: contact chefs directly at other restaurants if you are looking to fill a top position, bearing in mind that you will have to better their current employment package

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a chef on Indeed to find and attract quality chef candidates.

Skills to look for in a great chef

A great candidate for a chef role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Creativity
• Understanding of palette
• Both culinary training and on-the-job experience
• Attention to detail balanced with ability to work quickly
• Ability to respond to and work with feedback

Writing a chef job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified chef candidates. A chef job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your job description for a chef, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for chefs according to Indeed data:

• Chef
• Breakfast chef
• Catering
• Cook
• Kitchen
• Pizza chef
• Cook chef
• Cafe

Interviewing chef candidates

Strong candidates for chef positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Ability to prioritise tasks
• Familiarity with kitchen production lines
• Familiarity with cuisines and recipes
• Ability to work as part of both small and large teams
• Creativity and ability to pick up new skills quickly

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of chef interview questions for examples (with sample answers).