FINDING AND LOOKING AFTER YOUR CAREER AS A CHEF

I used to run an advertising and marketing design agency before I came into chef recruitment. They are very similar, creative yes but also a lot of long and antisocial hours with lowish incomes. If you want a long and profitable career you need to start right and carefully manage your career and your CV.

GO TO A GOOD CHEF COLLEGE TO GET THE BEST CHEF JOBS

So where do you start and how do you ensure that you have a long and profitable career?

I would always advise people to do an NVQ course. You can start directly as a Kitchen Porter or maybe a Commis Chef somewhere. You may even prosper and become quite accomplished but there are going to be things that you miss that a college will teach you and those gaps in your education could severely restrict your career as time goes by or restrict what type of dishes you are able to prepare. If you want to experience the buzz of working in a kitchen from the start, you can always arrange to do stages ( Working unpaid in an establishment to get the experience ) or find part time work while you are studying.

It is worth trying to spend a little time sweeping up or something in a butchers, so that you can get a chance to learn how to butcher properly. That will save waste later on and give you the best chance as a head chef to protect your GP ( Gross Profit ), especially now meat prices are starting to rise but before you start practising please make sure that you get a chain mail glove!! A lot of establishments buy in certain cuts and a lot of younger chefs simply do not know how to set about butchering a carcass.

SO YOU ARE ALREADY A QUALIFIED CHEF SO HOW DO YOU LOOK AFTER YOUR CAREER AND ENSURE THAT IT IS A LONG AND PROFITABLE ONE?

It is understood that you will want to learn as much as possible in the early years but try not to move positions in less than one year, unless there are extenuating circumstances, as most establishments are looking for chefs who will become at least a semi permanent part of the team.

If you want to experience other methods arrange to do a stage at different places.

Entering competitions will enhance your career because you only go in for competitions if you feel that you can win them and that confidence speaks volumes about you before you even go to a trial or meet anyone.

LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT

No I am not going mad, nor am I advocating that you join the army. I always advise my candidates, in alternative positions to improve on your quality and improve on your position

So you might be a Chef de Partie at a 1AA Rosette, then it is worth going back to a commis at a 3AA Rosette for a period. At Gladstone Park Chefs we often get chefs who are head chefs who want to get into a Michelin Starred establishment. We advise them that they will probably need to go back to being a commis on a very low wage. Those that take the challenge invariably go on to make their name in the profession.

If you are a chef de partie at a Michelin Star establishment you will find it easy to get accepted as a sous chef or even, at times, a head chef at a 1 or 2 AA Rosette establishment.

Whilst it is mostly a young person’s game and many fall by the wayside, look at the top names in the industry. Nobody argues about age when you have a high level of skills. Would you employ one of the Roux brothers? You bet you would, even though they may be old enough to be your grandfather.

LOOKING AFTER YOUR CV PROPERLY AND YOUR CV WILL LOOK AFTER YOU

Your CV is your calling card. It introduces you before they ever meet you.

You may keep your station clean and your Whites washed but if your CV is untidy it will infer that you are scruffy and have poor hygiene.

As already mentioned, try to stay in your positions at least one year and if possible two or three years. That way your CV will stand out and employers will want to see you first. If you move in less than a year most of the time you will find it extremely difficult to be considered for the best jobs. A lot of the top chefs join a Michelin Starred brigade to start with and will stay years until they have exhausted what they can learn.

Always put your last position first.

Always put months as well as years on your CV

Do not just put your name, your position and the establishment.

Put where the establishment was. There are hundreds of ‘Black Lions’ or similar so where was the one that you worked at.

Tell prospective employers as much as you can, for example, the size and quality, any accolades etc.

If you have any menus or photographs of your work that you are proud of attach them to your CV.

If you left anywhere in less than one year then explain why but do not end up with a list of reasons why you have not stayed anywhere for long. You will be the reason, not where you work.

So I hope that has been useful to you!

John Bowman-Baker
Managing Director
Gladstone Park Chefs

 For more information about Gladstone Park Chefs, check the website out at:

http://www.gladstoneparkchefs.co.uk/

HOW FINE IS YOUR CV FOR THOSE COVETTED CHEF JOBS?

YOU MAY BE A GOOD FINE DINING CHEF BUT YOUR CV NEEDS TO BE JUST AS FINE

You know that face to face, especially if a trial is concerned, that you will be at the top of the shortlist but what if you never actually get to the interview stage? It is no good being one of the best, if you do not create opportunities for others to know about you.

Yes, social media is blinding and will get you openings but you will still need to send that CV first and that is what you will be initially judged on. If it is a mess, you will be sending a mental impression of a dirty kitchen, whereas what you really need and want to do is display your very best plated work and before I help you to understand what we and our clients are looking for on a CV, do not be shy about sending a few pictures of some of your best work. I would also suggest that you consider using a picture of yourself on the actual CV itself.

It may sound crazy but the best chef jobs really do often go to the chefs with the best CV’s.
We have already spoken about perceptions of your kitchen because of bad CV’s. It is just as bad as going along to an interview with dirty jeans and worn out trainers. If you really want those important chef jobs then work smart and ensure that your CV and you both look the part.

CV TEMPLATES

You may wish to use a CV template but if you do be very careful as to what you choose. Euro Pass is one such template. Looks fine, looks neat but it is usually very difficult to extrapolate information from.

The rule is a simple one, make it as easy as possible for your agency or prospective employer to know all about you and leave a smart impression. If you have a template that can do that fine but if not do not be lazy, construct your own and we would be more than happy to help once you have applied the rules below to your CV.

We will now go through what you need to include on your Chefs’ CV. Before we do, remember,you can always send us your CV for comments, even if you are applying for a job that is not with our agency.

HOW TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE CV

Everyone knows that they need to start with their personal details followed by your education.  A recruitment agency will need to send your CV without your contact details on so, if possible try and present it in Word rather than as a PDF. There are programmes that can convert PDF’s to word but it better by far to present your CV in a programme that can be readily altered from the start.

OK, as I have just done above, use Bold or capitalise to highlight the important bits. Mostly the establishment, your position and the dates that you were there. At the end of this I will show you an extract of how we get a lot of CV’s and how to do it the proper way.

ALWAYS start with your most recent position last and work backwards

At the top of each chef position that you have had put the establishment and any accolades that it had. If it is a hotel try and say how many stars the hotel had. Try and put the geographic location too as there are a lot of Manor House hotels, or Red Lion gastro pubs in the UK.

Then put how long you stayed there and ensure that you put the month as well as the year, as most employers are looking for people that stay at least a year in each position try and explain the reason for any short tenures of less than one year.

Put your position for all of the chef jobs that you have had, both when you started and when you left.

It is extremely important to say how many covers the establishment had and the size of the brigade. If they did functions as well as fine dining say if there were separate brigades or separate kitchens. This is very important as it rarely works if somebody from a 5 Star background with 30 chefs goes into a small 40 cover restaurant and vice versa, so this will help us or any other agency, if they are doing their job properly,to find the RIGHT chef job for you, not just a chef job.

For all position under Sous Chef, so that is from Commis Chef, through Chef de Partie to Junior Sous Chef, state which sections you worked on. Some sections, such as sauce, will carry a lot more weight that doing the Mis en Place for instance but it gives your prospective employer an idea of your strength. Some places will need, say an average Chef de Partie, another will want a Chef de Partie who is very strong, especially in smaller establishments where they may even be called upon to run the pass. One is arguably no better than the other, it is a matter of horses for courses and it is because we understand that point that Gladstone Park Chefs has such a powerful reputation in the industry from Clients and Candidates alike.

SPECIAL NOTE TO PASTRY CHEFS

If you are a pastry chef, because many pastry chefs just put Pastry Chef, it is important that the client understands your position and its duties. There is a huge difference between a pastry chef who is basically a Chef de Partie, working under the instruction of the Head Chef and one that is running a brigade of 6 Pastry Chefs, in a 5 Star Hotel with banqueting to 300!

Lastly, try and give people an idea of the style of food and do not be scared to include a menu it van speak a thousand words that you cannot.

SAMPLE EXTRACTS OF BAD AND GOOD CV’S

Believe it or not we get a lot of CV’s like the first example!! These are not actual establishments and are only shown to illustrate good and bad CV’s

2012                BLACK LION                 SOUS CHEF
2010-2011       THE GROVE                 SENIOR CHEF DE PARTIE
2007-2009       RIVERSIDE                   CHEF DE PARTIE         

January 2012 to present                  THE BLACK LION,                       Banbury, Oxfordshire
SOUS CHEF                                          Gastropub 1AAR, Les Routier

50 cover restaurant plus ‘gourmet’ bar meals to 30 and a further 20 covers outside in the summer.

Brigade of 6 chefs, plus one extra relief chef during the summer.

Modern British cuisine with slight Asian influences

Reason for leaving, the pub has gone into liquidation and I have been made redundant

January 2011 to December 2011                THE GROVE                        Thurrock, Essex
CDP TO SENIOR CHEF DE PARTIE                4 Star Hotel 2AAR

40 cover restaurant plus two function rooms of 80 and 120 respectively

Brigade of 8 chefs

Mediterranean Style

Reason for leaving, wanted to experience more function work. It proved not to be what I wanted but as I promised at my interview I still stayed for one year.

January 2007 to December 2009                RIVERSIDE  HOTEL             Sonning, Berkshire
COMMIS CHEF TO CHEF DE PARTIE            3 STAR, Bib Gourmand

80 cover restaurant Brigade of 6 chefs, plus one extra relief chef during the summer.

Classical French Cuisine

Reason for leaving, to experience working on functions

Which one would you employ? They are the same person. To be brutally Frank the first one is so lazy, so missing any real information I would most likely discard it in the exactly the same way that I would reject a plate of sloppily presented half cold food or something badly overseasoned!

Please feel free to contact me 24/7 on either 01295 265 366  or  077 233 07214

John Bowman-Baker
Managing Director
Gladstone Park Chefs

www.gladstoneparkchefs.co.uk

CHEF JOBS

A local solution to a National problem, through GLADSTONE PARK CHEFS who can provide quality local chefs and Front of House staff in Manchester.

There are never enough chefs jobs at quality gastro pub or AA Rosette to Michelin Star level, or at least not enough that will stay well over a year and give establishments the service, standard and continuity that they really need.

How can a national company like Gladstone Park Chefs really know what the market is like in Manchester when they come from Oxfordshire?

It is simple, we refuse to deal with bad estabishments or bad candidates. 
If we send a number of applicants to particular chef jobs in the Manchester area and we get bad reports, we remove that company from our lists. If we send the same candidate to a number of establishments and get bad reports on them we stop working with them.

We make similar notes about good places and good candidates. We ask our chefs, front of house staff and establishments to report back to us, a bit like our own personal Trip Advisers.

That way we may know intimate details of kitchens in places that we have never ever visited and over 15 years that builds into an impressive portfolio of personally vetted clients and candidates and it is why if you look John Bowman-Baker our MD up on Facebook you will see that a lot of leading chefs are friends as well as clients because they respect that integrity with which we work.

Commis or demi chef jobs in Manchester
Chef de partie and senior chef de partie jobs in Manchester
Junior Sous chef to Senior Sous Chefs, Pastry Chefs or Head Chefs in Manchester

We will supply suitable candidates or we will send nobody at all and we now supply front of house too. Chefs de Rang, Restaurant or F&B Managers, Receptionists and Reservations clerks and managers and Sommeliers in Manchester.

Look to GLADSTONE PARK CHEFS for solid hospitality solutions in Manchester