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/