KM Ellie provides her top tips for chef recruitment!

‘It’s tough, but persistence is key, advertise the vacancies wherever you can, colleges, local universities, Facebook groups for the local areas, stick a sign in your windows, or be creative like another GM I know who created a QR code to advertise her vacancies. Also, word of mouth, everyone has a friend of a friend looking for work.'

Remember to always post your jobs on Harri where they will automatically be posted out to other job boards and receive the benefit of any internal recruitment campaigns.

‘Not really, it comes in waves, sometimes I'll have no applicants for weeks, and then all of a sudden there's an influx.’

Remember your Harri adverts expire after two weeks, why not set a diary reminder to go in and re-post your vacancies or even better set up some more with a future date (after expiry date) which will auto post you fresh adverts!

‘If someone shows willingness to learn, I’ll happily train someone without any experience, and no matter how many hours they are available, even if it’s just one day a week.

It’s the behaviours thar are important they must be someone with enthusiasm and passion.’

Remember that due to express apply, candidates no longer need to submit a CV, please make sure you call candidates to understand their experience and check they are over school leaving age.

‘Be open and willing to train someone with no experience, it may be the harder route, but we were all that person at one point and someone gave us a chance, also cross training bar team is a massive help, you'd be surprised how many others show interest in being cross trained once one or two have spent time in the kitchen.’

Speed is key, respond to candidates within 24 hours following their application.

Be open and talk with them, give them feedback and even ask for feedback from them, they may feel overwhelmed and need a different approach to things as not everyone learns in the same way. Recognise when someone is doing well, and if someone needs more guidance, give it to them. Most importantly, be approachable.

In terms of flexibility and work life balance; I have part time chefs that work 1 day a week, or around their uni schedules, Providing I could give them adequate training I'd happily have a team of part timers working a couple of days a week each.

My site is in a student town, so I appreciate that it's harder to find full time chefs, but having more part timers gives me the flexibility I need to make sure I have the correct amount of people per shift, but it also gives my full time chefs more of a work life balance as well.’

Did you know that we offer M&B Transferred during the summer and Christmas to transfer your students?

‘Be welcoming, set out expectations for their first few weeks so they know what they're aiming to achieve, accept that they aren't all going to learn at the same pace and not to put too much pressure on as it can be overwhelming in a hot, fast paced kitchen.

I regularly check in with my new team members even if I've not been on shift with them, just to see how they are finding everything and importantly, if they're enjoying what they are doing so far.’

A positive induction is key to ensuring that a new team member has a great first impression and ensures that they have both the knowledge and support they need to perform their role.