Hire a Chef: Types, Hiring Process, and Skills To Look For

Running a successful restaurant business without a capable chef is impossible. After all, you need a menu that makes people return to your premises.

If you want your customers to love your cuisine, you need to hire a chef who can handle the workload professionally. 

This can be challenging because over 1 million restaurants in the US compete to hire the best talent. That's why it's important to adopt the right approach when looking for a chef and embrace technologies like the QR code menu to get ahead of others. 

This guide will elaborate on the ins and outs of this process to help you hire the best person for this job.

Why hire a chef for a restaurant?  

The main reason why people visit restaurants is the quality of food. The ambiance of a restaurant matters, but the competition will leave you behind if the food isn't good enough. 

Offering food that captivates visitors requires a capable chef who knows the craft well. They can cook well and help restaurants create innovative menus, enhance presentation, and coach the whole kitchen staff to perform at their best. 

That’s why you need to hire a chef as part of the essential food sales strategy.

Here is a brief overview of the difference a well-qualified chef can make:

• Helps purchase inventory while staying within the budgetary limits. 
• Innovating and introducing fresh recipes to the menu. 
• Monitoring the cooking and presentation skills of the kitchen staff. 
• Ensuring everyone in the kitchen follows basic hygiene principles. 

Choosing between a full-time and freelance chef 

Before advertising for restaurant chef positions and creating restaurant interview questions, you must decide if you want them to work full-time or as freelancers. While private chefs are often full-time employees, many restaurant chefs are freelancers who cook for various clients weekly. 

Restaurants also hire them to cater special occasions, such as birthday parties, anniversaries, and the like. 

Types of restaurant chefs

Let's understand the different types of chefs so you can advertise for the one who best suits your needs. 

Head Chef 

Also known as the executive chef, they lead all other chefs and cooks. They're also responsible for creating and updating the menu with the owner, acquiring vendors, and managing the kitchen. 

The usual requirements for a head chef include formal training at a recognized institution, relevant culinary expertise, and creativity in menu creation. 

Sous Chef 

The sous chef is the second most senior chef after the head chef and works directly under the latter’s supervision. They can also serve as the head chef in their absence. They help the head chef train new hires, assist with changes, and maintain discipline. 

Pastry Chef 

A restaurant that serves baked items requires a dedicated pastry chef. Their job is to create innovative desserts and make them so that people often demand them with their main courses. They have special training in pastry and dessert making and understand customer preferences well. 

Sauce Chef 

As the name suggests, the sauce chef creates delicious gravies and sauces. They have extensive training in sautéing, ensuring that the gravies have the right texture and taste.

Writing a compelling job description to hire culinary experts

Here is how to write an excellent chef job description for your restaurant: 

Pick a job title

The job title should be a general term with the required experience and special requirements. This is crucial because people looking for a chef's job can easily find your opening. The experience level you mention helps them understand the knowledge and understanding of the craft they need to work for you. 

Create a job description

A job description simply elaborates what you need from a particular position and how that role fits your business. It outlines a particular position's roles and tasks, helping candidates decide if they can perform those tasks professionally. 

Highlight qualifications and skills

You know what your restaurant wants, so list the skills and qualifications you need in a chef. These include education, technical skills, diplomas, certifications, and work experience. This section should also involve the soft skills you require in the chef. 

Although this description might make you think it's a long list, keep it brief while giving all the essential information. 

Skills to look for in a chef

Here are a few skills you must remember while hiring a chef for your restaurant. Following them will ensure you hire someone qualified to enhance customer experience.  

Ability to perform in pressure situations

Calling the restaurant kitchen a pressure cooker won't be too off, where everything is happening simultaneously at head-turning speeds. 

Sometimes, those who easily budge under pressure cannot perform in such a setting, as it requires physical and mental strength. You need a chef who controls their temperament in such situations and doesn't compromise the food quality. 

For instance, there could be days when the kitchen runs out of something or something gets burnt. A chef should stay calm in these scenarios and develop crisis management techniques that keep customers happy. 

Leadership skills 

This point directly relates to the previous one, as things in the kitchen can get out of control. If and when they do, the restaurant needs a real leader who handles everything calmly and keeps everyone on the right track. 

The chef should be a good teacher, highly educated about the equipment, and create future kitchen leaders from interns and fresh hires. Quality leadership in the kitchen means higher food quality, improved customer satisfaction, lower losses, and better profits. 

Time management 

Time management is critical for any employee, especially for the chef. They must know how much time a particular dish takes so that customers are not kept waiting at the tables. If customers wait beyond the promised schedule, they might simply leave. 

The executive and pastry chefs should also take some time out of their routine to research the market and add innovative items to the menu. 

Cost-saving 

Every restaurant has a budget, and you know you cannot spend outside your limits. 

That's why a chef's job is critical: they are responsible for balancing food with its costs. They should be well-versed with software, such as MS Word, Google Sheets, and the like, to keep track of kitchen expenses, check menu profits, and control costs if they exceed a certain limit. 

With that said, the chef shouldn't compromise on the food quality that goes on the table. No matter how much money or time is spent on a dish, it shouldn't see the daylight if it isn't up to the mark. 

The best sources for your restaurant chef positions

If you want to level up your culinary game, here are the right places to explore for a capable chef. 

Advertise on job forums to hire a chef 

Online job forums, such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Monster, can help you reach the maximum number of potential candidates. Now that you know the type of chef you want, clearly mention it in the job post. 

Network and use social media 

You might not find the chef of your choice on job boards, and that's where networking with other people comes in. 

You can attend networking events, culinary competitions, and job fairs, where you can talk to recruiters and get a fair job market assessment. Potential candidates might themselves give you their application. 

Set up a booth with a digital menu QR code that any potential candidate can scan to access a detailed form. They can access the form to fill in the details and apply for the position. 

Internal recruitment 

Sometimes, your next head chef might already be working for you. 

All you need is to look closely at your staff and figure out who can replace the outgoing chef. It allows your existing staff to grow their careers and reputation with you. Ensure you do a fair screening of all employees by asking them to submit applications without their names. 

MENU TIGER: The interactive restaurant menu software for restaurant needs

Hiring can be complicated, but technology can make it much easier for you. When potential candidates know you are using QR code menu software like MENU TIGER, there can be increased chances you will hire the best candidates who are well-rounded with the latest tech in the restaurant industry.

Here are more details on how a QR code menu software can smoothen the hiring:

The necessity of tech-savvy chefs 

Technology is more prevalent than ever in today's kitchen, which makes the chef's familiarity with it all the more important. From food safety to cooking equipment to enhancing customer experience, technology has penetrated every aspect of a kitchen and restaurant.

Therefore, it's crucial to test potential candidates on this metric so that they can thrive in a tech-driven kitchen.  

The technology-focused interview 

Here are some interview questions you can ask a chef in the interview process to assess their knowledge of the latest kitchen technology:

• Describe your experience using digital inventory management systems.
• How familiar are you with restaurant ordering software such as kiosks and digital menus? 
• How comfortable are you with using kitchen display systems (KDS)?
• Do you have experience working with automated cooking equipment, such as sous vide machines or combi ovens?
• How do you stay up-to-date on the latest trends in kitchen technology?
• Can you share an example of a time when you had to troubleshoot a technical issue in the kitchen? 

Enhance customer experience 

In addition to streamlining kitchen operations, restaurant technology can also enhance the customer experience in your business. One way to achieve this is by using and learning how to scan a QR code menu with smartphone devices at hand. 

MENU TIGER, for instance, allows you to create visually appealing digital menus that customers can access simply by scanning a QR code with their smartphones.

It eliminates the need for physical menus, promotes hygiene, and reduces printing costs. 

Moreover, digital menus can be easily updated, allowing you to showcase seasonal offerings or highlight special promotions. Quality chefs are usually drawn towards these technological features, which can help you hire the most talented chefs on the market.

Find the tech-savvy chef with the MENU TIGER QR code menu

The restaurant industry faces stiff internal competition as restaurants try to hire the best chefs. 

More establishments are showing up, while previous ones have tried to cement their position with various technologies like interactive restaurant menu software. You have to go into the market to hire talent with this reality in mind and tweak your recruitment strategies accordingly.

The best way to get ahead of the competition in this race is to advertise effectively, interview with role-focused questions, and determine which applicants are tech-savvy.

You can use MENU TIGER's technology as an example software to gauge knowledge and skills.

Our software has a very moderate pricing structure and promises to change how you conduct hiring by simplifying everything for chefs. As a result, you have a higher chance of landing the best talent at your facility.

So, let's step into the future and hire differently with MENU TIGER.