The benefits of working with a chef recruitment agency
Posted: March 10, 2015 at 12:38 pm
When you run a busy restaurant or manage a kitchen, the recruitment of new staff is the last thing you need to be organising. Every day is filled with talking to suppliers, buying ingredients, preparing meals, managing staff and ensuring that customers are satisfied. Having a chef missing from the team means everyone else has to take on extra responsibilities until the vacancy is filled. This isn’t ideal in any way, but the solution seems simple: advertise directly to find a new one.
The challenge with advertising is that it can provide hit and miss results and so needlessly and wastefully devour hours of your day. For example, candidates may be unsuitable on initial application or they may seem perfect for the job when reading their CV, but then totally fail to perform at interview.
A far more efficient solution would be to contact a recruitment agency. Don’t consider using one which has vacancies from across a number of industries though, as they won’t have the specialist knowledge of finding and providing professional and qualified chefs. Instead use a chef recruitment agency and you’ll know from the first contact you make that you can talk to someone who deals only with your line of work and understands your needs.
Removing the leg work of the recruitment process
Using such a specialised agency saves a great deal of time. They take care of all the initial steps of finding relevant candidates for you which means you don’t have to sift through the dozens of applications you’d receive if you advertised directly. Many applicants won’t have the experience or skills you need and this will waste your day. A chef recruitment agency with a track record of placing the right candidates will enable yo
u to save many hours or even days of work.
Only providing candidates with relevant qualifications and experience
This is because a dedicated agency will have access to the best talent currently available and will hold a database of qualified applicants looking for a new position. Consequently they can quickly draw up a list of quality candidates for you in just a few hours.
Screening is taken care of
When you go about finding a new member of staff, there are several areas of screening to take care of. References, qualifications and perhaps preliminary telephone interviews all take time while a chef recruitment agency will have already carried out these tasks when first approached by a candidate. This means you will know the information on their CV is correct and that former employers have provided all the required information.
Ultimate peace of mind
By choosing a recruitment agency that has a proven track record you’ll feel much more confident about who you eventually hire. You’ll also be much more assured about the candidates as you won’t have the issue of choosing the wrong employee and then having to start again if they leave suddenly or you feel they aren’t right for the job.
The nurturing of a relationship
By working closely with such an agency you’ll develop a relationship where they will know how your business works and so will be able to provide candidates who they know will fit with how your kitchen operates. This means that the next time you have a vacancy you’ll save even more time and the gap in the team will disappear that much faster.
With all the responsibilities which come with running a café, hotel, restaurant or large employee canteen, using a chef recruitment agency makes sense in every way. Whilst you are solving day to day challenges, they will be working hard finding you new staff when you need them most. Let those with the experience of finding the best chefs in the industry help and you can continue with doing what you do best – presenting amazing food to all who take a seat at your tables.
If you have any questions or comment about the benefits of working with a chef recruitment agency then contact us directly here.
