A chef is a person involved in professional cooking. The job of a chef is different from conventional jobs in terms of nature of work and lifestyle. A chef's work is more focused on dinner and weekends. A chef's job is more of an art than a profession. Food is the factor that keeps people alive and to make food lively requires creativity. Keeping in mind that: one taste cannot impress everybody, a chef becomes a designer to tame the taste buds.
A chef's job is one that ranks high on job types that requires lot of learning. With a billion recipes, a professional chef needs to select his/her area of interest. A chef interview is an interesting piece of talk. In a chef interview, the candidate is not only expected to know the basics of cooking, but also manage a team efficiently. Being the head of a kitchen, a chef has to manage lead cooks and assistants. A kitchen generally consists of specialists for grilling, sauteing, roasting, frying, for vegetables, meat, fish, pastry and many more.
In a chef interview, specific qualities are expected in the candidate. The main quality is behavior. The candidate is inspected for behavioral traits that are necessary to become a chef. A chef is termed successful when the restaurant makes good profit. Taste is the factor that makes the restaurant successful. In order to attract customers and satisfy them, a chef needs patience. Managing a team during busy hours also needs talent. Managerial qualities lie in managing people and resources. A good chef should manage his/her team with available resources.
The preparations required before the chef interview are:
Resume
The key to a good job is a powerful resume. A resume is like a universe in a glass bowl, which gives any required information. The resume has to contain information about education and experience. All job experiences, internships should be included here. It should be attractive enough to impress the employer. Types of cuisine worked on, expertise in types of cooking, preparation of sauces can be included to attract the employer. It is advisable to include information related to the restaurant.
Research
The core part of every job search is research. The power of company research before the interview is underutilized. For a chef job interview, company research includes knowing about the restaurant, its target audience, main cuisine and pricing. The candidate can visit the restaurant for dinner before the interview. This helps in gaining more knowledge about the recipes and designing the resume accordingly.
Expert recipe
It is a must for the candidate to have an expert recipe. Some restaurants select chefs by trying out some recipes. An expert recipe is the key to the job in this case. The expert recipe helps the employer in ranking the candidate.
Cooking manners
Basic manners for a chef include maintaining cleanliness in cooking and workplace. It is a much watched aspect in every candidate. Cellphones should be switched off during interview and work. They can spoil the valuable impression created by the candidate.
Dress and looks
A chef is always expected to dress well. A decent looking suit IS! a good option. Professional looks are necessary.
Teamwork
A talk explaining the experiences and results of teamwork will create a positive impression.