HIRING A CHEF
For your Self-op / Dining Society /Eating Club
Finding Applicants
Check with the Row Office and SOS
Row Office (650) 723-0778
SOS Office (650) 724-4668, or (650) 520-0673 (Nick’s cell)
Send an email to the KM distribution list, ask them to share the information with their chefs and solicit resumes from chefs friends/contacts in the industry.
To make a job announcement to the California Culinary Academy, call 415-771-3500.
Place an advertisement on craiglist.org (it does cost money, but is very effective as you can post very specific details). Here is a sample ad:
Row House Chef on Stanford Campus Position Open ~$800/week DOE + negotiable benefits
Stanford University has approximately 36 "Row Houses" spread throughout campus which employ private chefs operating residential kitchens usually buffet style. We are constantly accepting applications from qualified candidates for the position of chef.
These jobs entail cooking lunch and dinner for somewhere from 35-60 students Monday through Friday (or Sunday dinner to Friday lunch). The houses are managed by students in a generally relaxed atmosphere, which does require self discipline. These are sought-after jobs and require of the chef maturity, skills with a large variety of menu items, and consistency of quality. Work is offered approximately 33 weeks out of the year from late September to mid-June with nice vacation perks. The houses offer health, dental, and 401(k) benefit options.
We are seeking applicants who can:
1) Prepare healthy and delicious menus of great variety in bulk
2) Order supplies and sundry items within given budget
3) Self manage
4) Work fast and in a timely manner - menus require variety (main entree, vegetarian alternative, side dishes, starch, dessert)
Big plusses:
1) Bake fresh breads
2) Prepare most foods from scratch
3) Prepare desserts from scratch
Applicants should have a working knowledge in a variety of culinary themes as the student clientele expect a healthy variety.
Please reply to this posting with a resume containing at least three verifiable references. Also, please send along what you consider to be a reasonable menu for a serving 5 lunches and 5 dinners for 50 people for around a $1400 budget.
Receiving Applications
You may have applicants fax resumes, references and menu ideas to the Row Office at (650) 723-1898.
Make sure the applicant puts your name or house name on the cover letter so we can put the application in your box.
Screening Applications
What are you looking for? Do you want someone with restaurant experience? Do you want someone who can cook a variety of ethnic food? Specializes in low-fat diet?
Have they ever worked on a college campus or in a more “independent” environment?
What is their employment history? Have they stayed at any job for more than a year or two? Are there unexplainable gaps in their employment history?
If you’re not sure if you want to invite them try out based on their application, but they have some interesting experience, call them - talk to them, ask them questions about the things that make you hesitant. If you like them, invite them – it doesn’t hurt you much to give someone a try, especially if your pool of applicants is small.
Inviting Applicants to come try-out
Decide ahead of time how many chefs you want to try out.
Decide ahead of time how many meals you want each chef to prepare.
Paying applicants - Some houses do and some houses don’t. Certainly if you’re asking them to cook more than one meal you should. Even with one, they are providing you with a valuable service (it’ll generally be cheaper then ordering out) and it’s nice to offer a small stipend - it does not need to be your normal chef salary for a meal. (Maybe $25 for lunch, $50 for dinner)
Choosing a menu – it’s a good idea to let the applicant choose the menu so you can see how creative they are. Ask them to provide you a detailed list of all the ingredients (and quantity) they need and have it ready for them when they arrive.
Make it clear what time your meal is to be served. If you want them there at a specific time tell them so.
Ask them to stay through the meal time – it-s a great way for residents to have an opportunity to interact with them. It’s a good time for them to get a feel for what it will be like to work in your house. Meal time is actually a very good time to have the candidate sit down with the managers and a few members of the house for a general ‘interview’ as well.
Try-outs
Methodology 1 – Iron Chef – give each applicant when they arrive a similar bundle of groceries and see what they can do with it.
Methodology 2 – Lasagna and Fresh Bread or Stir Fry – a chef that can make fresh bread from scratch knows their cooking. Lasagna is famously easy to prepare but VERY DIFFICULT to prepare well without being flavorless, watery, burnt, etc. Stir-fry chicken and/or beef is also extremely easy to prepare but again difficult to prepare well without being too greasy, overcooked, tough, etc.
We recommend doing both methods as the chefs food, behavior, ability to cope with what you have in terms of equipment and pantry (please be fair though) will all come to play.
Possible Interview Questions - via phone or in person
ILLEGAL QUESTIONS: You may not ask someone’s age, their nationality or ethnicity, their sexual orientation, their religion, their marital status, whether or not they have children or plan to have children or anything else that does not directly relate to their ability to do the job (cook for your house).
Ask about their experience cooking in bulk.
Ask about their experience planning menus, especially for a variety of tastes (describe the range of preferences in your house)
Ask about their experience ordering food and working with local vendors (if that is part of their responsibility in your house)
Ask about their experience working within a budget. Let them know what your weekly food budget looks like.
Ask how they feel about working in a college environment. Describe the atmosphere in your house and what the staff and residents expect from the chef.
Ask how they feel about having a college student as a boss. (Remember, you are the boss!)
Ask how they’d go about trying to find out what residents in your house like and don’t like.
Can they bake bread? (this will save you a lot of money and is a great indicator of skill level)
Can they make homemade soups?
Do they make desserts from scratch?
What type of items do they put in a salad bar? How do they introduce variety and keep a salad bar attractive?
Checking References
Don’t skip this important step - even if you’re sure you know who you want to hire.
Legalities:
Some employers will only verify the dates that someone worked for them and the salary they received. Double check that the applicant has been truthful on their resume.
If they will answer more questions ask about their attendance record, their attitude, and their flexibility. Ask specific questions about their cooking ability - can they make bread, soup, desserts from scratch etc.?
If they won’t answer additional questions, the most valuable question you can ask, and they’ll usually answer is, “Would X be eligible for rehire?” Or “Would you rehire X if you had the opportunity”. If they so no, they might not be able to tell you why but you should consider this a HUGE RED FLAG! If there is any other way to find out why, find out. If not, proceed with caution and if you have a comparable candidate with clean references I recommend hiring the other candidate.
Determining your salary range
If you are a continuing house this step will be much easier for you.
What have you paid your chef in the past? Do you want to be in this same range? Does the applicant have more or less experience than your former chef? Do you want to raise or lower your board bill and if so, how is your chef’s salary effected by that?
Contact Nick Peters at Student Organized Services (SOS) at 724-4668 or nick.peters@stanfordalumni.org and ask him to run the numbers to determine the full cost of your compensation package including benefits, taxes and payroll fees.
Don’t be forced into paying a salary you can’t afford.
Making an offer and signing a Employee Guidelines Agreement
Contact Nick Peters at SOS and have him draft an employment agreement for you. You MAY NOT type up your own agreement - this must be done through SOS.
Discuss the terms of the agreement with the chef you would like to hire. Be prepared to negotiate and know where your staff/residents are willing to be flexible and where they are not.
If you need to make adjustments to the agreement, call them into Nick and he’ll print a new agreement for you.
Remember, you are offering a good job at a fair price. If they want more money than you can offer, or are unwilling to meet the terms of your agreement it’s better to know that ahead of time and pull your offer off of the table now. If this happens, please contact the Assistant Director for Student Management immediately to make sure that you follow all necessary steps to terminate your negotiations legally.
Once all parties sign the agreement, make copies and make sure all signers have copies of the signed agreement (you can use the photocopier in the Row Office).