TOPCHEFS

Chef Recruitment Agency

Chef Shortage

By

A Guide for Chefs Seeking Work in Ireland: Navigating the Visa Process

Introduction For Chefs Seeking Work In Ireland

Are you a talented chef from outside the EU or UK, dreaming of working in Ireland? You might be wondering about the legal and technical hurdles you need to overcome. This guide is specifically designed for chefs seeking work in Ireland and will provide you with the information you need.

Cliffs of Moher for Chefs Seeking Work in Ireland

Understanding the Irish Work Permit System

As a chef recruitment agency, we often receive interest from chefs from outside both the European Union and the United Kingdom looking to work as a chef in Ireland. Very often, the curriculum vitae and backgrounds of the applicants are very strong. Yet, very often we cannot offer them any assistance whatsoever. Why is this, you might ask? The answer is straightforward: unless they hold a European Union passport or, should I say, a passport from a European Union nation state, or a United Kingdom passport (thanks to the Common Travel Area), they do not have an automatic right to work in the Republic of Ireland. For more information, you can visit the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) website.

[Read more…] about A Guide for Chefs Seeking Work in Ireland: Navigating the Visa Process

By

Want A Great Chef – What’s Great About Your Job?

Your ideal head chef, anyone’s ideal head chef, will have the culinary talent of Heston Blumenthal, the strategic abilities of Carl Von Clausewitz, the patience of Gautama Buddha, the financial acumen of Warren Buffett, the physical insurance of Roald Amundsen and the image management chops of Donald Draper. It would be nice to have a Chef like this, but you probably won’t.

Chef Blumenthal
Chef Blumenthal is probably not coming to a kitchen near you anytime soon
[Read more…] about Want A Great Chef – What’s Great About Your Job?

By

Chef Recruitment Costs: 5 Ways to Lower Them

Keeping Chef Recruitment Costs low isn’t a “thing” it’s a strategy, a set of tactics, and most of all a state of mind. Some catering and hospitality businesses do this very well, and for others it is a constant struggle. The more noteworthy or outstanding your business, the less you are likely to struggle with Chef recruitment. 

Yet even noteworthy kitchens, and restaurants, are finding that the going is becoming tougher over time. Being noteworthy or highly praised as a destination dining business, while helpful, isn’t a passport to the land of the chef abundance. But chef abundance doesn’t begin and end with chef recruitment, the most important component is chef retention.

chefs photo

[Read more…] about Chef Recruitment Costs: 5 Ways to Lower Them

By

Improving Chef Retention Dramatically: The Secret

You should help your best chefs to leave you and get a new job. As advice for dramatically improving chef retention that statement, at least on its face, is pure insanity; especially coming from anyone working at a Catering Recruitment Agency. Isn’t it? However, this is not about what is best for us, we’ll survive just fine, this is about what is best for you as a hospitality employer and improved chef retention rates is something I’ve yet to hear anyone complain about. However I know you’re not in the least bit convinced so I encourage you to persist and read on, even if it’s for no other reason than to confirm that you’re right and that I’m off my head. Naturally I’m hoping to convince you I’m not, off my head that is, so please bear with me a while.

Chef Job Retention
It’s Beautiful – But Useless Without Chefs

[Read more…] about Improving Chef Retention Dramatically: The Secret

By

Recruiting Chefs – The Job Offer Stage

When it comes to recruiting chefs the offer is the point where the tire meets the road, with the chef job interview out of the way, it’s the moment of truth and, sadly, it can sometimes go horribly wrong. Both parties, whether chef or employer, can, and do, break some fundamental rules which almost always results in an undesired outcome. We’ll be focusing on employer error in this post. It’s true that not every job offer results in a chef accepting the job, this is no different from any other industry, but in catering and hospitality there seems to be a tendency to play a bit faster, and looser, with important details than in other industries. The result is almost always negative and everyone is left to count the costs in wasted time and money.

Cash job offer
[Read more…] about Recruiting Chefs – The Job Offer Stage

By

Irish Chef Shortage Bites Harder

Another year, another media story about Chef Shortages in Ireland, this time on our screens, and the longer it goes on the worse it’s likely to become. We’ve been here before, almost a year ago to the day we covered an Irish Times piece on the same problem and later on we revisited the issue with a particular focus on the Chef De Parties. This chef shortage is biting harder and deeper as time passes. While the recession has brought a welcome uptick in the numbers of young people interested in pursuing a career as a chef the training sector just hasn’t anything close to the number of college places available to meet the demand.

Ration Book Photo
The Ministry Of Food Isn’t Rationing Chefs…YET!

Here’s a video of the RTE Six One piece for your viewing pleasure: [Read more…] about Irish Chef Shortage Bites Harder

TOPCHEFS RECRUITMENT