Employer’s FAQ About TOPCHEFS Catering Recruitment
Can TOPCHEFS get work permits for overseas candidates
No we cannot obtain work permits on behalf of clients. We can, and often do, locate excellent quality chefs from abroad and are happy to advise clients, to the extent of our competency, as to how they should go about obtaining a work permit for such chefs.
Do you have any refunds policy
Yes we do! A copy of our up to date refunds policy is attached, along with our full Terms of Business (T.O.B.)to each candidate CV we send to you. At the time of writing our refund period extends to 12 weeks with the amounts being subject to refund decreasing over time. Currently a 100% refund applies if candidate and employer part company within two weeks of start date and by the final two weeks of the refund period this reduces to 10%. The canonical version of our recruitment refund schedule will, as we've mentioned, be attached to the CV's we send to you and any reference to specific figures which may appear on this website are for indicative purposes only.
Do You Supply Temporary or Part Time Chefs
No, we do not. It difficult to be good at everything so we focus on doing the best job possible at finding and placing full time, contract and seasonal chefs. There are agencies who specialize in providing "temps" but we're not one of them.
How soon will TOPCHEFS begin sending me Chef CV’s
This depends on the nature of the chef's job, seniority, specialization etc. We endeavor to only forward CV's of chefs who are worthy of consideration for the role and whom have expressed an interest in the job. This can take a little time so we'd normally advise clients not to expect CV's to arrive immediately. If there is a particular urgency in filling the position then we ask clients to advise of this and we'll try to prioritize your project.
How will I be charged by TOPCHEFS for their recruitment services
Yes, you will be charged, but only when we've solved your staffing problem. We get paid when we've successfully satisfied your recruitment needs. In situations when we're approached by a client with whom we haven't an established working relationship and whom tasks us with filling multiple positions we may, by prior agreement only, agree a schedule of expenses to cover job marketing costs. The only other exception to this rule is when we're tasked with pure Search or Headhunting assignments. However, in the overwhelming majority of situations, our clients are only asked to pay us once we've found them a chef who they agree to hire.
I’ve Interviewed a TOPCHEFS Candidate, whats next & when
As soon as you've interviewed the candiate and, when applicable, discussed the interview with the other decision makers we'd like your feedback without further delay. Ideally this will be on the day of the interview. If that's not possible then the next day is ok too. However if we've not received any feedback by lunchtime of the next day then we'll be following up with you, that is assuming we've not been in touch with you already.
So what's the urgency? Firstly we put ourselves in the shoes of the candiate(s), (we suggest you do the likewise) we wouldn't, as a chef, like too much time to pass before the people we've been dealing with give us some indication as to how our interview went and tell us what, if any, step will follow next. Anything longer than 24 hours and chefs very often become disquieted by the radio silence. Secondly the better the chef the shorter the odds that you will end up competing for their services. In such situations time is not on your side and thus it favours those employers who are prepared to offer feedback early and often. If that's not you, then be prepared for the decision, as to whether you'll hire this chef, or not, to be taken out of your hands.
Normally this proactive approach to post interview follow-ups is understood by our clients to be in their interests too. We believe they're right. However we accept that a minority of clients think it is our job to keep candidates "warm" while they take an extended amount of time to get back to us with feedback. We advise any clients with such expectations that we're not the agency they should deal with and that they should seek to work with another recruitment company instead. We realize that this may seem uncompromising to some, but we hope everyone else understands that in order for us to attract the top culinary talent to our agency, we have to offer them a service too and part of that service is timely feedback.
What is Contingency Recruitment
Contingency Recruitment describes the majority of recruitment transactions, especially for lower to mid level positions. A contingency recruiter, or recruitment agency, gets paid only upon the successful placement of a candidate in a job. This is in contrast to "Retained Recruitment." Any fee attaching to the, contingency, recruitment assignment belongs to the client and never to the candidate so the recruiter is working only for the client. Fees are calculated as a percentage of the candidate's first year renumeration. It is not uncommon for clients to work with more than one agency on an assignment, thus shifting all the risk to the recruitment agencies. The downside to this strategy is that agencies will always assign more man hours and resources to those clients for whom they're working exclusively.
What is Retained Recruitment
In contrast to "Contingency Recruitment" in retained recruitment the recruiter, or agency, gets paid for both the process of recruitment and successfully delivering the desired result. Usually the deal is structured in three thirds, 1/3 of the fee up front, another 1/3 upon delivery of an agreed number of suitable qualified candidates CVs and the final third after the successful candidate has started work. Usually retained recruitment is reserved for more senior positions and higher salaries. The fee structure is designed in this way to enable the recruiters to deploy more manpower and resources to the search process than in contingency recruitment, where all the risk is borne by the recruiter.
What is TOPCHEFS standard recruitment fee
We operate a scale of fees according to role seniority. Clients can rest assured that we agree this fee with them upfront. If candidate specific fees apply these will appear in the footer of chef candidate CVs forwarded to clients.
What’s your policy if I use a number of recruitment agencies
When it comes to finding quality Chefs we're very comfortable competing for your business. Typically you won't be charged if we don't find you the chef you want. However high quality chefs are very good at recognizing patterns in advertising copy and can often tell when a chef job is being marketed by several sources. While this increases job visibility it does nothing to raise the perceived value of your vacancy in the eyes of the highest quality chefs, some of whom will determine that this must be a problem job, if so many agencies are working on it at once.
Will TOPCHEFS headhunt chefs who we’ve hired through them
No! While there is no legal bar to this practice as members of the National Recruitment Federation we've signed up to a code of code of conduct which forbids this practice. This is something clients are advised to take into consideration when choosing a Catering Recruitment Agency. Apart from which to do so would be both bad manners and, in the long run, bad business.
This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section is a work in progress, if you have a question in mind which you think belongs on this page please use the submission form below to sent it to us.
To learn more about TOPCHEFS and to obtain full and up-todate information how we can help you find the chefs you need call us on (01) 633 4053. In the business of managing your chef catering recruitment, it’s the only number you’ll ever need!
