Why pre-screen chefs before the trial shift
A trial shift is the only real test of a chef, and it costs you a service to run. It is also the wrong place to discover the things a short conversation would have caught: that their last kitchen did thirty covers rather than three hundred, that they have never costed a dish, or that allergen handling is something the manager deals with. Screening first means every trial you book is with someone whose kitchen background actually matches the section you need filled.
What actually matters when screening Chef candidates
- 01
Craft of the service
Check which sections they have run (larder, sauce, pastry, grill), covers per service, and menu dishes they wrote themselves including specs, plating and yield testing.
- 02
Client care
Probe how they handle allergen requests, guest complaints returned to the pass, and chef's table or dietary bookings; look for coordination with front of house during service.
- 03
Standards and hygiene
Test HACCP paperwork ownership: temperature logs, cook-chill records, date labelling, deep clean rotas, plus their last environmental health inspection score and what triggered any points.
- 04
Commercial awareness
Assess grasp of gross profit targets, food cost percentage, portion control, supplier negotiation and wastage tracking; ask for numbers before and after a change they made.
Pre-screening questions to ask Chef candidates
12 questions grouped by what they test. Ask the same set in every screen and score answers on a consistent scale, or send them as an async video screen and compare answers side by side.
Volume they can hold
3 questions01Do you have experience working in a high-volume restaurant? How many covers per service?
Listen forA covers figure with the section they held and the brigade size around them, plus what fell apart first when a service went badly.
Describes a kitchen as busy with no number, or volume that turns out to be far below the service you run.
02Can you describe a time you had to handle a high-pressure situation in the kitchen?
Listen forA specific service that went wrong: what they reprioritised, what they took off the pass, and how they communicated it to front of house.
Pressure described as normal without an example, or a story where they simply worked faster and nothing was managed.
03Can you discuss your experience with food preparation and cooking techniques?
Listen forSpecific techniques tied to sections they have run, with an honest account of where their range thins out rather than a claim to cover everything.
Claims mastery of every technique and cuisine, or cannot name what they prep before a service starts.
Allergens and requests
3 questions04Are you able to accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies in your cooking?
Listen forA system rather than an assurance: separate boards and utensils, labelled storage, direct confirmation with the guest, and a refusal to guess about ingredients.
Answers that they are careful, with no separation of preparation, or willingness to estimate whether a dish contains an allergen.
05Do you have experience cooking for special occasions or VIP guests?
Listen forSpecific occasions with the constraints named: timing against a speech, dietary requirements across a table, and how they held quality on plated service at volume.
Treats special occasions as ordinary service, or has never worked to a fixed timing outside their own control.
06How do you handle criticism and feedback on your cooking?
Listen forA specific dish they changed after a complaint, plus a case where they held their position and explained why the dish was correct as sent.
Dismisses guest feedback as ignorance, or changes a dish on every comment with no view of their own.
Safety as habit
3 questions07Are you familiar with health and safety regulations in the kitchen?
Listen forDaily practice named specifically: temperature logs they filled in themselves, storage discipline, cleaning schedules, and their last inspection result.
Cites a certificate with no daily practice behind it, or cannot recall the outcome of their last inspection.
08How do you ensure quality and consistency in taste and presentation?
Listen forWritten specifications, plated references and a tasting routine, plus how they hold the standard when a commis is covering the section.
Consistency described as everyone knowing the dishes, with nothing written down for cover shifts.
09Do you have experience managing kitchen staff?
Listen forBrigade size and what they owned: rotas, training, discipline, plus how they handled a section leader who was not holding standard.
Leadership described only as being the most senior cook, with no experience of rotas, training or difficult conversations.
Cost awareness
3 questions10Can you describe your experience with inventory management and ordering supplies?
Listen forOrdering they owned against a par level, with a view on wastage and what they did the week the delivery did not arrive.
Orders by feel with no par levels, or has never been responsible for what arrived and what was wasted.
11Do you have experience with budgeting for a kitchen?
Listen forFamiliarity with gross profit targets and dish costing, with a specific dish they repriced or reworked when an ingredient cost moved.
No exposure to food cost percentages, or menu decisions made entirely on taste with no costing behind them.
12Have you ever implemented a cost-saving change in a kitchen you worked in?
Listen forA change with the saving quantified, such as reworked prep, a supplier switch or a wastage fix, and what it did to the dish on the plate.
Savings that came straight out of portion size or quality, or a claim with no figure and no effect described.
How to score responses
Score every candidate on the same four criteria immediately after the screen. At this stage you are shortlisting for panel interviews, not making the final call.
Craft of the service
35%5Names sections owned, peak cover counts and specific dishes they developed, with clear reasoning on technique, seasonality and consistency across services.
Client care
30%5Describes concrete recovery of a returned dish and a robust allergen process, treating server feedback as information rather than interference.
Standards and hygiene
20%5Owns HACCP documentation without prompting, cites a hygiene rating and explains a corrective action they implemented after an audit finding.
Commercial awareness
15%5Quotes GP percentage moved, names wastage or portioning changes and supplier switches, linking menu engineering directly to margin outcomes.
A chef CV rarely says how many covers a night, which is the number that decides whether they can hold your section. A one-way video screen surfaces it before you give up a trial service.
Try it on HirevireScreening FAQ
Process basics
How long should a pre-screening round for a chef take?
Ten minutes across eight to ten questions, answered async so candidates can reply between services rather than during them. Kitchen hours make scheduled calls unreliable, and async screening returns far more responses from working chefs.
Should I still run a trial shift after screening?
Always. Nothing replaces watching someone work a section under pressure. The screen exists so that the trials you pay for are with chefs whose volume, section experience and availability already match what you need.
Evaluating answers
What is the strongest signal when screening a chef?
Covers per service, stated without hesitation, alongside the section they held. Chefs who worked real volume give the number immediately and can describe what happens when it goes wrong. Vague answers about busy kitchens usually mean the volume was modest.
How do I judge allergen answers?
Listen for process rather than reassurance. Strong answers describe separate preparation, labelled storage, direct communication with the guest and a refusal to guess. Any answer that involves being careful without a system behind it is a liability in a busy kitchen.
Go deeper on this role
Sanat has been hiring since 2012 and watching the recruitment industry change up close ever since, and turned that screening process into Hirevire's video screening platform. LinkedIn
