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Hospitality, Retail & Food Service

Culinary interviews. 11 titles, each with its own model.

Each page shows the competency model, the questions that test it, what changes with seniority, and where candidates lose the interview.

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Every Culinary title

11 titles
Head ChefLeads the kitchen, designing menus, controlling food cost and quality and managing the kitchen team.Sous ChefSecond in command in the kitchen, running service, supervising the brigade and standing in for the head chef.Chef de PartieRuns a section of the kitchen such as grill, sauce or pastry, preparing dishes to the head chef's standard.CookPrepares and cooks dishes to recipes and order in a restaurant, canteen or institutional kitchen.Kitchen AssistantPreps ingredients, helps cooks with basic tasks and keeps the kitchen clean and stocked.Commis ChefAssists more senior chefs with food prep, basic cooking and keeping a station clean while learning the trade.Kitchen ManagerManages the kitchen's staffing, ordering, food safety and costs so that service runs on time and on budget.Executive ChefRuns the culinary operation across a hotel or group of outlets, owning menus, budgets, standards and chefs.BakerMixes, proves and bakes bread, cakes and pastries in a bakery, supermarket or hotel kitchen.Pastry ChefMakes pastries, desserts, breads and confectionery and runs the pastry section of a kitchen or bakery.ButcherCuts, trims and prepares meat for sale or cooking and advises customers on cuts in a butchery or store.

What the report looks like for Culinary

Sample report · the format, not a result
Food safety, hygiene & HACCP4/5
Cooking skills, technique & consistency3/5
Mise en place, organisation & prep planning2/5
Working the line under pressure3/5
Food cost, portion control & wastage4/5
  • The situation in one sentence: where, what was short, and by how much.
  • The decision that was yours rather than the team’s, and what you chose not to do.
  • One number or one consequence that shows it worked.

Every competency is scored out of five with a line you actually said as evidence, and the weakest answers are rewritten as structure and specifics, never a script.

What Culinary interviewers keep scoring

Food safety, hygiene & HACCP

Works to HACCP and food safety regulations: temperature control, labelling and dating, allergen management, cleaning schedules and personal hygiene, and does not compromise when busy.

Cooking skills, technique & consistency

Executes recipes and techniques to specification consistently, plates to standard, and can cook across sections with sound fundamentals (knife skills, sauces, seasoning, cooking methods).

Mise en place, organisation & prep planning

Plans and completes prep to prep lists and par levels before service, keeps a clean and organised section, and labels and rotates stock so service runs without shortages.

Working the line under pressure

Delivers during peak service: reads tickets, times courses, communicates with the pass and other sections, and stays composed and safe when in the weeds.

Food cost, portion control & wastage

Understands food cost and GP, controls portions and wastage, uses stock rotation and creative use of trim, and contributes to menu costing.

Brigade teamwork, communication & respect

Communicates clearly and respectfully in the brigade, supports other sections, takes instruction from the chef, gives it clearly to juniors, and handles conflict without disrupting service.

Reliability, stamina & shift discipline

Arrives on time for early, split and late shifts, works long hours on their feet, keeps standards at the end of a double, and hands over the section properly.

Menu development & creativity

Develops dishes and menus that fit the concept, season, cost and kitchen capability, tests and documents recipes and takes feedback on the result.

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