The single most important section. "Head Chef" means nothing without scale and scope. Answer for your most recent senior role.
Venue type
— select —
Fine dining / Michelin or aspiring
Bistro / neighbourhood restaurant
Gastropub
Pub / casual dining
Hotel restaurant
Hotel — banqueting / events
Conference / large-scale catering
Café / brunch
Quick service / fast casual
Contract catering
Healthcare / care home
Education / school / university
Private / pop-up / supper club
Multi-site / group
Hours of operation
— select —
Single service (lunch or dinner only)
Two services (lunch + dinner)
All-day dining
Breakfast through dinner (hotel pattern)
24-hour operation
Events / variable
Fresh-from-scratch vs bought-in
Honest estimate. A 70% fresh kitchen is a very different job to a 20% fresh one.
— select —
90–100% fresh / from scratch
70–89% fresh
50–69% fresh
30–49% fresh
Under 30% fresh / mostly assembly
Menu authorship
P&L / budget responsibility
— select —
Full P&L — food, labour, all kitchen costs
Food cost & labour budget
Food cost only
Stock & ordering, no formal budget
No budget responsibility
Annual food spend you've controlled (£, approx)
Leave blank if not applicable. Order of magnitude is fine.
Technical craft. What you can actually produce on the pass.
Self-rate your cooking
Section CDP level
Section-leader confident
Run any section
Cuisines & styles you're confident in
List honestly. "Confident" means you'd put it on a menu.
Techniques you'd describe as strong
Examples: butchery, fish prep, pastry, breadmaking, sauce work, fermentation, sous-vide, smoking.
A dish you're known for — and why
Two sentences. The reason matters more than the dish.
Writing a menu that sells and makes money is a separate skill from cooking.
Self-rate menu writing & costing
Follow a brief
Write & cost confidently
Engineer menus to GP
Typical food GP% you've worked to
How often do you change the menu?
How do you cost a dish?
In your words. Tells us whether you really do it or someone else does.
How do you handle allergens & dietary requirements on the menu?
Running a kitchen is a people job. This is where most chefs are weakest and least honest.
Self-rate team leadership
Lead a section
Run the brigade
Build & develop teams
How do you develop chefs in your team?
Specific examples beat principles. What did you actually do for someone last year?
A time you handled a difficult conflict or underperformance
Briefly: situation, what you did, outcome.
Anything you've done that improved retention or culture
Non-negotiable. A chef who's loose here is a liability regardless of how they cook.
Self-rate food safety & compliance
Follow procedures
Run HACCP
Audit-ready, train others
Highest food hygiene qualification
— select —
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
None / informal
Last EHO / FHRS score
— select —
5
4
3
2 or below
Don't know / not applicable
Your HACCP responsibility
— select —
I write & own the HACCP plan
I maintain & review HACCP
I implement an existing HACCP plan
Limited HACCP involvement
How do you manage allergens operationally?
Looking for: matrix, training, separation, communication to FOH.
The skill that separates a good chef from a head chef who can be trusted with a P&L.
Self-rate business & commercial
Cost-aware
Run to budget
Drive commercial outcomes
Supplier & ordering responsibility
— select —
I select suppliers & negotiate prices
I order from approved suppliers, negotiate where I can
I order from a fixed approved list
Ordering is done for me
How do you manage stock & wastage?
A commercial result you're proud of
e.g. moved GP from X to Y, cut wastage by Z%, grew covers, launched something profitable.
What kind of role are you looking for next?