When a kitchen needs another chef, hiring the most impressive individual CV does not automatically fill the team's actual gap. You may already have strong preparation experience but need someone who can take responsibility during service, or several confident cooks but little cover for one particular section.
A simple skills matrix makes that gap visible. Restaurants in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban can adapt it to their own operation rather than using a generic list of every culinary skill.
Put tasks in the rows
Choose tasks that genuinely matter to the vacancy: preparation for a particular station, completing orders, handing over work or coordinating with the pass. Avoid broad labels such as “good attitude” that different interviewers may interpret differently.
Keep the matrix short. If every task in the kitchen is marked essential, it becomes difficult to distinguish the role you need from an unrealistic request for one person to do everything.
Use clear responsibility levels
For each task, distinguish experience observing it, doing it with support and taking responsibility independently. These descriptions are more useful than an unexplained score out of ten.
Do not treat the matrix as a licence to assign unsupervised work. A candidate's previous experience still needs to be discussed alongside your equipment, procedures and introduction arrangements.
Ask for evidence behind each entry
Invite the chef to explain one relevant example. What did they personally prepare or decide? What did another colleague supervise? How did they know the task was complete?
A job title may cover different responsibilities across restaurants. Record the example rather than awarding a high rating because the previous employer was well known. There is no need to request confidential recipes or commercial records.
Find complementary strengths
Look at the tasks the current team can already cover and those that remain exposed. The next hire might bring a missing strength while learning a different task from colleagues. Explain both sides honestly in the vacancy.
Cross-section support should have boundaries. Occasional help at another station is different from permanently carrying two jobs. Discuss who sets priorities when both sections need attention.
Turn the matrix into a focused interview
Choose two or three gaps and ask every candidate for the same role comparable questions about them. Record evidence, open questions and learning needs. Do not use nationality, age or other personal assumptions as a substitute for job-related evidence.
If a practical assessment is appropriate, agree its purpose, duration, supervision and applicable arrangements first. Keep it distinct from an unexplained productive shift. After deciding, share the responsibilities and introduction plan so the successful candidate understands the same role you evaluated.
Chefs can use this approach in their own profile: describe the stations they have actually run and identify where they would welcome support. Employers can browse chef profiles in South Africa, while candidates can explore chef jobs in South Africa. Follow ChefPin's displayed profile and contact access options and confirm vacancy details directly.
The matrix is a conversation aid, not an automatic hiring decision. Its value is making the team's need, the candidate's evidence and the planned support visible in one place.