Salary

Commis Chefs can expect to earn from between £12,000 to £18,000 depending on location and experience. As chefs are expected to remain in the role of Commis for 4 - 5 years there is a wide discrepancy in wages according to experience.

• A Junior Commis Chef can expect to start on around £10,000 - £12,000.
• A middle-weight Commis Chef with about two years under his belt can expect to earn £12,000 - £16,000.
• An experienced and ambitious Commis Chef with some specialist experience can earn between £12,000 - £18,000.

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Responsibilities

A Commis Chef is in the kitchen to learn about cooking techniques through practice. For this reason his duties will vary over the course of his career and even throughout a single day.

• For starting off, the most basic of all chef techniques is knife skills. Only hours spent doing veg prep will bring the necessary coordination, precision and speed.
• Commis Chefs will start with basic sauces and be expected to master these before moving onto more complicated ones.
• Salads and cold starters provide a good introduction to preparing dishes for service, as they cannot be under or overcooked.
• As more competence is shown, more responsibility will be given and a Commis Chef will be asked to move to areas requiring greater delicacy and urgency, for example - hot dishes, pastry or roasting.
• A Commis Chef may be asked to check food stocks - reporting on shortages, throwing out food that is close to expiry and keeping the larder areas in good order.
• At all times a Commis Chef is expected to work to established health and safety guidelines. His area must be kept clean, spillages dealt with immediately and personal hygiene maintained to high standards.

Although a Commis Chef is learning on the job, the sauces, veg and any other cooking ingredients that he prepares will be served to customers. Therefore it is vital that close attention is paid under instruction; a busy commercial kitchen cannot afford repeated mistakes.

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Qualifications

No qualifications are required to be a Commis Chef 'per se', though you may be expected to gain some national certifications while you are on the job. However, it is a good idea to have a couple of GCSEs such as English, Maths, or Catering. Depending on the employer, these may be a prerequisite.

Some College courses offer placements during your course and are a great way to enter the industry.

• City and Guilds/ ASET: Level 2 Diploma in Professional Cookery.
• BTEC: HND in Professional Cookery.
• Foundation Degree in Culinary Arts Management.

While Working as a Commis Chef you may be required to gain NVQ level 1 & 2 in Catering.

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Skills

Actual cooking skills are learnt on the job as a Commis Chef and you are not expected to know them before you start. However, to succeed as a Commis Chef, you will need to concentrate on the following general skills and abilities.

• Working quickly and efficiently. Time is of the essence in a busy kitchen; there is never enough to waste.
• Attention to detail. Food is a delicate matter; if you make a mistake the dish may have to be discarded.
• Ability to work under pressure. When service fills up and the pressure is on, it is crucial that everyone performs to their best.
• Ability to learn on your feet. You must absorb your lessons and put them into practice right away. The more quickly you can do this the faster you will progress.

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Working Conditions

• A kitchen is a busy, hot, noisy and exciting place. Due to the sharp and generally metal features of many tools and work surfaces it is a potentially dangerous one too. Health and safety practices must be rigorously adhered to. Other preventive measures such as verbal warnings of hot objects, spillages and the fact you are moving in a certain direction behind other workers all help to keep everyone safe.

• Chef's uniforms are white, thick starchy cotton and closed by poppers for very good reasons. The colour shows up any unhygienic food residues and the ability to remove it quickly is vital in the event of a hot spillage.

• Working hours can be long and antisocial, especially if working in a hotel or restaurant. Split shifts are common, where the working day is split into two segments of around 5 hours each, with a long break in the middle. The exception to this is outside catering for special events.

• Due to the long hours spent almost entirely on your feet, heat and stress, it is a tiring job. Many find it satisfyingly so, but it is not a job for lovers of sedentary living.

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Experience

No experience is required to be a Commis Chef though it would be natural to show some inclination towards cooking. Many Commis Chefs are promoted from Dishwashers or Kitchen Porters, as these two positions often involve basic veg prep or plating responsibilities.

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Employers

Major employers of Commis Chefs are restaurants and hotels, of which there are literally thousands in the UK alone. Big hotel groups such as the Marriot, Hilton and the Four Seasons employ dozens of chefs in any one location. Additionally, you may be able to travel within the organisation. Applications may be made through local newspapers or online.

Another way to get a job cheffing is to work through an apprenticeship. Check out this website for more information.

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Career Progression

The next logical step for a Commis Chef is to be a Chef de Partie who is solely responsible for one area of the kitchen and all the chefs working in that area. This could be the hot section serving up the mains, the pantry, desserts, starters, pastry or a number of other sub-sections depending on the particular kitchen. In order to qualify for promotion, a Commis Chef would be expected to have served 4 - 5 years in a busy kitchen and have an NVQ level 2 or equivalent in catering.

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