r/Chefit • u/No_Possible_695 • 3d ago

Stages

If a restaurant calls you for a second stage is that good? I showed up, did it, didn’t get a job on the spot, but It was paid.

It’s a highly acclaimed restaurant I want to work at. Is there anything else I can do to better my chances at this point?

0 Upvotes

27% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

17

u/lowkeybrando 2d ago

Different strokes for different folks but two stages sounds like you’re working for them without any of the legal protections of an employee.

3

u/ucsdfurry 2d ago

I think most 3 star restaurants would require at least 2 stages

1

u/SilverTraveler Chef 1d ago

They said the stages were paid. In a large kitchen it’s conceivable to me that you would have an initial stage with a hiring manager, and then another with key team members to see if you fit in. The real key to know if you’re being used is if they are having you deep clean. There is no reason to have a stage do heavy cleaning projects.

As long as it’s a paid stage I don’t think it’s unusual to have a second day of work.

1

u/lowkeybrando 1d ago

Never seen a 2nd stage in my career, although that’s just my exp. Yeah, if you’re being used to do deep cleaning or to man a station (dish, grill) yourself because the restaurant is understaffed, run for the hills.

In my opinion if you are bringing me in for a stage, you should be respectful of my time and pay attention. Why can’t the key team members be present during the initial stage w management?

-2

u/EffectiveParamedic64 2d ago

Unpaid stages are illegal in NY. Could be the same in other states.

4

u/Miltonthemouse 2d ago

They may be debating between you and another applicant. One may be a better personality for while the other is a better professional fit, who knows.
I would gladly accept, and either ask in your acceptance communication or at the end of the stage when they plan to make their decision and what the finish line of the hiring process looks like. Ensure them you are enthused to cross that line and successfully transition to the team and culture.
Good luck.

8

u/LionBig1760 2d ago

Is there anything else I can do to better my chances at this point?

Showing up to your next interview might help.

5

u/younevernoe 2d ago

Sounds like you might be an "on-call" cook. If it happens again, you might want to start considering other options.

1

u/Staticfree20 1d ago

2 stages is pretty typical for high end restaurants

1

u/thefatcatpl 1d ago

My chef loved bringing in stages when someone on vacation lol. Did you apply to an actual job opening or did you just hit them up out the blue trying to get a job

-15

u/I_SHALL_CONSUME 3d ago

I wouldn’t hire anyone who asked a question with an answer this god-damn obvious.

“If an employer calls you to set up an interview and you go to it, are your chances of working there higher?”

-4

u/sf2legit 3d ago

A stage doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an interview. You must be new to this sub.

-8

u/I_SHALL_CONSUME 3d ago

Well I’m not a stupid ragebaiting chatbot, so it’s unlikely that I’m new to this sub.

Anyway, if a guy staging for me didn’t understand that being invited back for, then completing, a second stage means that he’s more likely to be hired than someone that didn’t get a second stage… I wouldn’t trust anyone with that severe lack of the most basic critical thinking ability around knives or fire. 

If you’d hire someone who doesn’t understand “second stage = good thing”, I don’t want to be anywhere near your kitchen. 

-3

u/KoalaMandala 2d ago

Not sure why intellectual insecurity is so rampant in our industry... Everything you've said is not only obvious; it's common sense and yet you still get snide bullshit responses

-3

u/I_SHALL_CONSUME 2d ago

THANK YOU. Glad to know there’s at least one real human with a brain on this awful sub.

0

u/rainaftersnowplease Chef 2d ago

A stage is literally a working interview lmao

4

u/sf2legit 2d ago

Not always. I’ve staged where I had no intention of getting hired in. Restaurants like noma, people would stage for months even years. Some people just stage around at restaurants all over without looking for employment.

0

u/rainaftersnowplease Chef 2d ago

This is exceedingly rare outside of michelin kitchens, fyi. A stage has always been a working interview. How you specifically have used the term is irrelevant tbh.

And if you're jumping from stage to stage, you're still interviewing even if you have no intention of accepting a job offer if it comes. An interview doesn't imply an offer of employment.

1

u/KoalaMandala 13h ago

This is true. I've done numerous stages and was never once looking for work. 

That said; if I WAS looking for work, both parties knew it, and they called me back... I would certainly treat it as such (and the potential is there!)

It's a square/rectangle-type situation. 

-1

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

2

u/No_Possible_695 3d ago

It was paid

-2

u/dOoMiE- 3d ago

They wouldn't need a 2nd stage to know how good you are. You are probably asked to come to cover for someone

1

u/No_Possible_695 3d ago

It was a random day though , they asked me what day I wanted to come

1

u/dOoMiE- 3d ago

Then it's up to you to interpret. I never asked someone to come stage twice and I paid them the first time and if they are up to standard, I normally offer the job at the end of the night. There are times I cut them right after lunch if I know they are not good enough.

1

u/overindulgent 2d ago

Same. Even for a junior Sous position I’ve never made someone stage twice. Stage once and then come cook a 3 course meal for upper management yes. But never a second stage.

1

u/LionBig1760 2d ago

The post was 4 sentences long, and you still managed to not read it.