Head Chef Review

My role within Mitchell's and Butlers has two levels firstly as Head Chef of a high volume unit I manage all back of house responsibilities and secondly as area support I help recruit/manage and train the back of house teams within my district. On a day to day basis I complete a wide array of tasks such as cooking, ordering, workflow planning, training and any unexpected issues arising. As part of my current tasks I also offer support and guidance for any of the chefs in the district with needed tasks.

As I get further into my career, both with Mitchell's and Butlers and in a wider sense I have gained a wider appreciation for the skills needed to train people effectively. What has been great on my course is the fact that it is well suited to my role so that all of my base skills have been enhanced and improved and it has challenged how I go about training my team.

I am a very strong believer in life long learning and really enjoy learning new skills, enhancing my knowledge in areas of work or learning new strategies for improvement. I find the built-in flexibility of the coursework and the support of my tutors really adds to my enjoyment of my course and can clearly see how it will help me in my role.

I find the program is very well structured with a clear timetable of progress along the apprenticeship including goalposts to track your understanding. With an online portal of learning resources that can be accessed by a wide variety of devices coupled with understanding tutors that offer a flexible calendar for visits it gives not only the structure and support but also the flexibility to fit into my life.

My employer is incredibly supportive of my own and each persons apprenticeship within the company. There are several ways that they do this A dedicated apprenticeship manager within the company Actual time on my rota each week to complete learning There on online training platform that has resources that support my learning The opportunity to pick up tasks within my role to practice what I am learning and more

I receive a high level of support from my training provider with clear expectations of what is needed to be completed and an amazing level of communication from my assigned tutor. I am challenged to push further into my tasks exceeding the required level which increases my enjoyment of learning with them.

I was put onto this course after I had a consultation with my training provider and then completed a skill scan to determine which would be the best course for myself. After this, it was determined that a level 4 hospitality management was the best fit for me. I find this course really fits incredibly well with my job role but also challenges me to grow.

We have a number of extra curricular activities with my company before covid we would have district events such as sports days, socials events, junior management network meetings and I had organised sous chef day. During the pandemic we have ran a weekly quiz night, catch-up calls, Facebook competitions to try and keep in contact with our teams

Yes

Because I already have to a number of my friends or past colleagues. For me Mitchell's and Butlers is a great employer who have a genuine care for its team. They have spent a lot of time to include things like mindfulness, mental health training, skills training and clear progression paths among the things they offer

Be open to learning, build an open mindset to what you think you can achieve. Try not to think of it a job but a journey to your future with as many options open as the ones you are willing to chase. And lastly criticism is a chance to be better than you were yesterday.