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Chef recruitment
AusLabourBank helps Melbourne restaurants hire chefs and cooks, including for Cantonese, Sichuan, dim sum and other Chinese regional kitchens. We scope the role with you, screen candidates for the stations and cuisine you need, and arrange interviews or trial shifts. You make the hiring decision. Placement fees are quoted by role and charged only upon a successful placement.
Looking for hospitality work instead? Apply free. Applying costs nothing.
We write the role around what the person will actually do and what you'll actually pay. A job title that doesn't match the real duties causes problems later, in the hire and in anything else that relies on that job description. If the role is a cook rather than a chef, we'll say so.
Cooks and chefs are usually covered by a Modern Award, often the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 or the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, depending on your business. Minimum rates change each year, so check the current Fair Work pay guides before you set the rate in your brief. This is general information only, not payroll or industrial relations advice.
Quoted by role, charged only upon a successful placement
What counts as a successful placement, and any replacement arrangement, is set out in your written service agreement before we begin. External HR support (A$750 per quarter + GST) is a separate, optional service. We can't guarantee that every role will be filled.
Tell us the role, hours, location and pay range. It takes a few minutes.
We discuss the role and confirm scope and fees in writing. No cost until you agree.
We source and screen candidates and arrange interviews. You make the hiring decision.
The fee is payable on a successful placement, as defined in your written agreement.
We helped three Melbourne employers fill kitchen hand, chef and front-of-house manager roles: a dumpling chain with outlets in Melbourne shopping centres, a well-known Sichuan restaurant and a long-established Cantonese restaurant. Two of them have since asked us to help staff their new venues. Business names are not published for confidentiality.
“Thank you, ALB, for your help. We had just opened, we were short-handed and lacked experienced staff. Luckily you recommended people to us, and that solved a big problem for me!”
— Restaurant owner, new venue, Melbourne (translated from Chinese)
Fees vary between recruiters. AusLabourBank quotes placement fees by role and charges them only upon a successful placement. Fees, payment triggers and any replacement arrangement are agreed in writing before recruitment begins. External HR support is a separate service at A$750 per quarter + GST.
We reply to every hiring brief within 3 business days to discuss the role and confirm scope and fees in writing.
Yes, if you want one. A trial that goes beyond a short, reasonable skills demonstration generally needs to be paid. Check the Fair Work Ombudsman's guidance on unpaid trials before you arrange one.
We collect the work-rights information candidates provide and pass it on with their details. Confirming a candidate's right to work, for example through VEVO, remains the employer's responsibility.
No. We screen candidates against your requirements and refer those we consider suitable, but we do not guarantee that a role will be filled, that a candidate will accept an offer, or that a candidate will pass probation. The hiring decision is always yours.
No. AusLabourBank is not a registered migration agency and does not provide immigration assistance. Our services do not include, and do not guarantee, employer sponsorship, nomination or any visa outcome. Please direct sponsorship and visa questions to a MARA-registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner. Employers remain responsible for their own employment and immigration obligations.
Send a hiring brief and we'll reply within 3 business days.
Send a hiring brief