Interview Questions I Like To Ask - Chef Rizwan Yargatti, Culinary Instructor, Symbiosis School of Culinary Arts

A few important questions that are my favourites

1. What did you have for breakfast?

Reason- This seems such an irrelevant question to a student, most of the time they are shocked to get this as the first question of the interview, sometimes it also serves as a stress buster and you start off on a lighter note. Either way it let's the student open up and not hide behind the bookish answers that every interviewer hates. A following sub question could be asking for the description or recipe and this tells us about their curiosity towards food and their everyday meals, a very important trait for culinary aspirants

2. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Reason- This again is a combination question. Once the candidate answers where they see themselves in 10 years I ask them how will they achieve it.To ace this question two things need to be clear in the candidate's head firstly where does the candidate picture himself/herself in 10 years and secondly what are the short term goals which will get them closer to the long term goal. The latter is more important and 90% of candidates fail to prepare for it.

The answer to this question tells us about their research, their realistic goal plan and their willingness to achieve it.

3. Any three things that you remember from your recent travel trip?

Reason- I ask this to see what they admire the most when they travel to a new place and whether food is among the top three memories. This tells me if the candidate is really passionate about food or just saying it to get through the interview.

4. Do you have any questions before we end this interview?

Reason- This is the last and compulsory question that I ask to all the candidates. The answer to this question is a great question. By the end, most candidates who feel their interview was not great will try to end soon by saying they don't have anything to ask. Some take it as a last chance and try to come up with a spontaneous question which sounds very interesting. Some genuinely will have doubts. Either way it's always good to turn tables at the end and see if there is any surprise left.