Sous chef interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Show the real week: closing shifts, Friday and Saturday nights, holidays, and the longer days around inventory, menu changes and events.
• Say whether the job is hourly or salaried, how overtime works, and whether the sous can share in the kitchen's tips. Before you promise tips, check whether the role counts as a manager under the federal tip rules; managers can't take a share.
• Explain that the sous is the chef in charge when the chef is out, and whether that means holding a food protection manager certificate before the first solo shift.
• Tell them the sous corrects cooks during service and stops harassment on the spot, and that the chef and [your HR contact] back those calls.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Situational · Running the pass

   Friday at seven-thirty, the screen shows twenty-two open tickets. A twelve-top just fired mains, grill is two tickets behind, and sauté is caught up. Walk me through the next ten minutes from the pass.

   This is the sous chef's job at its busiest. It shows whether they pace the kitchen or just cook faster.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to grill, word for word?
   • What do you tell the floor, and when?
   • When would you leave the pass to cook, and who calls tickets then?

   5Strong

   Times the twelve-top so it lands together, tells grill exactly what to fire next and has sauté hold its plates, moves a cook or steps onto grill briefly only with someone calling the board, tells the floor manager about the wait, and checks every plate before it leaves.

   3Mixed

   Jumps on grill and gets it caught up, but stops calling the board, so other tables drift.

   1Weak

   Yells at grill, sends the twelve-top out in pieces, or doesn't tell the floor.

2. Behavioral · Running the pass

   Tell me about a night you had to ask the floor to slow down seating because the kitchen was falling behind. How did you handle it?

   A sous who speaks up early spares a dozen tables a long wait. One who stays quiet lets the dining room go down with the kitchen.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you know it was time to call it?
   • What did you say to the floor manager or host?
   • What did you change in prep or staffing afterward?

   5Strong

   Saw it coming on the board, called it early with a specific ask, like holding big parties for [fifteen] minutes, got the kitchen back on pace, and afterward fixed the cause, like a station short on prep.

   3Mixed

   Made the call, but late, after tables were already waiting, or fixed the night but not the cause.

   1Weak

   Has never asked the floor for anything, or blames the floor for seating too fast.

3. Situational · Holding the standard

   In the rush, a steak comes to the pass a shade past the temperature ordered, and its sauce looks thin. The rest of the table is ready, and a re-fire takes [eight] minutes. What do you do?

   This is the quality call a sous makes dozens of times a night. It shows where their line is, and whether they protect the whole table.

   Follow-ups

   • What makes a plate close enough to send?
   • What do you tell the server?
   • What do you say to the grill cook, and when?

   5Strong

   Pulls it and re-fires, holds or re-fires the rest so the table eats together, tells the server the wait so a manager can visit the table, tells grill briefly what was off, fixes the sauce for the next plates and logs the remake.

   3Mixed

   Re-fires the steak but sends the rest of the table's plates now, so one guest eats later than the others.

   1Weak

   Sends it as is because the table is waiting, or re-fires without telling the floor.

4. Behavioral · Holding the standard

   Tell me about a time you sent back a plate made by a cook who had more years in kitchens than you. How did it go?

   Sous chefs often lead cooks with more years than they have. If senior cooks' plates slide, the standard slides for everyone.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you say during service?
   • What did you say after service, and where?
   • How did that cook's plates look the next week?

   5Strong

   Made the call on the spec, not seniority, said it briefly and specifically during service, followed up privately afterward, listened, and kept the working relationship. Can say how the cook's plates changed.

   3Mixed

   Sent it back, but skipped the talk afterward, or let a few plates go before saying anything.

   1Weak

   Lets senior cooks' plates through, or argued with the cook in front of the line.

5. Technical · Running the kitchen alone

   The chef is away for a week and leaves you the ordering. Walk me through how you build Thursday's order for the weekend.

   Ordering is the part of the chef's job a sous covers least often. It shows whether they plan from evidence or repeat last week.

   Follow-ups

   • What would make you order above par?
   • What do you check when the truck arrives?
   • What do you decide alone, and what do you send the chef?

   5Strong

   Counts on hand, checks pars against the reservation book, private events and the last few weekends, plans for specials, delivery days, order cutoffs and shelf life, orders from approved vendors, then checks the delivery against the invoice for weights, quality and credits.

   3Mixed

   Orders to par from an accurate count, but doesn't adjust for events or the reservation book.

   1Weak

   Copies last week's order, or lets the vendor's rep suggest it.

6. Situational · Running the kitchen alone

   The chef is off. At three on Saturday the walk-in reads warm and is climbing, and [140] covers are booked. What do you do?

   The sous is the chef in charge on these days. This shows whether they protect guests and product and keep service running without waiting on a phone call.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you check first, and with what?
   • Who hears about it first: the repair company, the chef or the GM?
   • How do you decide what gets thrown out?

   5Strong

   Probes the food, not just the dial, moves the most sensitive product to reach-ins or ice, calls the repair vendor, tells the chef and GM, discards and logs anything that can't be shown safe under your code, and adjusts the menu and tells the floor before service.

   3Mixed

   Probes the food, moves it to cold storage that works, sets anything doubtful aside unused and calls for repair, but waits for the chef to call back before changing the menu or telling the floor.

   1Weak

   Keeps cooking from the walk-in and waits for the chef, or throws everything out without taking temperatures.

7. Behavioral · Training cooks

   Tell me about the last cook you trained to run a station alone. How did you decide they were ready?

   Cooks put on a station too soon sink, and the sous ends up cooking for them. A clear sign-off standard prevents both.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you have them do first?
   • What would have made you hold off on the sign-off?
   • How did their first solo weekend go?

   5Strong

   Describes the steps: build cards and setup, working beside the sous, then the station on a slower night with the sous close by. Signed off against a clear standard, like every dish to spec at the station's ticket pace, and knows how the first solo weekend went.

   3Mixed

   Trained them well, but the sign-off rested on a feeling or time served, with no clear standard.

   1Weak

   Says the cook learned by watching, or put them on a Saturday to see if they'd sink or swim.

8. Situational · Coaching and discipline

   Your best sauté cook has been late [four] times this month, and twice the station wasn't set at line check. What do you do?

   Rules that bend for the best cook stop being rules. This shows whether they correct fairly and keep a record.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you tell the cook, and where?
   • What do you write down?
   • What do you do if the cook says something personal is going on?

   5Strong

   Talks privately that day with the dates and what was missing, restates the standard, agrees on what changes, writes it down as policy requires, and follows up. If the cook raises a health or family matter, listens and brings in the chef or HR about leave or accommodation.

   3Mixed

   Talks to the cook and gets a promise, but writes nothing down and doesn't follow up until it happens again.

   1Weak

   Lets it go because the cook is the best on sauté, or chews them out in front of the line.

9. Situational · Coaching and discipline

   During service you hear a line cook make a comment about a server's body as the server picks up plates. The server laughs and walks off. What do you do?

   The sous is often the only manager in the kitchen, so what they do in that moment teaches the crew what the rule really is. A laugh doesn't mean the comment was welcome.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the line cook in the moment?
   • Who do you tell, and when?
   • How do you check on the server?

   5Strong

   Stops it right then in a few words, keeps service moving, reports it to the chef or HR the same night as policy says, checks on the server privately, writes down what was said, and does the same if the cook is a friend.

   3Mixed

   Stops it on the spot and tells the chef after service, but doesn't check on the server or write down what was said.

   1Weak

   Treats it as kitchen joking and does nothing.

Work exercise: plan a Friday from projected covers

Give finalists a made-up Friday: [180] projected covers, the menu mix from the last [four] Fridays, a par sheet, on-hand counts, recipe yields, [five] cooks with their stations and start times, and a target for labor hours. In [35] minutes they write the prep list with quantities, who does each task and in what order, plus the cook schedule. Then add a [twenty]-guest party at [six] and allow [10] more minutes to adjust. Made-up numbers only.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• On nights they ran the pass, how did ticket times and the plates compare with your other nights?
• Who did they train, and how did those cooks do once they were on their own?
• How did the kitchen run on your days off, and what did you come back to?
• When they had to correct a cook, how did they handle it, and would you make them a sous chef again?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipLine work is a young cook's game. How many more years do you want to be on your feet?

  AskAsk about the work, not the years left in it: which stations they've run alone and how long they've run a pass. Federal law bars age discrimination against workers forty and older, and some state laws protect younger workers too.

• SkipWhat's your hourly rate at your current place?

  AskAsk whether they've been paid hourly or on salary, and whether overtime or a bonus was part of it, but not the amount. Then share [your pay range] and ask what they need.

• SkipAny back or knee problems? It's ten hours at the pass.

  AskRead the same duties to each candidate: [standing at the pass or on the line for a ten-hour shift and lifting stock pots up to fifty pounds]. Then ask whether they can do that work, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Common mistakes when hiring a sous chef

• Testing the cooking, not the job

  Most sous chef interviews test the food. The job is mostly the pass, the prep list and the cooks. Give the Friday plan and the training questions as much weight as any tasting.

• Hiring a sous who never saw the numbers

  A sous who has never read a par sheet, checked an invoice or seen the labor target can't run the kitchen while the chef is away. Ask what they ordered and counted at their last job, and check with a reference.

• Hiring a copy of the chef

  It's easy for a chef to hire someone with the same strengths. Look at what the chef does least well, like paperwork or teaching, and weigh those questions more heavily.

Sous chef interview FAQ