Practical Skills and Workplace Practice
Practical Skills and Workplace Practice tests whether you behave like a professional on shift: grooming, punctuality, mise en place, handover, teamwork and honest record keeping.
Start of shift
Arrive early enough to be on station at the rostered time. Grooming: clean uniform and shoes, hair tied back or netted, minimal jewellery, short clean nails, no strong perfume. Read the logbook and the function sheet, attend the briefing, then complete mise en place before service: equipment, stock, clean surfaces, menus, temperature logs.
During the shift
Follow the standard operating procedure for each task instead of improvising. Work in a set sequence, clean as you go, and never leave your section without telling the supervisor. Use opening and closing checklists. The 5S discipline helps: sort, set in order, shine, standardise, sustain.
Worked example
A handover note written at 15:00: Station 3, 40 covers booked for 19:30, two allergies (nuts and shellfish). Two litres of bechamel in the walk-in, labelled today, use within 3 days. Fryer oil changed; temperature log complete to 14:00. The right-hand fridge is running warm at 9 C and the engineer is booked for 16:00. Every line is specific, verifiable and time-stamped; that is what makes a handover usable rather than a vague message.
Professional ethics and progression
Be honest about mistakes, respect guest property and privacy, refuse gifts that could compromise your judgement, and give colleagues the same courtesy you give guests. Keep a record of skills and certificates such as food hygiene and first aid, and prepare interview answers with concrete examples from your training kitchen or placement.
Traps
Skipping mise en place and running out mid-service; leaving temperature or cleaning logs blank; using a mobile phone in guest areas; hiding a mistake instead of reporting it; leaving a station without notifying anyone.