The 20 cook interview questions that tell you whether the hire will last

Before the questions: know what you are hiring for

Write down, before you meet anyone: how many meals a day, for how many people, which cuisine, at what times, and whether prep, shopping and kitchen clean-up are included. A cook who is right for two working adults who want breakfast and a packed lunch is the wrong cook for a joint family of eight. Half the questions below only make sense once your side is clear.

The twenty questions, in the order to ask them

Timing and reliability

1. Which slots are you free for, morning, evening or both? A part-time cook is working a round. The 7.30 slot either exists in it or it does not, and no salary creates a new hour.
2. How many homes do you cook in now, and where are they? Three homes within walking distance is stable. Five spread across the city is a cook who will be late.
3. How do you get here, and how long does it take? Distance is the most common reason a good arrangement ends. Ask it plainly.
4. What happens when you cannot come? A good answer names a substitute or a notice habit. "I will inform" with no detail is a warning.
5. Which day off do you take, and what about festivals? Agree it now, not at Diwali.

What she actually cooks

1. What do you cook every day at home? The honest answer to this is her real cuisine. Everything else is aspiration.
2. Which of our regular dishes have you made before? Name five of yours. Listen for which ones she describes step by step.
3. Veg only, or non-veg too? Jain, sattvic, no onion and garlic? Some cooks will not handle meat or eggs. Better to know before day one.
4. How do you manage oil, salt and spice for someone with a health condition? If anyone in the house has diabetes, blood pressure or a child under two, this question matters more than any other.
5. Can you cook for guests, and how much notice do you need? Festival and guest cooking is extra work. Agree whether and how it is paid.

The kitchen, not just the food

1. Do you clean what you use, or all the dishes? The single most common misunderstanding in cook hiring. Settle it.
2. Who buys the vegetables, and how do we handle money? Some cooks shop and keep accounts for an added amount. Decide, and write it down.
3. Are you comfortable with our stove, mixer, pressure cooker, induction? A cook used to gas may struggle with induction for a week. Not a reason to reject, a reason to plan.
4. How do you keep the kitchen between meals? Listen for a routine. "Clean as I go" is the answer you want.

Experience and references

1. Where did you cook last, for how long, and why did it end? Length of the last two jobs tells you more than the number of jobs.
2. May I speak to one family you cooked for? Then call them. Five minutes, one question: would you hire her again?
3. Have you cooked for a family this size before? Quantity is a skill. Cooking for eight is not cooking for two with more rice.

Terms

1. What salary are you expecting for exactly this work? State the work first, then ask. Typical national ranges are on the cook hiring page; your building is a better guide than any average.
2. Would you do a paid trial meal? Almost every cook who is right for you says yes without hesitation.
3. Is there anything about the job as I have described it that will not work for you? The answer you get here is the one that would otherwise arrive in month two.

The paid trial meal

One meal, in your kitchen, with your ingredients, paid at a fair rate whether or not you hire her. Ask for two dishes you actually eat, not a showpiece. Watch four things: how she handles quantity, how she leaves the kitchen, whether the food tastes like it will on an ordinary Tuesday, and whether she arrived and finished when agreed. Then decide within a day and tell her either way.

What to write down before she starts

• Meals, timings and the number of people
• Cuisine and any dietary rules
• Who shops, who pays, who keeps the accounts
• Dishes and clean-up: hers, yours, or a separate maid's
• Weekly off, festival days, and how leave is handled
• Salary, the date it is paid, and notice on both sides

On Sevetu this goes into a digital work agreement both sides accept, so there is one version of what was agreed. Hire a cook →

Written by the Sevetu teamSevetu is a hiring marketplace for household work in India, operated by Fiel Private Limited. These guides come from the questions families and workers ask us. Nothing here is sponsored, and where a number has no defensible source we say so instead of inventing one. About Sevetu

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