Where do I recruit more mature staff?

[Summerishere123]

I run a play centre and have been advertising for kitchen staff. Because we only open weekends and school holidays, we struggle to recruit people in their 30's and 40's because lots have kids.
We are currently advertising on indeed and the very few applications that we have had that I thought would work, have ignored my offers of an interview.
When I advertise on our facebook page, I get lots of very young, inexperienced staff. Our site is huge and we can have 200 people in the venue at once.
We need some older more mature staff that have life experience. Someone that isn't a chef but a cook, that can cook the food for parties and combine orders to get food out quicker. It is super easy stuff like panini's and pizzas but the orders get backed up if they don't understand that as one thing cooks you start the next or start 3 orders and have dishes sat out getting cold etc.
Where would you be advertising in my shoes?

PS. All help appreciated but off to a meeting with said staff so will comment as soon as I get back.

It really isn't that entry that is the problem! It isn't brain surgery, but it isn't easy either. I have had no kitchen training and can do it no problem. My eldest member of staff does an amazing job even though 2 years ago, she had never really cooked, even in her own home.
But she has life experience and common sense. And I think that is the key, hence why I am trying to recruit staff over 25/30.

This, in a nutshell

I know that, and I do appear to be searching for a unicorn, but thanks to ridiculous rules around health and safety, insurance and increased wages and NI, it just isn't viable to open weekdays.

I think you need to consider offering more benefits and better training. Do you offer people the option of working one day a week? Or are the hours fixed? Recruiting is hard and retaining good staff is ever harder. The jobs you are offering sound basic, maybe even a bit dull, you kight have to try a bit harder to sell the position.

There’s an organisation called 55 redefined- they support older people into work who are struggling to find roles.

Meant to say that I don't have kids!

Think of who you job would suit, and think of where they would see the advert.

Ie if I'm advertising a job that looks attractive to mums, then I've previously advertised on job boards in places where there's toddler groups etc

Ironically facebook I would assume is predominantly working because older adults are showing younger adults. 18-24 year olds aren't really using facebook these days it's more likely older people

Sorry OP, I am of no help on the matter, but I chuckled at your "do not understand that you start to do something else while something cooks" I do find that the young generations are not even trying to be time efficient indeed! They only do a little bit of what you actually can do in a working day. It is so frustrating!

Have you stopped reading my post at the 1st sentence and replied?

We're basically saying the same thing. I also worked in hospitality for more than 15 years, so to me, that job description is closer to entry level than to more experienced roles, but that's just my take. I also clearly say that too many consider these roles as no/low skilled and I completely disagree, it requires a LOT of skills.
Lastly, an entry level role doesn't mean there is nothing to learn or consider?!?!? Quite the opposite.

Literally what I am asking! Where do I post?
Facebook and indeed are no good - indeed is just full of people trying to prove that they applied for enough hours that week.

@MushMonster
If it helps everyone generation has said this about the generation below them

I can guarantee someone said it your generation when you entered the work force!

I did watch an interesting talk about how the increased movement to hourly work vs salary vs output related (eg paid per item made) and the change of management styles have deinsentivised working quickly.

The example given was that in retail staff are often not allowed to stand still, so there's no incentive to do tasks quickly because you get given more tasks, get given unproductive tasks so you dont look idle , or risk being sent home early unpaid and for many jobs if you finished earlier etc you'd no longer be allowed to clock off paid or take a break wheres historically employers had more discretion.

That sounds like a job a school 'dinner lady' might like to take up for a few extra hours.

Do they have to do Sat and Sun or could you have two people.

I'd also contact the Job Centre and ask to see a work coach, they help with finding work for specific groups, so a work coach dealing with people who have been made redundant.

My point is you need to think who it would suit?

My answer would be that the people that fit naturally is students, and I'd be focusing on the training/ more successful recruitment of them. You don't want that demographic but I can't think of another target market but assume you have an idea in your head of the perfect applicant

If you think theres a type of person this job would be perfect for, who are they?

It might be trying a combo eg. Summer work is possibly attractive to current term time workers but not weekend work. Weekend work might be attractive If it's only alternate full weekends (to catch people with child custody stuff).

Jeez, don’t do this, it’s illegal, you could get done (quite rightly) for age discrimination. Focus on the skills and experience you want.

You sound so ageist.

There are plenty of bright capable students who are well capable of multitasking and many young people have more energy than older ones!!

You sound like you are falling into the recruitment trap of wanting to hire in your own image. I'm guessing you are a middle aged female.

If the staff you are hiring aren't up to par then there can only be 2 reasons:
Either the training isn't good enough, or you aren't paying enough for the calibre of worker you would like

When you said mature, I was thinking 55 up. Surely it's legal to state, mature applicants welcome.
What you're asking is for someone to work conveyor belt conditions, heating up premade pizzas all day, without factory pay.

You said you found it an easy job, so why don't you take it on and recruit someone for yours.

What about advertising on your local town/city/suburb’s Facebook page? Most areas have a few - our town even has a “X town business” page as well as other bigger ones - a lot are left over from Covid.

Mature people are unlikely to be on your business’s Facebook page unless they have small children.

I think if you wrote something like “would suit someone with home cooking experience” that might appeal to people who haven’t cooked professionally before.

It does sound hard work though, I doubt someone nearing 60 would want to be on their feet in a hot kitchen all day.

Have a look at the requirements for people applying, are you asking for a CV and covering letter? Could you change that and just ask people to email in giving an idea of their experience? Many older people I know find the idea of writing a CV off putting/scary if they’ve been in one job or self employed for a long time and not had to do so. Are all the requirements for the job you list completely necessary for the role?

Are there other things you could mention that might sound nice eg free meals, friendly team, Christmas bonus? Friends/family discount of some kind? I can imagine a young grandma taking this on for example.

Health and safety legislation was hard-won, and written in blood. How dare you criticise it as ridiculous?

I think training is your issue, because you have posted about your play centre before and wanting your entertainers to be more proactive, but it sounded like you wanted the ideas to come from them and they overall needed more ongoing support and feedback to get really good at the role. Similarly in the kitchen, if it's not complicated, it's not really about age, but about ongoing training and supervision until they've been doing the job for long enough to have a sense of what's needed. I had a similar job when I was 17 and I remember the team leader (who was probably only a few years older) showing me how to do things as they came up, making suggestions of what other things needed doing if I was a loose end, etc. You learn by doing it, so after a few months, I was much better at just knowing what needed doing, but if you'd talked me through it, shown me once or twice, and then left me to get on with it on my own, I might not have been as confident.

Surely a young grandma is likely to find weekends precious? As that's likely to be when the rest of the family can meet up and grandkids aren't at school?

My mum that's needed for child care supports most in school holidays. Even my younger niblings are in term time preschools or have term time nursery funding.

My family is slightly unusual as we are a lot of shift workers so family meet ups can be on a Tuesday rather than a Sunday but that's rare and changing now the kids can't do weekday meet ups

The role, hours and salary are not going to suit the people you are looking for - middle aged professionals its only going to really students. Bear in mind too that people who claim certain benefits have to evidence looking for work so you will get applicants from people who are not interested. We advertised a junior seasonal min wage role at my old job we got over 150 applicants of which approx 20 actually wanted the job

Is there a catering college or one that offers catering courses near you? Students will have some experience but you'll also have to train and supervise.

You're probably going to have to offer more as well, I could do this job, and very likely well, but the hours aren't enough for me because I need more than a part time job.

I think you're going to have to do more than just advertise and hope the perfect candidate falls into your lap, I agree it's not rocket science but there is legislation and practices to stick to, less and less people want to work in hospitality because it's low pay, hard work and you need people working when everyone else is off - which is why those times are the busiest. People rightly want to be compensated for that.