How should I present the venue in a Kitchen Porter job ad?

Present the venue from the kitchen porter's perspective, not the diner's. KP candidates do not care about your restaurant concept, interior design, or menu philosophy. They want to know about the wash-up area, the condition of the dishwashers, how much space they have to work, and how many covers the kitchen produces during a busy service. Describe the practical reality of the environment where they will spend their shifts: is there a dedicated pot wash station or are they squeezed into a corner? Are the industrial dishwashers reliable or constantly breaking down? Is the kitchen large enough for the volume it handles, or is everyone working on top of each other? These details communicate far more about the quality of the opportunity than any description of the front of house.

Common misunderstanding: Describing the restaurant's reputation and dining concept helps attract kitchen porter candidates.

Kitchen porters experience the venue from the back of house, where the restaurant's reputation among diners is irrelevant to their daily working life. A Michelin-starred kitchen with broken dishwashers and no space to work is a worse KP job than a well-equipped pub kitchen. Focus on what the candidate will actually see, use, and work with every shift.

Common misunderstanding: Video job ads for kitchen porters should showcase the front of house to give candidates a sense of pride in the venue.

If you are recording a video job ad, show the kitchen. Show the wash-up area, the equipment, the space. KP candidates want to see where they will actually work, and showing the dining room instead suggests either that you are hiding poor kitchen conditions or that you do not understand what matters to the people you are recruiting.

What details about the working environment should I include in a Kitchen Porter job ad?

Include the practical details that determine whether a kitchen porter's shift will be manageable or miserable. Describe your dishwashing equipment — industrial glass washer, plate dishwasher, separate pot wash area — and confirm that it is maintained and functional. State how many covers the kitchen handles on a busy night so candidates can gauge the wash-up volume. Mention how many porters work each service and whether chefs help with clearing and stacking during the rush. Address break arrangements honestly: how long, when during the shift, and whether the porter actually gets to sit down. If staff meals are provided, say so. These details may seem small, but they are the difference between a kitchen that respects its porters and one that treats them as afterthoughts.

Common misunderstanding: Equipment details are too operational to include in a job ad and belong in onboarding instead.

Equipment quality directly affects whether a kitchen porter can do their job without unnecessary frustration. A working dishwasher versus a broken one, adequate hot water versus intermittent supply — these are not operational footnotes. They are the single biggest factor in whether the KP's shift is productive or a constant battle, and candidates with experience know this.

Common misunderstanding: Kitchen porters do not notice or care about the physical workspace as long as the pay is acceptable.

Experienced kitchen porters are acutely aware of their workspace. They notice whether the wash-up area has enough room to stack, whether the floor drainage works, and whether the ventilation is adequate. A cramped, poorly ventilated wash-up station with water pooling on the floor makes every shift harder. If your workspace is well designed, that is a genuine selling point worth highlighting.

Why does showing the venue matter when recruiting a Kitchen Porter?

Showing the venue matters because kitchen porters have experienced kitchens that looked acceptable during a brief interview but turned out to have broken equipment, impossible workloads, and cramped working conditions. Many KPs have taken roles based on vague descriptions only to discover on their first shift that the dishwasher barely functions and the workload is designed for two people but staffed for one. By showing the actual working environment — ideally through video — you build trust with candidates who have learned to be sceptical. A well-equipped, properly organised wash-up area visible in a video ad communicates more credibility than any written claim about being a "great place to work."

Common misunderstanding: Kitchen porters make job decisions based on the interview conversation, not the physical environment.

Kitchen porters often make their real assessment during a trial shift when they see the working environment firsthand. Many drop out after a single trial in a poorly equipped kitchen. Showing the venue upfront in your ad filters for candidates who are genuinely suited to your specific environment and reduces the costly cycle of trial shifts that lead nowhere.

Common misunderstanding: All kitchens are essentially similar from a porter's perspective, so there is no point differentiating on environment.

Kitchen environments vary enormously for porters. The difference between a kitchen with two industrial dishwashers, a dedicated pot wash area, and adequate supplies versus one with a single unreliable machine, no space, and constant shortages is the difference between a manageable job and an impossible one. If your kitchen is well set up, showing that is one of the most powerful recruitment tools you have.