Hiring Our First Cook in Mexico

A key benefit of moving to Mexico is the ability to access affordable domestic help, which can significantly enhance your quality of life. For us, hiring a cook was a priority. As someone who doesn’t enjoy cooking and with Michael who enjoys cooking but is not interested in doing it daily, finding someone to prepare our meals was essential. We also knew it would save us money from not eating out daily. This post details my experience hiring our first cook, including the challenges of interviewing in a new culture and language, and some tips on what to consider when hiring domestic help.

Scroll to the end for the interview questions

Finding a Cook in Mexico

I began my search by contacting an expat friend in my area. She connected me with her caterer, who then provided two potential candidates. Since I had no experience in hiring domestic help, I started by discussing my needs, wants and budget with the caterer. I initially set a weekly budget of $40 USD, considering our former food budget and what I have read online that other individuals have based for similar services.

Preparing for Interviews

Given the language barrier—neither of the candidates spoke English and I don’t speak Spanish —I had to adapt my interview process. I decided to send my interview questions in advance via WhatsApp, allowing the candidates time to send their responses in advance of our meeting. I planned to focus on fit during the in-person meeting, rather than getting bogged down in communication difficulties.

Candidate One

The first interview took place on Thursday. Despite sending the questions in advance, the candidate didn’t respond to them and attempted to communicate verbally during our meeting. This led to a challenging interview where I relied heavily on the Google Translate app. While we managed to communicate, I avoided asking some of the more critical, fit-related questions due to my awkwardness in the situation.

One significant concern was that our rental property has a limited selection of pots, pans, and dishes. When I asked the candidate if it would be sufficient, she suggested cooking the meals at her home and bringing them to us. This raised health and logistical concerns due to the grocery shopping and overall cooking process. Although I wanted to remain open-minded, this suggestion didn’t sit well with me. After running it by an expat friend, who flagged this as a potential red flag, I decided I would most likely not move forward. I sent her a follow-up message on Friday, letting her know I would provide her with our final decision by Saturday which would give us time to meet the second candidate and make a decision.

Candidate Two

The second interview went much better. The candidate arrived 30 minutes early, catching me slightly off guard as I was coming from the pool with Camille, but I jumped right in. This candidate came with someone who spoke a little English, which made the process smoother. She also answered most of my questions in advance, allowing us to focus on specific details during our meeting. We discussed the logistics, our food preferences, and our expectations thoroughly.

By the end of the interview, I felt confident in her abilities and decided to hire her. We agreed on a schedule of four days per week, Monday through Thursday, with her arriving at 2 PM each day. As you may have already guessed it, my initial budget estimate of $40 USD per week was way off. We settled on ($350/pesos per day, approx $80 USD/wk). She told me to budget $20 USD/wk for groceries; however, she assured me that the grocery budget could vary depending on the types of meals, particularly if we wanted items like fish. I am not sold on this weekly food budget unless it is a daily amount but she assured me that the local grocer will be much more cost-effective than shopping at larger stores (ie Walmart, Costco, Chedraui, etc.).

Grocery Shopping and Meal Preparation

One of the things I’m looking forward to is learning more about local markets and ingredients. She’s starting Monday and we are planning to go to a local grocer so that she can show me where to buy the best quality food at the best prices. I have much to learn and I am excited about this journey, as well as the relief of not stressing about meal planning and preparation. Not to mention the aspect of food being medicine - that can be an entire post in itself!

Hiring my first cook in Mexico has been an eye-opening experience. It highlighted the importance of cultural awareness, clear communication, and setting realistic expectations. While it took some trial and error, overall it was a quick process and I’m excited about the positive impact this will have on our daily lives and health. I was also uncertain about how to “reject” the first candidate as it was my understanding that the culture was more passive-aggressive and I did not want to come off as rude. Someone has hinted previously that if you stop responding, the individual will get the message and move on. I hate being ghosted so I sent the following standard no-hire response to the candidate, “Thank you for taking the time to interview with us. After consideration, we have decided to move forward with another cook. I appreciate your interest and wish you the best!”.

I’ll provide an update on how realistic the proposed grocery budget is or if I misunderstood, and how the cooking arrangements work out.

My Interview Questions

1. Can you cook 3-4 days a week, and do you have experience in planning weekly meals?

   ¿Puede cocinar 3-4 días a la semana, y tiene experiencia en planificar comidas semanales?

2. Are you comfortable providing a shopping list for the ingredients needed, or would you prefer to purchase them yourself?

¿Se siente cómodo proporcionando una lista de compras para los ingredientes necesarios, o prefiere comprarlos usted mismo?

3. Do you have any recommendations for places to buy ingredients with the best quality and value?

    ¿Tiene alguna recomendación sobre lugares para comprar ingredientes con la mejor calidad y valor?

4. Can you prepare healthy meals that avoid processed and fatty foods?

    ¿Puede preparar comidas saludables que eviten alimentos procesados y grasosos?

5. Are you familiar with preparing meals that include a balance of meat, fiber, starch, and vegetables?

   ¿Está familiarizado con la preparación de comidas que incluyan un equilibrio de carne, fibra, carbohidratos y verduras?

6. The kids love soups. Are you skilled in making a variety of soups that are not too spicy?

   A los niños les encantan las sopas. ¿Tiene habilidad para preparar una variedad de sopas que no sean muy picantes?

7. Please consider our usual breakfast items like fruit, fresh juice, oatmeal, waffles, and cereal, but we would like to be introduced to new Mexican dishes for both breakfast and dinner. Are you comfortable with this?

Por favor, tenga en cuenta nuestros desayunos habituales como fruta, jugo fresco, avena, waffles y cereal, pero nos gustaría que nos introdujera a nuevos platos mexicanos tanto para el desayuno como para la cena. ¿Está cómodo con esto?

8. Could you check our pots and pans to see if they are sufficient for your cooking needs? If not, would you be supplying your own, or should we purchase anything specific?

¿Quando llegues, podría revisar nuestras ollas y sartenes para ver si son suficientes para sus necesidades de cocina? Si no, ¿traerá sus propios utensilios o deberíamos comprar algo en particular?

9. Ideally, we would like dinner to be prepared by 3 or 4 PM, Monday through Wednesday for three days or Monday through Thursday for four days. Does this schedule work for you?

Idealmente, nos gustaría que la cena estuviera preparada a las 3 o 4 de la tarde, de lunes a miércoles para tres días, o de lunes a jueves para cuatro días. ¿Este horario le funciona?

10. Based on what we discussed, what would be your weekly cost for these services?

Según lo que hemos discutido, ¿cuál sería su costo semanal por estos servicios?

11. Do you have any questions for me?

¿Tienes alguna pregunta para mi?

Prepared In-Person Questions

1.Can you tell me a little about yourself? Where do you live?

   ¿Puede contarme un poco sobre usted?¿Dónde vive?

*I did not ask this question this way as my goal was to understand if our location would be a concern versus needing to know where they lived.

2. Are you currently working with other families or in any other roles?

   ¿Actualmente está trabajando con otras familias o en otros roles? 

*I also did not ask this question this way. My goal was to understand if they had other employment and if there would be any conflicts with the daily schedule.

3. What are you looking for in your next role?

   ¿Qué está buscando en su próximo trabajo?

*Skipped

4. Can you describe your previous experience in meal preparation or cooking for a family?

   ¿Puede describir su experiencia previa en la preparación de comidas o en la cocina para una familia?

*Another question I did not ask as it is written. My goal with this question was to understand their cooking skills and what they liked to cook.

5. What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of cooking for a family, and how did you handle it?

   ¿Qué ha encontrado que es el aspecto más desafiante de cocinar para una familia y cómo lo manejó?**

*Skipped but this would have been good to ask both candidates.