The Craigslist of Food Jobs

Most people who like to eat think at least in passing of making a career in food. And, like any industry, food companies are always looking for good employees. Hey, thought Good Food Jobs founders Taylor Cocalis and Dorothy Neagle, why don't we get these two groups together? The result: a jobs listing site with a small (just 60 jobs at yesterday's launch) but choice selection of open positions. Sous-chef at Zingerman's? Intern with Top Chef Masters winner's Marcus Samuelsson Group? These are some pretty snazzy listings. But Craigslist is the 800-pound gorilla of employment finders, so what makes Cocalis and Neagle think they can make a business out of curating food-job want ads?

"Everyone we talk to says, 'We're so sick of being a slave to Craigslist,'" says Cocalis. "You get hundreds of hundreds of résumés, and that takes a lot of work to go through." Her hope is that "when companies list with us you get just 10 or 15 people applying. But they're the right people."

Cocalis and Neagle both have food backgrounds, and Cocalis says they find many positions through their personal networks, and others through small, dedicated listservs centering on specialized aspects of food, such as the COMFOOD food-security list. Employers are charged $60 per listing (Craigslist is $25 to $75 per post); job-seekers can look and apply for free. Cocalis and Neagle approve each listing and insist that jobs be in some way supporting "good" food (i.e., sustainable, local, organic, etc.).

Good Food Jobs also has a cool blog, The Gastrognomes, that highlights people in interesting food jobs, such as Paulie Gee of the New York pizza shop, and Daniel Meyer, who tests recipes for Mark Bittman. It's terrific material for armchair fantasies, at the very least.