As far as job opportunities go, this one is a sweet deal.
Oban Chocolate Company was inundated with applications after serving up the rare chance to become a trainee chocolatier.
The successful applicant is a young local woman, and she’s unlikely to get bored.
She will be expected to get creative and help come up with flavour ideas for chocolate of the month.
The role will also include the tough job of tasting each of company’s 50 flavours on offer, so that she can chat to customers about them.
Is it too good to be true?
It certainly sounds great.
But as Oban Chocolate Company owner Helen MacKechnie warns, it’s no walk in the park.
At times, the job can be repetitive.
You’ll also be on your feet all day and have to work under the watchful eyes of customers viewing the action from behind the glass factory window.
Helen said: “It involves the day-to-day preparation of our chocolates from start to finish.
“It is a difficult job. You are on your feet all day. We make more than 50 different kinds of chocolates.
“Once the head chocolatier has decided what we are making for that day, it is a case of preparing all the fillings, preparing all the moulds for the chocolates and also piping all the centres for the truffles.
“And then doing lots of dishes. So it is not all glamourous.”
The popular seafront cafe, gift shop and factory is located on Corran Esplanade.
An ad for the job, which appeared on Oban Chocolate Company‘s Facebook page, was shared more than 80 times.
Helen, who has run the company since 2003 with husband Stewart, said: “We don’t have a very high staff turnover of people in the factory because they love it.
“It is the kind of job where you can’t really have work experience. And it is difficult to know who is going to be good at it before they do it.
“There were more than 15 applicants. It can be really difficult to recruit staff so that was good.”
The successful applicant’s details are being kept under wraps until she gets settled into the business.
Helen said: “She is interested in food, has a food production background and is used to working in a food environment.
“They were all very interested. It was difficult to choose someone. We had a lot of good applicants.”
Describing what it takes to be a chocolatier, Helen said: “You need to be a quick, tidy worker who doesn’t mind being watched through the viewing window, because the customers come in and watch what’s happening.
“You have got to be a good team player. You can teach anyone the job. But it is as much about personality as it is about skills.
“You do get to eat the chocolate, but not during your shift. We encourage our staff to try all of our chocolates so that they can tell our customers what they taste like.
“We have a special tray in the factory where all the chocolates that are not the perfect shape go. The staff help themselves to that.”
Chocolate of the Month
Giving examples of some of the flavours on offer, Helen said: “We also make a new chocolate flavour every month and call it chocolate of the month. It can be anything from peach bellini to bacon and maple syrup.
“It is good fun. Generally people are not sure of the unusual ones. But when they try them they usually say ‘that’s actually quite nice.’ They are never disgusting, they are sometimes just a bit unusual.
“My favourite? Strawberry Cream is always a winner. Raspberry Cranachan is good. It is like asking me to pick a favourite child – I just can’t do it.”
