Glasgow chef hires three employees after posting honest job ad

This story was published June 1, 2015.

There was method to Justin Valmassoi's madness.

Last month, As it Happens spoke to the Glasgow restaurateur who had posted a surprisingly honest job ad online. Well, the ad worked. Justin Valmassoi has officially hired, not one, but three new employees for his restaurant.

"I was just kind of excited to find more than one person," Valmassoi tells As it Happens guest host Tom Harrington.

Valmassoi posted the honest ad hoping to deter unsuitable candidates from applying. His plan backfired -- with the ad going viral. He says he received more than 100 applications.

To shorten the list of candidates, Valmassoi asked applicants to write an honest cover letter.

"The people I tended to respond to were those that wrote back with some sort of direct, possibly humorous, reply," he says. "I had a couple weirdly arrogant ones, but didn't get anything too terrible."  

Valmassoi ended up interviewing around ten candidates. He decided on the successful three last week.

"Everybody was just kind of on the same page," he says.  

The Glasgow restaurant is set to open on July 1.

"We're going to cross our fingers and hope everything works out," he says. "Hopefully nothing explodes and nobody cuts a finger off or something."