Chef Resume Examples and Writing Tips

Key sections to include in a chef resume

Like our chef resume template above, it’s typical to include a header, summary, two to three work experience entries, education, and skills. If you have space left over, we encourage you to add relevant optional sections, like languages or hobbies.

Let’s explore these in-depth, including realistic example chef resume sections for each point.

Your resume header is a crucial section. It contains vital information like your phone number and email address – data the hiring manager needs if they’re interested in interviewing you for the role.

A chef resume header should include the following information:

Full name
Job title
Phone number
Email address
Location (city and state)
LinkedIn URL

Ensure all these details are clear and up to date. You wouldn’t want recruiters contacting an old email address.

Here’s an example chef resume header to use as inspiration:

Carly Reis
Chef
555-4645
carlyreis@example.com
Seattle, Washington
linkedin.com/carlyreis/

Resume objective or summary

A resume summary is a two- to four-sentence description of your professional experience and skills. It’s essentially a quick sales pitch to describe how you’re perfect for the role.

A resume objective is similar, but it’s for professionals with little work experience, such as students. This description details your aspirations and goals in two to four sentences. It’s an opportunity to highlight your skills and how you intend to put them to use.

Here’s an example resume summary for a restaurant chef:

“Innovative chef with 9 years of experience, skilled in managing teams, handling food safety, and controlling kitchen inventory. Adept in upholding quality standards and customer satisfaction. Eager to use keen recipe creation and menu management skills to streamline the food service at Golden Palm Hotel.”

Work experience

The next section is the most important part of your resume. Hiring managers want to see hyper-relevant job experience, which means you need to convey your achievements in a clear, engaging way.

Start by providing your job title, then company name, location, and date of employment, and then add a bullet point list of accomplishments. Here’s an example chef resume work experience entry:

Chef
Grand Monet Hospitality, Seattle, Washington
April 2018 – June 2023

Led a team of 10 chefs in the hotel’s restaurant and ensured quality standards were met, leading to a 100% food safety record
Developed new menu items that aligned with customer demand and available local ingredients
Implemented training programs for cooking staff to enhance efficiency, leading to a 20% overall boost in productivity

Education

Most chef positions don’t require specific education, but high-end restaurants and hotel restaurants might expect a culinary arts degree or a certificate from a culinary school. It’s also a good idea to list any well-known chefs you’ve studied under.

Here’s a quick sample of an education section for your chef resume:

Associate of Applied Science, Culinary Arts Degree
Seattle Central College, Seattle, Washington
2012 – 2014

Hard skills

The right technical skills show an employer that you can properly manage food safety, handle complex equipment, and meet sanitation standards. They also display your proficiency with inventory and ingredient management, which is essential for maintaining a productive kitchen and a healthy team.

Here are the top hard skills for chefs:

Food safety knowledge
Budgeting skills
Inventory management
Menu development and creation
Sanitation standards
Kitchen management
Catering
Pastry preparation
Ingredient selection
Kitchen equipment

Soft skills

Soft skills determine how a chef interacts with customers and teammates, how they manage their time, and how they organize their kitchen. Many professionals don’t take soft skills seriously, but it’s crucial to provide yours – hiring managers are looking for them.

Here are the most important soft skills for chefs:

Time management
Organization
Delegation
Leadership and people management
Attention to detail
Innovation
Communication and people skills

Optional sections

Any extra sections are optional, like languages, hobbies and interests, and volunteer work. If your resume is already full, then don’t feel pressured to add them. However, if you’re lacking work experience or education, it’s a good idea to beef up your resume with these bonus sections.

Languages is a great optional section for chefs. Speaking multiple languages helps with specific cuisines – an Italian restaurant would love to see you speak Italian, even at basic levels. Further, it also helps if a restaurant happens to have a lot of cooks who speak a specific language.

For example, 32.2% of cooks in the United States are Hispanic, so Spanish language skills are likely to be helpful. (1)

To see even more uses for optional sections, browse our resume examples.

Tips for writing a chef resume

The above sections are the foundation for a powerful chef resume, but we can add some extra polish. Let’s go over the best tips and tricks for making a chef resume stand out.

We have a large collection of resume articles if you’re looking for even more tactics for creating the perfect resume.

Quantify your work achievements

Listing your previous work responsibilities is dry and doesn’t capture the hiring manager’s attention. It also makes you blend into the crowd.

The best tactic for describing your work experience is by using quantified achievements. This shows the tangible outcomes of your hard work with numbers and metrics. Compare and contrast typical responsibilities vs. quantified achievements:

Typical responsibilities: Managed inventory and ordered ingredients according to restaurant needs
Quantified achievements: Implemented inventory management best practices to reduce food waste by 25%, saving money and contributing to the company’s CSR strategy

Tailor each resume you submit

Too many professionals approach resumes as a “one-size-fits-all” document. Create one good one and ship it out to every application.

It’s vital to tailor each resume to the job posting you’re targeting. Include relevant achievements, skills, and keywords to showcase your relevance to the position (and build an ATS resume while you’re at it!).

Provide critical certifications

Make sure you include all cooking, food, and drink certifications you have. Satisfying customers, creating innovative recipes, and working well on teams are important – but food safety and sanitation are essential.

Here are a few common certifications it’s important to provide on a chef resume:

ServSafe
Food Safety Manager Certification
Certified Professional - Food Safety
Certified Culinary Administrator
Certified Food Manager

Craft a chef resume that’s “chef’s kiss”

Recruiters won’t be able to taste your alfredo or lobster thermidor, so build a chef resume that showcases your skills through the right skills and quantified achievements. With these tactics, you can prove your qualifications and grab your dream job:

Provide clear contact details
Build an engaging resume summary
Display measurable work outcomes instead of listing responsibilities
List all certifications and licenses that prove your safety and sanitation abilities

Let’s put your new strategies to the test. Head over to CVwizard’s Resume Builder to create an easy, drag-and-drop resume in minutes.

References:

(1) Data USA, 2021: Cooks