Culinary Resume Examples, Skills, and Summary with Tips
The culinary industry is fast-paced, competitive, and rewarding. If you want to land your ideal job in this industry you will need the perfect resume. Here’s how to write one.
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How to create the right culinary resume
If you want a job in a culinary role, you will need a resume that shows you are the kind of person who exhibits knowledge of food and restaurant operations, copes with stress, handles a fast-paced work environment, and thinks on your feet. Whether you want an entry-level job or a senior position, it all starts with the right resume. Here’s what you need to know about writing a great culinary resume.
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How to write your culinary resume
If you want to catch a hiring manager’s eye and land a new job, you will need a great resume. Any resume should include these basic sections:
Header
A resume header is placed at the very top of the resume and should contain your full name and contact information. For example, you should include your phone number, email address, and professional social media links, such as your LinkedIn profile.
Resume summary or objective
Under the header, you should include either a resume objective or a resume summary statement. Which one you choose should depend on your experience level. For example, a head chef resume will have a resume summary because this kind of role requires years of experience. A good summary for a resume should include your most relevant achievements and skills. A resume objective statement is more likely to be included on an entry-level resume. This should be a statement of career goals and intentions. Looking for inspiration? Take a look at these resume objective statement examples.
Skills
Your resume skills should include 8 to 12 bullet points detailing your most relevant technical skills, hard skills, and soft skills. Soft skills like communication and conflict resolution can be important for a culinary professional, as you need to have great people skills to work with others and ensure customer satisfaction. Here are some skills that are often listed on food production resumes:
- Interpersonal skills
- Management skills
- Food quality assessment
- Grilling
- Knife skills
- Boiling
- Creaming
- Pastry making
- Time management
- Proficiency with unusual kitchen equipment (e.g. smokers, anti-griddles, liquid nitrogen, etc.)
- Baking
- Advanced culinary skills (e.g. pastry lamination, sous vide, engastration)
Work experience
You should list up to the last 10 years of culinary experience on your resume to get the best results, but if you don’t have food service work experience you should include whatever work experience you do have. List your job title, employment dates, and key achievements in each role, focus on responsibilities and accomplishments and address the needs of the job description. For example, listing a customer service job in which you multitasked can show you can keep up in a kitchen environment.
Education
List your highest education credentials, such as any training you’ve had in culinary school, as well as any related qualifications.
Achievements and awards
Whether you were top of your class in culinary school or you have earned recognition or an award for fine dining food production, you should list achievements like this on your resume. This will help you stand out from the crowd of job seekers.
Certifications
If you have certifications from culinary institutes or other professional bodies you should include them on your resume.
Build my resumeCulinary resume examples you can use
If you are writing your culinary resume for the first time, reviewing appropriate culinary resume templates or examples can help you to get an idea of what may be expected from you. These are just four of the resume examples available at ResumeHelp:
When writing your resume, you should also consider using the ResumeHelp resume builder to ensure that your resume is well-formatted. This free online tool helps with small details like spacing and font size, as well as key elements such as job-specific suggestions to fill out each section.
Tips for creating your culinary resume
Consider these additional tips for polishing your resume content:
Use active language
Active language such as “Created” or “Developed” is a far better way to take ownership of your skills and experience than passive statements like “Was responsible for.”
Be specific
If you’ve created a menu based on specific dishes and cuisines, spell it out, rather than being vague and stating that you created a menu. Try to use numbers, like percentages, to discuss how you’ve made an impact on sales and productivity, which is more likely to impress hiring managers.
Include volunteer work
If you have undertaken unpaid work such as charity work, volunteer work, or an internship you should include this information on your resume as long as it exhibits skills and abilities that are useful for culinary work.
Use resume templates
Online resume builders offer templates with attractive design elements that can help your job application stand out.
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FAQ: Culinary resume
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Do I need a cover letter to go with my culinary resume?
Yes, you need a cover letter to complement any resume and job application. This is an important document that offers job seekers the unique opportunity to converse directly with the hiring manager while providing additional context and information. For personalized tips on securing a position in the culinary world, read our comprehensive cover letter for a restaurant guide. If you want to ensure that your cover letter is properly formatted and functional, the ResumeHelp cover letter builder can be incredibly helpful.
Can I get a culinary job with no experience?
It is possible to get a job in the culinary industry with absolutely no experience or education in the field. It all depends on what job title you want to hold. For example, you can get a regular kitchen staff role fairly easily straight out of high school, but if you want to be a sous chef or a head chef you will need some industry experience and learning. The key is to ensure that your resume shows top skills that also match the needs of the job description.
Should I tailor my resume for every job application?
Tailoring your resume to suit the needs of each new job application is the best way to land a job interview. You can do this by thoroughly reading the job description and highlighting the skills and qualifications listed as necessary. Address these requirements when writing your resume so that your application ranks well in applicant tracking systems (ATS) and makes it to the recruiter’s desk.
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