Food Service Resume Examples to Help You Succeed

Jobs that can use food service resumes

When you’re looking to work in the food service industry there are a variety of different food service roles to choose from:

• General food service worker
• Chef
• Sous chef
• Food service manager
• Cash register manager
• Restaurant manager
• Host/Hostess
• Server

While each of these individual titles will focus on different skills and qualifications, the structure of a resume for jobs in this field will be similar.

How to write your food service resume

When recruiters or hiring managers are looking at your resume, they want to see a solid skills section and relevant experience in the industry. Here’s how you can emphasize these qualifications for your food service job.

Resume summary or objective

Think of this section as a summation of your resume, where you will display your most impressive work experience, best skills and major achievements. It’s easier to write this section after you complete writing the remaining sections of your resume. That way, you can review your information and create a powerful resume objective or resume summary from your best resume highlights.

Skills

Your skills section should be robust, even if you’re looking for an entry-level job. Here are a few food service resume skills examples to consider in your resume writing process:

• Communication skills
• Multitasking skills
• Use of a POS
• Food handling/preparation
• Food safety standards in the kitchen
• Use of standard restaurant kitchen equipment
• Taking food orders
• Maintaining kitchen cleanliness
• Time management
• Customer satisfaction
• Customer service skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Interpersonal skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Teamwork

Note how many of these are soft skills. When you work in the food service industry, you’ll find that you need to communicate with customers, team members and managers, all while providing excellent customer service. This can be a hectic work environment, and it’s important to show that you have the intangible skills to manage it.

Work experience

Previous work experience is important to hiring managers in the food service industry. However, even if you are light on work experience, you can still put together a strong work history section. Your work history should expand on the qualifications you stated in your resume summary/objective section. Showcase your career progression and highlight your most significant achievements with specific examples and their outcomes.

Education

Many food service jobs only require a high school diploma or GED equivalent. However, higher-level jobs will require a college education. Include any relevant culinary education, certifications or professional training you’ve received. Do not list your GPA in your education section, however, you can list academic honors like cum laude. 

Certifications

The most well-known certification for a food service job is the food safety license or food handler’s license. This certification shows that you understand safe food handling. If you don’t have this when you apply for a job, then the company may help you during the onboarding process.

More resume examples you can use

ResumeHelp has many resume examples across the food and culinary industries that can give you a great start to building your own perfect resume. Whether you’re aiming for a food service manager role or doing a server job description resume, you can find food service resume examples that can help. When you’re ready to get started, use the resume builder, which provides expert job-specific advice to create your resume.