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Chefs make restaurants a well-oiled machine. As head cook, they channel their love of food into new recipes and menus, and lead other kitchen staff in seamless preparation of food and drink orders. Chefs strive to make their restaurant operations fast enough to turn a profit, while closely monitoring for quality in a collaborative, high-pressure environment. Get a leg up on the competition with a resume crafted by our professional writers. Below, our resources, including expert writing tips, are at your fingertips!
Expert Tip
You should never use a creative resume
Many job seekers think that an eye-catching resume template will help them stand out to hiring managers and increase their chances of landing an interview. This is a myth put out by resume builders that value design over content.
The truth is that most hiring managers prefer a traditional resume format.
Creative resume templates, like the one pictured here, can actually hurt your chances of landing an interview. Instead, you should use a basic resume format that quickly communicates your basic information and qualifications–like the one included below.
Chef resume (text format)
How confident are you feeling about your resume? If you need more help, you can always refer to the following resume sample for a position.
Name
Title
City, State or Country if international
Phone | Email
LinkedIn URL
CHEF PROFESSIONAL
A precision-focused, progressive Chef with experience supporting the culinary operation and administration of diverse establishments. Extremely creative chef with a passion for food, strong business sense and exceptional interpersonal skills. Proven record of streamlining operations and implementing key process improvements while preserving the highest level of customer service and food quality. Skilled at providing effective leadership and turning under-producing individuals into teams that work efficiently and exceed all expectations. Detail-oriented self-starter with excellent oral and written communication, analytical, organizational and time management skills.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Aesthetic Presentation
Chef
Cooking
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Inventory Management
Recipe Development
Safety/ Sanitation Standards Compliance
Staff Supervision
Technical Expertise
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
CHEF
COMPANY INC | CHICAGO, IL | 2015 to 2020
Responsibilities
Successfully designed and executed an interesting dessert menu while collaborating with an assistant to produce the desserts from scratch, providing fresh products for up to 1400 customers daily with approximately 200 desserts served.
Received extensive training for cooking at all of the 5 stations.
Directly oversaw all aspects of daily operations including food production, menu planning, cost control with a budget of $xx and presentation while closely supervising a kitchen staff of xx members.
Developed key procedures for improving the organizational efficiency of the inventory process.
Effectively handled a variety of critical financial duties to ensure top profitability, including evaluating P&L statements and strategically forecasting for the budget.
Built a winning, mutually respectful environment between the front and back of the house, resulting in improved productivity, customer service and staff longevity.
CHEF
COMPANY INC | CHICAGO, IL | 2012 to 2015
Responsibilities
Responsible for assembling organized, efficient production lines while overseeing the quality and execution of cuisine in a fast-paced environment to ensure complete customer satisfaction.
Greatly increased organizational efforts by generating daily prep sheets to guarantee top productivity and efficiency.
Designed weekly tasting menus and features of the day in addition to assisting with inventory and production.
Invented, tested, modified and launched a number of new products according to local taste.
Developed and implemented high quality hygiene and sanitation standards in the working and serving kitchens.
CUSTOMER SERVICE CLERK
COMPANY INC | AMHERST, MA | 2008 to 2012
Responsibilities
Created and integrated innovative product displays and managed the repackaging of products to increase sales opportunities.
Provided outstanding customer service to clients which increased retention and repeat sales by over xx%.
Responsible for handling the efficient shipping of products while ensuring top profitability.
Answered and educated the customers on all products ensuring the best fit for their needs.
Provided outstanding and professional customer support: achieved a record xxx% customer satisfaction rating.
Increased revenues and sales contacts through social interaction and persistent follow up.
Mentored/managed sales representatives in the company to ensure productivity and growth.
EDUCATION
Complete School Name, City, St/Country: List Graduation Years If Within the Last Ten Years
Complete Degree Name (Candidate) – Major (GPA: List if over 3.3)
Relevant Coursework: List coursework taken (even include those you are planning on taking)
Awards/Honors: List any awards, honors or big achievements
Clubs/Activities: List clubs and activities in which you participated
Relevant Projects: List 2-3 projects you have worked on
Everything you need to write your chef resume
Now that you’ve seen an example of a job winning Chef resume, here are some tips to help you write your own. You should always begin with a summary section. Remember to use basic formatting with clear section headings and a traditional layout. Finally, be sure to include top skills throughout your resume. We’ve included several examples common for Chef below.
Let’s start with your resume summary section.
1. Summary
The resume summary replaces the out-of-date resume objective. A summary outlines the most impressive parts of your resume for easy recall by your potential employer, while also serving to fill in personal qualities that may not appear elsewhere on the page. Remember that summaries are short and consist of pithy sentence fragments! You can check out the Chef resume example for more information!
Expert Tip
Always start with your most recent positions at the top of your resume. This is called reverse-chronological format, and keeps your most relevant information easy for hiring managers to review.
2. Formatting
Our experts recommend you start your resume with a resume summary, like the one above. Other common sections are Work Experience, Education, and either Skills or Core Competencies. Here are some guides from our blog to help you write these sections:
Some resumes will include other sections, such as Volunteer Experience or Technical Skills. When it comes to what sections you need to include on your resume, you will know best!
Other sections for you to consider including are foreign language skills, awards and honors, certifications, and speaking engagements. These could all be relevant sections for your resume.
3. Appropriate skills
Aesthetic Presentation
Chef
Cooking
Cost Control
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Culinary Operation & Administration
Customer Service
Food Quality
Inventory Management
New Product Testing & Development
Operational Streamlining
Personnel Retention
Procedure Development
Process Redesign & Improvement
Productivity Improvement
Recipe & Menu Development
Safety/Sanitation Standards Compliance
Staff Supervision
Team Leadership & Motivation
Technical Expertise
Time Management
4. Experience section
Your Work Experience section should make up the bulk of your resume. This section should include your relevant job titles, companies that employed you, and the dates you were employed.
The bulk of your Chef resume should be the Work Experience section. While this section should include your relevant job titles, company, and the dates you were employed, it should also include your accomplishments and key skills. For example, • Successfully designed and executed an interesting dessert menu while collaborating with an assistant to produce the desserts from scratch, providing fresh products for up to 1400 customers daily with approximately 200 desserts served. This is a strong bullet point because it gives concrete numbers. Consider how much more impressive it is to say “1400 customers daily” than “numerous customers daily”--the first tells readers exactly how fast you worked, while the second leaves them guessing. Resumes that give specific figures are more prone to catch the reader’s attention, and give a clear view of the scope/scale of a person’s duties and achievements.
Let’s wrap it up!
Standout resumes will include a resume summary, a traditional reverse-chronological layout, and the skills and experience relevant to your job target. This resume example shows how to include those elements on a page. It’s up to you to insert your personal compelling qualifications.
Keep your resume format easy to scan by both humans and computers; our resume template is designed by our experts to satisfy both audiences. And be sure to include your own skills, achievements, and experiences. Job-winning resumes are resumes that successfully market you, leading recruiters and hiring managers to want to learn more!
Finally, emphasize your interest with a customized cover letter. When writing, remember that the resume and cover letter should support each other. Check out our cover letter tips and examples for more advice.
Didn’t get the specific answers you were looking for on this page? Hire a professional resume writer to get the advice you need to land your next job.
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