As a chef, your resume needs to serve up the perfect blend of skills, experience, and culinary flair to catch a potential employer’s eye.
That’s why we’ve cooked up this handy guide, complete with tips for sharpening your resume to Michelin-star standard.
Check out our chef resume example below and get ready to whet the appetite of the hiring managers at your dream kitchen.
Contents
|
Chef Resume Example
This example Chef resume showcases the optimal structure and great content to include in your own resume.
Designed to be professional and easy for recruiters to read, it serves as an excellent example of a good Chef resume.
Next, we’ll guide you through the process of developing a compelling Chef resume of your own.
Chef resume structure & format
Resume structure
The importance of a well-structured resume cannot be overstated for Chef positions.
For a resume that stands out to recruiters, structure it with these key sections:
- Contact details: Your full name and contact options.
- Resume summary: A succinct summary showcasing your expertise and skills.
- Core skills: A list of skills essential for Chef jobs, presented in bullet points.
- Work experience: Your job history, with the most recent roles first.
- Education: Your formal education and any relevant training.
- Additional info: Optional section for highlighting unique skills or interests that relate to Chef.
How to format your Chef resume
To make a strong impression, your resume format must be both professionally stylish and easy for recruiters to read quickly.
Here are our vital formatting tips to make your resume both appealing and reader-friendly.
- Resume length: Keep your resume concise, aiming for 1 to 2 pages. With recruiters swamped by resumes daily, keeping it brief can help you stand out.
- Font & colour scheme: Use a simple font which is easy to read and avoid elaborate ones which might make reading difficult. Go for black-text-on-white background, but feel free to add a splash of colour in the design to help your resume stand out.
- Page layout: Divide the page into clearly visible sections using bold headings or borders, so that readers can quickly pinpoint the information they want.
- Break text up: Make use of bullet points and short paragraphs to breakup text, simplifying the info for busy recruiters to digest.
- Photos: Photos are not mandatory in Australia but you can add a small headshot to the top if you like.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our Resume Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional resume templates.
Contact Details
Being reachable and identifiable is essential for any job seeker which makes the contact details section a fundamental part of your resume. Although simple, it’s crucial to execute this section correctly.
Be sure to include these vital details clearly at the top of your resume, and be economical with the space you use:
- Your name and professional title: Adapt the title (e.g. Marketing Asssitant or Junior IT Manager) to suit the roles you’re aiming for.
- Email address: Use a professional-sounding email (e.g. shane-smith@gmail.com) and steer clear of nicknames or informal tags (e.g., shanzeybwoySmitho200@gmail.com).
- Phone number: Provide your mobile number for direct contact. Double-check to ensure it’s correct.
- Location: Include the general area you are targeting for work, such as Canberra, Brisbane.
You might also consider adding these optional details:
- Webpage links: Connect to a professional online presence such as a LinkedIn profile or a personal portfolio, making sure they are properly maintained and professional.
- Photograph: In creative sectors, a professional photo can be helpful, though it should not dominate your resume’s layout.
It’s advisable to omit personal information such as your date of birth, full home address, or gender from your resume as these do not enhance your job application and occupy precious space.
Chef Resume Summary
Your resume summary is a short introductory paragraph at the top of the page, designed to give recruiters a high-level overview of your suitability.
If you want to hook recruiters attention and encourage them to read more of your resume, do the following:
- Keep it short: Aim for a concise summary of 3 to 5 sentences, ensuring it can be quickly scanned. You can elaborate on details later, in the work experience section.
- Tailor to target jobs: To stand out, align your summary closely with the skills and keywords found in your target job adverts, increasing the likelihood that recruiters will recognise your fit for the role.
- Avoid using cliches: Steer clear of clichés such as “dynamic multitasker” or “goal-oriented individual” – they’re tired non-factual phrases that won’t make you stand out to employers.
Chef resume summary example
What to include in your Chef resume summary
- Summary of your experience: Outline the variety of roles you’ve undertaken and the organisations you’ve been part of to give employers a clear overview of your career experience.
- Relevant skills: Highlight your most valuable skills, focusing on job-specific skills for Chef jobs.
- Qualifications: Include a short note about any relevant qualifications for Chef roles to demonstrate your suitability for the position.
- Benefits of hiring you: Employers want to see the value you offer to their organisation, whether it’s through cost savings, enhanced productivity, or increased customer acquisition.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
If you really want to ensure that your resume gets noticed, add a core skills section.
It’s a bullet pointed list of your most in-demand skills relating to Chef jobs.
Keep each one under 4 words in length, so they jump off the page and are easily spotted by even the busiest hiring managers.
Skills for your Chef resume
Menu Planning – Developing diverse and seasonal menus that cater to the preferences and dietary requirements of patrons while also considering cost and kitchen capabilities.
Culinary Expertise – Mastery of a wide range of cooking techniques, including baking, grilling, sautéing, and sous-vide, to create high-quality dishes.
Food Safety Compliance – Ensuring all kitchen practices adhere to food safety regulations and standards to maintain hygiene and prevent foodborne illnesses.
Ingredient Knowledge – Possessing deep understanding of ingredients, their flavour profiles, and how they combine, to innovate and enhance menu items.
Pastry Techniques – Crafting a variety of baked goods and desserts, from bread to delicate pastries, with precision and creativity.
Butchery Proficiency – Skilfully breaking down meats, poultry, and fish, ensuring minimal waste and adherence to quality standards.
Stock and Sauce Preparation – Preparing a foundation of stocks and sauces that form the base for complex flavours in various dishes.
Kitchen Equipment Operation – Operating a wide range of kitchen equipment safely and efficiently, from knives and mixers to ovens and sous-vide machines.
Plate Presentation – Arranging food aesthetically on plates, considering colour, balance and design, to create an appealing visual experience.
Inventory Management – Maintaining an organised system for tracking kitchen inventory, projecting needs, and managing supplies without overstocking or wastage.
Quick tip: Our Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience section
Your work experience section is cruciall in demonstrating your value to potential employers.
Organise your past positions in reverse chronological order, emphasising your most recent 3-5 years of professional experience.
Structuring your jobs
Help recruiters quickly understand your past job duties by organising them in the following way.
Outline
Introduce each job with a concise 1 to 2 line outline that covers the employer’s business, your role within the structure, and the key goals of your position.
Key responsibilities
Add 5-8 bullet points to show what your main responsibilities are, emphasising key skills, knowledge and tools used.
Keep each point concise and demonstrate how your work feeds into the wider running of the company.
Key achievements
Lastly, prove impact by highlight 1-3 key achievements that you made within the role.
Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.
For example, you might have increased company profits, improved processes, or helped a customer to achieve their goals.
Add numbers to quantify your achievements if you can.
Example job for Chef resume
Outline
Create memorable dining experiences for a sophisticated resort with high-end Japanese and seafood restaurants, as well as a lagoon-style pool and two spas.
Key Responsibilities
- Collaborate with executive/head chefs to plan and generate menus that reflect seasonal produce, local flavours, and guest preferences.
- Ensure variety and innovation while abiding by budgetary constraints.
- Aid in supervising the cooking of meals according to established recipes, portion sizes, and quality expectations, while demonstrating proficiency in various cuisines.
- Manage day-to-day kitchen operations, including staff scheduling, delegation of tasks, inventory control, and equipment maintenance.
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Place your education section towards the end of your resume.
It should be formatted as a bullet-pointed list highlighting your qualifications and academic achievements, especially those pertinent to Chef roles.
Experienced candidates should keep this section concise, but if you have minimal experience you can elaborate on these qualifications to showcase your relevant skills and knowledge.
This section can include:
- University degrees
- Industry specific qualifications for Chef jobs
- Vocational education and training (VET) diplomas
- Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE)
Additional information (optional)
At the very bottom of your resume you can add an additional info section, for anything else that might help you to look more appealing to employers.
This is often used for hobbies and interests, but can also include awards, publications or a list of technical skills.
If you are considering adding anything here, remember to only include things that are related to your work, or things which are very impressive.
Don’t add common pastime hobbies such as watching TV or socialising with friends, as they won’t make any impact.
Writing a good Chef resume isn’t easy, but by following the steps above carefully you should be able to craft a resume which gets responses from recruiters and lands plenty of interviews.
Remember to proofread your resume once it’s finished and always tailor it slightly on every application to ensure you always look highly suitable for the job.
Good luck with your job search!