Culinary Director Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Culinary Director resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Culinary directors oversee all aspects of their restaurants’ culinary operations. They set the vision for the menu, manage staff, and create or approve food and beverage costs. They also work closely with other departments to ensure that everything from payroll to purchasing is running smoothly.
Because culinary directors are often responsible for managing a large team, communication skills are essential—you need to be able to convey your vision clearly and succinctly to your staff. And because you’re often the point person for your organization when it comes to food safety and regulatory compliance, you also need to be detail oriented and organized.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write a culinary director resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write a Culinary Director Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to simply list your responsibilities. But that’s not enough to make a strong impression. Instead, you should use your bullet points to demonstrate your value by highlighting your accomplishments and results.
For example, rather than saying you “managed kitchen staff,” you could say you “increased kitchen staff productivity by 15% while reducing food waste by 10%, resulting in a 10% increase in restaurant revenue.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what you did and the results of your work. And that’s what hiring managers want to see!
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a culinary director role, your resume is likely to be screened by an applicant tracking system (ATS). This program will scan your resume for certain keywords related to the position. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right keywords, the ATS might disqualify you from the pool of applicants.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, make sure to include keywords throughout all sections of your resume. Here are some of the most commonly used culinary director keywords:
- Culinary Management
- Menu Development
- Catering
- Fine Dining
- Food & Beverage
- Restaurant Management
- Hospitality Management
- Cooking
- Food Safety
- Culinary Education
- Food Preparation
- Banquet Operations
- Pre-opening
- Recipe Development
- Sanitation
- Hospitality
- Chef
- Event Management
- Pastry
- Restaurant Marketing
- Menu Costing
- Event Planning
- New Restaurant Openings
- Hospitality Service
- Customer Service
- Wine
- Microsoft Access
- HACCP
- Leadership
- Leadership Development
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a culinary director, you will need to be proficient in a variety of software programs in order to effectively manage your kitchen. Programs like Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Google Suite (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar), and social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter are all commonly used by culinary directors. Additionally, you will need to be familiar with food-specific software programs, like recipe databases and menu planning tools.