Head Chef Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Head Chef resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Head chefs are the top dogs in the kitchen. They’re responsible for managing a team of cooks and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. They set the tone for their entire team, so it’s important that head chefs are confident, charismatic leaders who can motivate their staff.
If you want to land a dream job as a head chef or are looking for a way to advance your career in the culinary world, you’ll need a stellar resume that highlights all of your best qualities. Here are some tips and an example for reference when writing yours.
How to Write a Head Chef Resume
Here’s how to write a head chef resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most effective way to showcase your experience and qualifications. But rather than simply listing your responsibilities, you can make your resume more interesting by using bullet points to describe the results of your work.
For example, rather than saying you “managed kitchen staff,” you could say that you “increased kitchen staff productivity by 15% while reducing food waste by 10% in six-month period.”
The second bullet point is much more interesting and provides a clear sense of the impact of the candidate’s work.
Related: What Is a Head Chef? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for a chef role, it’s likely that it will go through an applicant tracking system (ATS). This program will scan your resume for certain keywords related to the job opening. If you don’t have enough of the right keywords on your resume, the ATS might automatically reject your application.
To make sure you rank high on the list of candidates, use this list of chef keywords as a starting point:
- Culinary Skills
- Menu Development
- Catering
- Food & Beverage
- Fine Dining
- Restaurant Management
- Cooking
- Chef
- Food Safety
- Recipe Development
- Banquet Operations
- Sanitation
- Food Preparation
- Hospitality
- Menu Costing
- Food Quality
- Recipe Testing
- Pastry
- Hospitality Management
- Hotel Management
- Event Management
- Pre-opening
- Fine Dining Restaurants
- New Restaurant Openings
- Food Service
- Menu Engineering
- Nutrition
- HACCP
- Customer Service
- Leadership
Related: How Much Does a Head Chef Make?
Remember The Basics
As you write your resume, it’s important to keep a few basic rules in mind.
Create Scannable Sections
There are a few things you can do to make your resume more skimmable and easy to read. First, left-align all your text and use a standard font size. You should also try to keep your bullets under 2 lines and use digits for numbers. Finally, leave some white space on the page to help the recruiter understand your resume at a glance.
Be Concise
A resume should typically be one page long, unless you have a lot of experience or an extensive academic background. When trimming down a resume, remove irrelevant information, filler words, and unnecessary details.
Check Your Work
Proofreading your resume is an important step in ensuring that it looks its best. There are a few key things to look for when proofreading: spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical mistakes. It is also important to be aware of easily confused words. Spell-checking your resume is a good way to catch mistakes, but it is important to have someone else read it over as well.
Consider Including a Summary
If you’re looking for a way to make your resume more concise and clear, a resume summary statement can help. This section is a brief overview of your skills and experience, and it can be a great way to show off your qualifications for the role you’re hoping to land. When writing your summary, be sure to focus on your relevant skills and experiences, and make it easy for recruiters to see how you could be a good fit for the role. Keep it brief and to the point, and you’ll be sure to make a great impression.
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