Hospitality and food service

Chef Resume Example and Writing Guide

A chef is hired on three counts: the food, the kitchen and the cost. Head chefs and owners look for the cuisines and venues you have worked in, the size of the teams you ran, and whether you can control food cost and meet hygiene standards.

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What employers look for in a chef resume

→Cuisine and venue level: fine dining, gastropub, hotel, catering, high-volume or fast-casual.
→Section or brigade responsibility: stations covered, team size led, and promotion history.
→Cost control: food cost percentage, waste reduction, ordering and supplier management.
→Hygiene compliance: HACCP, allergen systems and inspection results.
→Menu and creativity: dishes you developed, specials and seasonal changes.

Chef resume summary examples

These are illustrative. Swap in your own real details, keep it to three or four lines, and make every claim one you can back up.

Sous chef

Sous chef with six years in modern European restaurants, running a team of eight during service for up to 180 covers. Strong in menu costing, ordering and training, and committed to HACCP and allergen standards. Looking to step up to head chef.

Line cook

Reliable line cook with three years on grill and sauté in a high-volume bistro. Quick, consistent and clean, comfortable with prep lists, mise en place and allergen procedures. Holds a food hygiene certificate.

Example work experience for a chef

Sous Chef

Example Restaurant · Feb 2020 to present

•Led a brigade of eight cooks across 150 to 180 covers per service, keeping tickets on time and consistent.
•Reduced food waste by roughly 12% by revising prep sheets and portioning standards.
•Developed four seasonal menu dishes, two of which became top-selling items.
•Maintained HACCP records and allergen documentation, passing health inspections without critical findings.

A sample only. The figures are illustrative, so replace them with your own real ones and never copy numbers you cannot support.

Skills to put on a chef resume

Hard skills

✓Menu development and costing
✓Section and station management
✓Knife skills and cooking techniques
✓Food cost and waste control
✓Ordering and supplier management
✓HACCP and allergen compliance
✓Kitchen team training
✓Mise en place and prep planning

Soft skills

✓Leading under pressure
✓Consistency
✓Communication on the pass
✓Time management
✓Creativity within constraints

Only list skills you genuinely have, and put the ones the job posting asks for first.

Certifications and qualifications worth listing

✓Culinary diploma or apprenticeship
✓Food hygiene and HACCP certification (names vary by country)
✓Allergen awareness training
✓Food manager or supervisor certificate where required
✓First aid certificate

Requirements and names differ by country and employer. List only what you actually hold, with the year or expiry where relevant.

How kitchens read a chef resume

A head chef reading a resume wants to know where you have trained, what stations you can run, what size of service you can handle and whether you are clean and consistent. Because kitchens are small worlds, the names and styles of the venues you list carry a lot of weight, so give them in full with the cuisine and approximate covers.

Progression is a strong signal. Moving from commis to chef de partie to sous chef within a venue, or being asked to lead a section, shows trust. If you were promoted, show the dates of each step as separate lines rather than hiding them in one long entry.

Numbers that show you can run a section

Chefs are judged on output and cost. Quote covers per service, number of staff you supervised, and your section’s responsibilities. If you contributed to cost control, mention ordering, portioning, wastage reduction or food-cost percentages you helped hit. Even a modest improvement stated honestly is more persuasive than general claims about being organised.

Compliance is a hiring filter. Food hygiene certification, allergen management, temperature logs and inspection results all signal that you will not put the business at risk. Mention the systems you have worked within, such as HACCP, and any inspection ratings in kitchens you ran.

Creativity, training others and fit

Creative contribution should be concrete: dishes you developed, specials you wrote, seasonal menu changes you led. A short note on why a dish worked, whether it sold well or reduced waste, shows commercial thinking as well as skill.

Training matters because kitchens depend on teams. If you trained apprentices or junior cooks, say how many and on what. Finally, check that your resume matches the style of the restaurant you are applying to: a fine-dining kitchen expects precision and technique, while a busy bistro expects speed and consistency. Keep it to one page unless you are applying for head chef roles with a long record.

Keywords recruiters and ATS look for

Use the exact wording from the job description where it is true for you. These terms come up often in this field:

chefsous chefmenu developmentfood costHACCPfood safetykitchen managementmise en placeinventorybrigade

Bullet point formulas

Start with a strong verb, say what you did, and finish with the result. Fill in your real numbers. If you do not have a number, describe what changed instead.

Led a team of [N] across [N] covers per service in a [venue type].
Reduced food cost by [X%] / waste by [X%] through [portioning, prep, ordering changes].
Designed [N] dishes for the [seasonal] menu, with [result such as top seller or price point].
Maintained [HACCP, allergen, hygiene] standards with [inspection result].
Trained [N] junior cooks on [stations or techniques].

How to tailor your chef resume to a job posting

Lead with the cuisine and venue style in the posting, using the same language.
Show the brigade size you have run to match the size of the new kitchen.
Include cost and waste results whenever the role is sous chef or above.
Add any certifications the posting asks for, such as HACCP or a food manager qualification.

Want to see how well your CV matches a posting? Try the free ATS resume checker, or let the CV optimizer do the rewriting for you.

Tips

→Mention covers per service and team size.
→Quantify cost control wherever you can.
→List the kitchens and, where appropriate, the awards or ratings of venues you worked in.
→Keep hygiene qualifications visible.

Mistakes to avoid

✕Only listing dishes, not management or cost results.
✕Hiding promotions inside one long job entry.
✕Vague "passionate about food" lines.
✕Forgetting allergen and hygiene compliance.

Resume format and length for a chef

One page for line cooks, up to two for head chefs with long histories. Open with a summary and venue-level experience, and keep formatting clean.

Cover letter tip

Reference the restaurant's menu or style specifically, then add one example of improving a dish, a process or a cost figure. Need a starting point? The cover letter generator writes a draft from your CV and the job posting.