Culinary Chef Resume Guide + Tips + Example

A great job as a culinary chef demands a compelling culinary chef resume. Not sure what that looks like? Don’t worry! We’re here to help you create one. Our guide to crafting an impressive resume for a culinary chef job will help you showcase your team leadership and operations management skills so you can get the job you want.

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Sample resume for a culinary chef (text version)

Angelica Brannen

Atlantic City, NJ 08404
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com

Professional Summary

Accomplished chef with over 15 years of comprehensive experience working in the food service industry. Adept at strictly monitoring kitchen activities and meeting health code standards. Specialties in Italian and American cuisine. Strong organizational, leadership and management skills. Ready for new challenges creating tasty meals for successful establishments.

Work History

July 2014 – Current
Carmine’s Italian Restaurant
Lead Chef

  • Develop and cook exciting, memorable dishes that brought new customers into the establishment and bolstered restaurant revenues to $3.5 million per year.
  • Mentor and lead more than 10 kitchen staff at all levels to prepare each for demanding roles.
  • Spearhead menu planning, recipe development and day-to-day management for two locations, as well as catering operations.

January 2011 – June 2014
Cafe 2825
Chef

  • Hired, trained and managed all kitchen staff, including employee development, issuing disciplinary action and conducting performance reviews.
  • Planned promotional menu additions based on seasonal pricing and product availability.
  • Introduced new market items and spearheaded the production of the highly popular Sunday brunch, generating an increase of 15% in monthly revenue.

July 2006 – December 2010
Capriccio – Philadelphia, PA
Sous Chef

  • Assisted with the development of full, tasting and special events menus for 300 guests to meet all establishment needs and maintain strong customer levels.
  • Plated every dish with attractive flair to meet strict restaurant standards and maintain a stellar business reputation.
  • Acted as head chef when required to maintain continuity of service and quality.

Skills

  • Recipes and menu planning
  • Signature dish creation
  • Fine-dining expertise
  • Specialty in Italian food
  • Team leadership
  • Operations management
  • Effective communications
  • Quality standards

Education

Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor of Science Culinary Arts & Sciences

Certifications

Food Handler’s certification – (Updated 2022)

5 essentials of a top resume for a culinary chef

  1. Contact details

    Add your contact information to the top of your resume so hiring managers can contact you. As our culinary chef resume sample shows, your contact information must include your full name, city, state, ZIP code, phone number and professional email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile and a professional website, add them last.

  2. Personal statement

    A professional summary, also known as a personal statement, is a concise, three-to-five-sentence statement that tells the hiring manager who you are and what you offer. A resume summary for a culinary chef must include job-relevant skills and one or two notable accomplishments. It should touch on how long you’ve been in the industry. If you are just starting out in your career, it’s better to write a resume objective for a culinary chef instead.

  3. Skills

    Create a skills section on your resume so hiring managers can see if your skill set matches their needs. A resume template for a culinary chef resume will have a separate section for your job-relevant skills in a bulleted list. As our culinary chef resume sample shows, it’s best to include both hard and soft skills, such as your technical expertise, project oversight and organizational skills.

  4. Work history

    Whether this is your first job or you’ve been at it for decades, your culinary chef resume must include a section to display your job history. In reverse-chronological order, display your current and previous employers and provide company names, locations and the dates you worked for them. Include three bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list.

  5. Education

    A resume for a culinary chef job must include an education section. In reverse-chronological order, show the name of the schools and the years that you graduated using bullet points. If you did not attend college, then list your high school information and the classes or training you’ve taken since graduating. If you come from an apprenticeship, then list it here.

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Do’s and don’ts for building a culinary chef resume

  • Use measurable achievements to describe your culinary chef skills and experience.
  • Use action words to make an impact on your culinary chef resume.
  • Tailor your resume to your target culinary chef job.
  • Use keywords from the job description throughout your culinary chef resume.
  • Format your culinary chef resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
  • Lie about your culinary chef experience and skills.
  • Boast that you’re the “best culinary chef ever.”
  • Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
  • Add skills and experience that are about something other than being a chef.
  • Forget to proofread. A culinary chef resume with errors is unprofessional.

Top 4 tips for acing a culinary chef interview

  1. Research first.

    It’s vital to take the time to learn about the institution or company’s history, goals, values and people before the interview. Doing so conveys interest, passion and commitment — traits that can set you above the competition.

  2. Practice your answers.

    Practice is really important. Be sure to practice for your interview by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as: 

    And some possible behavioral questions such as:

    Write down two or three possible answers for each question, then practice answering them with a friend.

  3. Prepare questions to ask during the interview.

    After the hiring manager and potential colleagues question you, they will likely offer for you to ask them some questions. Always have at least three for each person you speak with; doing so shows that you’re interested and have been paying close attention.

    Some questions you might ask for a culinary chef job are: 

    • What is a typical day like on the job?
    • Can you tell me about the challenges the last person in this role had to overcome?
    • What is the work culture like?
  4. Gather references

    Have professional references ready during your interview. It comes in handy, especially if the hiring manager offers you the job on the spot. Make a list of two former colleagues and a former manager willing to speak highly about your abilities to perform the culinary chef job.

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