Restaurant General Manager Resume Example + Guide + Tips
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To land a job as a restaurant general manager, you’ll need to exhibit your leadership and managerial skills to prospective employers. While these skills are readily demonstrated in person, they can be tricky to convey on paper.
Our guide to crafting an effective resume for a restaurant general manager will help you effectively highlight your expert leadership skills and prior restaurant experience to land your next interview.
Start by editing this restaurant general manager sample resume or explore our library of resume templates to find the best restaurant general manager resume for you.
Restaurant general manager resume sample (text version)
Mark Gonzales
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Results-driven restaurant general manager with over 16 years of extensive experience in leading high-performing teams and managing operations in the food service industry. Proven track record of achieving operational excellence, optimizing productivity, and enhancing customer satisfaction. Proficient in strategic planning, financial analysis and staff development to drive profitability and growth.
Work History
September 2015 – Current
Wissota Chophouse
Restaurant General Manager
- Train 10+ staff member on proper cooking procedures as well as safety regulations and productivity strategies each year.
- Maintain kitchen cleanliness and sanitation through correct procedures and scheduled cleaning of surfaces and equipment.
- Inspect kitchens to observe food preparation quality and service, food appearance and cleanliness of production and service areas.
February 2011 – September 2015
Bresina’s Old Home Restaurant
Assistant Kitchen/Assistant Restaurant Manager
- Helped general management develop prices based on inventory costs and portion sizes.
- Maintained high food quality standards by checking delivery contents to verify product quality and quantity.
- Resolved challenging customer complaints to full satisfaction, promoting brand loyalty and maximizing repeat business by 80%.
January 2007 – February 2011
West Hill Bar & Grill
Head Cook
- Developed recipes, portion specifications, and standard preparation procedures for all dishes.
- Determined purchasing specifications and budgetary allotments for all menu items.
- Kept labor at or below 70% to support business profit targets.
Skills
- Recipes and menu planning
- Kitchen equipment operation and maintenance
- Recruitment
- Active listener
- Kitchen staff coordination
- Marketing and sales
- Strategic planning
- Communication
Education
Chippewa Valley Technical College Eau Claire, WI
Associate of Applied Science Restaurant And Culinary Management
Hennepin Technical College Minneapolis, MN
Associate of Arts Culinary Arts
Certifications
- ServSafe Manager Certification
- Certified Food Service Manager (CFSM)
5 essentials of a top resume for a restaurant general manager
Contact details
Add your contact information to the top of your resume; otherwise, hiring managers won’t know how to contact you for an interview. Display your contact information like so: Your full name, then your city, state and ZIP code, followed by your phone number and professional email address. Add your LinkedIn profile and professional website (if you have them) last.
Personal statement
A personal statement is also known as a professional summary. This is where you introduce yourself and highlight your top qualifications for the job in three to five sentences. A restaurant general manager resume summary must include the appropriate skills and one or two notable accomplishments, and it should touch on how long you’ve been in management or the culinary industry. Consider noting any experience overseeing kitchen staff, hiring waitstaff or implementing food safety measures in your professional summary. If you are just starting your career, use a restaurant general manager resume objective instead.
Skills
It’s important to let potential employers know what skills you bring to the table. Create a separate section for your job-relevant skills, such as customer service or staff management, and display them with bullet points to make them easy to read. Our restaurant general manager resume sample includes technical, hard and soft skills. Incorporating a mix of food service and management skills demonstrates to employers that you have what it takes to be a great restaurant manager.
Work history
Your resume must include an employment history section, whether or not you have professional experience as a restaurant general manager. In reverse-chronological order, list current and previous employers and provide business names, locations, and the dates you worked for each. Include at least three bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list. If you’re applying for your first job as a restaurant general manager, it’s acceptable to highlight relevant extracurricular activities, coursework, presentations, volunteer experience and community service. Consider adding any entry-level restaurant jobs, customer service positions or managerial positions from other industries to your resume.
Education
Hiring managers want to see your education credentials, so a restaurant general manager resume must include an education section. Add all the educational institutions you’ve attended after high school and display the names of the schools and the years that you graduated in reverse-chronological order using bullet points. If you did not attend college, list your high school information and any classes you’ve taken since graduating. Add any relevant associate degrees you may have completed, such as culinary arts or business hospitality.
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Action words for a stand-out restaurant general manager resume
Action words strengthen resumes because they convey confidence and demonstrate exactly what you accomplished in previous roles. Use them with numbers to make a more substantial impact.
Here’s a short list of perfect action words for a restaurant general manager resume:
- Manage
- Review
- Operate
- Handle
- Communicate
- Collaborate
- Assess
- Facilitate
- Prepare
- Maintain
Want more inspiration? We have 800+ resume examples to help you create the perfect resume for a restaurant general manager job.
Top skills for a restaurant general manager resume
Review restaurant general manager job descriptions for resume content ideas and match the required skills to the traits that reflect your professional experience.
Some restaurant general manager skills for a resume include:
- Budgeting
- Scheduling
- Sales
- Staff management
- Employee training
- Employee retention
- Restaurant management
- Business planning
- Food safety
- Faculty training
- Communication
- Problem-solving
- Reasoning
- Leadership
- Time management
- Collaboration
Need the perfect restaurant general manager resume now? Our Resume Builder has all the tools you need to craft a professional resume in minutes! You can make edits as you go, download your finished resume and save it in multiple file formats. It’s so easy!
Certifications for a restaurant general manager resume
Having a certificate for a restaurant general manager job is not required, but having at least one certificate on your resume will show hiring managers that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform specific tasks required for the job.
The following certifications can boost your resume:
- ServSafe Alcohol Certification
- Food Safety Manager Certification
- Certified Food Manager (CFM)
- ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification
- Certified Professional – Food Safety (CP-FS)
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Restaurant general manager resume FAQ
1. What does a restaurant general manager resume look like?
There is no standard restaurant general manager resume template; you can use any of our resume templates and customize them for the job you want. A good resume for a restaurant general manager will look much like the sample restaurant general manager resume on this page and will contain the job seeker’s contact information, skills, employment history, education and certifications, if applicable. A restaurant general manager resume might also contain sections for awards and honors if the job candidate has them to display.
2. What to put under skills on a resume for a restaurant general manager?
A resume for a restaurant general manager should only include skills that are relevant to the job and fit the job applicant’s true skill set. Review restaurant general manager resume examples for ideas on how to display your skills on your restaurant general manager resume.
3. What are some tips for creating an excellent resume for a restaurant general manager job?
Not all resumes are created equal. Here are our top tips for crafting a perfect restaurant general manager resume:
- Add separate sections for extra training, certifications, licenses and awards.
- Keep your resume short and to the point. If you have less than 10 years of experience, it should be one page long; if you have more than 10 years of experience, then it’s acceptable to have no more than two pages.
- Use keywords from the job description in your restaurant general manager resume work experience section to pass ATS screening.
- Ensure your resume is formatted correctly, meaning margins should be one inch on all sides and line space should be single or 1.5 inches.
- Only use appropriate fonts, like Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica, in 11-12 points on the body and 14-16 points on headers.
- Proofread your resume more than once before sending it to potential employers.
Do’s and don’ts for building a restaurant general manager resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your restaurant general manager abilities and experience.
- Use action words to make an impact on your restaurant general manager resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target restaurant general manager job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your restaurant general manager resume.
- Format your restaurant general manager resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your restaurant general manager experience and skills.
- Boast about your restaurant general manager experience and skills.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that do not pertain to being a restaurant general manager.
- Forget to proofread!
Top 4 tips for acing a restaurant general manager interview
Learn about the institution.
It’s vital to take the time to learn about the institution or company’s history, goals, values and personnel before the job interview. Doing so conveys interest, passion and commitment — traits that can set you above the competition. Plus, a glimpse of the company culture early on will help you know what to expect and can boost your confidence.
Practice at home.
Practice really does make perfect. To practice for your interview, start by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as:
- What Do You See Yourself Doing in 10 Years?
- What’s Your Proudest Accomplishment?
- Why Did You Choose This Career?
Possible behavioral questions include:
- Why Should We Hire You Over Other Candidates
- Tell me About a Time When You Were Forced to Think on your Feet
- Tell Me About a Time When You Had To Cope With a Stressful Situation
Write down two or three possible answers as you review potential questions, then review them with a friend or a family member in a mock interview so you can get comfortable with the questions and memorize your answers.
Ask questions.
You should always have at least three questions ready to ask every job interview you encounter; those who do tend to get hired more often than those who don’t because they show motivation, keen interest and thoughtfulness.
Some questions you might ask for a restaurant general manager job are:
- What is a typical day on the job like?
- What are your expectations for the first 90 days?
- What does a successful restaurant general manager look like to you?
Gather references.
You’ll need professional references quickly if the hiring manager offers you the job after the interview. Having them ready will save you stress and time, so prepare a list of two former colleagues and a former manager who are willing to speak to your abilities to perform the job of a restaurant general manager and who you know will give you a stellar review.
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Sources
- Learn.org. Article. Restaurant Manager Jobs: Salary and Career Facts
- Truity. Article. Food Service Manager
- EHL Insights. Article. Giannotti. What does a restaurant manager do?
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Restaurant General Manager Resume Example
Elizabeth is a content writer for My Perfect Resume. She is passionate about delivering information that empowers job seekers to achieve their professional goals.