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Cooks need to serve up appealing resumes to get hired. Follow these cook resume examples and tips to make the perfect resume.
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Whether you’re applying for a first-time cook position or are looking to advance your culinary career, you need a job-winning cook resume. Regardless of their level of experience or culinary skills, a professional cook’s most powerful tools in their job search are their resumes and cover letters. The ideal cook resume catches the attention of hiring managers while also impressing restaurant owners with relevant culinary skills and qualifications.
Recruiters and hiring managers at top restaurants often use ATS, or applicant tracking system software, to aid their hiring needs. Applicant tracking system software works by collecting, organizing and tracking job applications and resumes. For example, recruiters use ATS software to filter out all the irrelevant or unqualified job applications that don’t fit the job description the best.
So if you’re advancing your career in the culinary industry, you need to create a standout cook resume that doesn’t get filtered out by ATS software and actually reaches the desks of hiring managers. Your cook resume should convincingly showcase your culinary skills as well as the interpersonal and management skills required to run a successful restaurant.
This article will walk you through what professional cooks should highlight on their cook resumes to land more job interviews. We’ll then go over the structure of a professional cook’s resume and dish out some valuable writing tips and dos and don’ts to follow so you can land the cooking job at your dream restaurant.
Create your resumeYour resume’s objective should be to highlight your relevant culinary experience, skills and years of experience as they apply specifically to the job description. Take advantage of valuable resume examples and resume builders to increase your chances of getting hired.
There are a variety of kitchen staff jobs in the culinary and restaurant industry, such as a line cook, sous chef, kitchen manager and head chef. Though even though their job descriptions may vary greatly, they share common elements to be included on a cook resume such as:
Your cook resume can vary depending on your level of experience and the type of culinary job position you’re applying for. However, the best format for most professional cooks is the reverse-chronological format. By using this format, professional cooks can easily showcase how they’ve refined their culinary and soft skills through n their culinary career path.
The three most commonly used resume formats are:
Regardless of your resume format, follow this resume structure to best showcase your cooking skills and competencies:
Your cook resume header section should feature the following information about yourself:
Your name
Contact information such as phone, email and social media profile links such as LinkedIn
The resume summary section is the first section hiring managers see. It’s a professional cook’s first significant opportunity to leave a memorable first impression using a few short sentences that showcase their relevant culinary skills, achievements and competencies.
Your cook’s resume’s skills section may vary slightly depending on the line of culinary work you’re applying to. Most members of the kitchen staff have some level of experience and technical skills in the following:
Regardless of their position in a kitchen, a cook’s resume should also showcase relevant soft skills as they relate to the culinary industry and cooking position they’re applying for, such as:
Attention to detail
Being detail-oriented is a must when it comes to working in the kitchen. From following recipes to following sanitary procedures and precautions, professionals in the kitchen need to pay attention to detail.
Culinary expertise
This is a varied skill set that can be broken down into a variety of skills. This would include a professional’s expertise in cooking and kitchen protocols in addition to the ability to work productively and positively in a professional kitchen setting.
Organizational skills
Organization is a highly regarded skill in the food industry. Members of kitchen staff work simultaneously on several tasks and dishes, which can cause confusion and stress without organization skills.
Effective collaboration and communication
Communicating clearly and collaborating effectively in a team is absolutely crucial in the culinary profession. Kitchen staff members rely on one another to effectively carry out their tasks and dishes.
Problem-solving skills
Cooks and other kitchen staff members often work in a fast-paced and stressful environment, especially during peak hours such as lunch or dinner. These working environments are prone to problems. Therefore, practical problem-solving skills are needed to keep operations running smoothly.
Work Experience
Your cook resume’s work history should expand on the qualifications you stated in your resume summary section. Each job description should showcase your career progression as a professional cook and highlight your most significant achievements with specific examples and their outcomes.
Education
Your cook resume’s education section should include any relevant culinary education, certifications or professional training you’ve received.
Create your resumeBelow is a list of some valuable dos and don’ts when it comes to crafting the perfect cook resume:
Do’s
Don’ts
Have questions? We’re here to help.
Yes. Your cook cover letter gives more context to your cook resume. It lets you make a memorable first impression and showcase your relevant culinary skills and expertise to convince hiring managers you’re the ideal candidate. Here are some great examples of cover letters you can use for reference when writing your cook cover letter.
If you’re just starting out on your professional culinary journey and have limited professional cooking experience, dig into your job and education history to find relevant examples when you utilized your culinary expertise in non-restaurant settings.
You should review the job description for each opening and pick out relevant skills and other culinary-related keywords to tailor your cook resume’s skills, achievements and other culinary accomplishments. Resume keywords are unique for every job listing, and hiring managers often use them to set up applicant tracking systems (ATS), which scan every resume and cover letter to ensure a candidate is qualified before passing the resume to the hiring manager.
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