![9 Chef Resume Examples [& Templates]](https://beamjobs.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/chef-resume-example.png)
You can memorize recipes, cook dishes, and work with diverse kitchen teams. You’re an amazing chef and can’t wait for your next employer to experience your skills!
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the demand for chefs will rise by at least 6% between 2019 and 2029, which is faster than average. So, while more places need a great chef, chances are there are hundreds of other interested candidates.
To increase your chances of landing your dream job as a chef, you’ll need to write a cover letter and resume. We have created seven of the best chef resume samples to guide you as you write your own chef resume.
We’ve reviewed thousands of resumes and identified common mistakes many chefs make when writing their resumes. Thankfully, this chef resume writing guide will help you develop the kind of resume that will increase your chances of getting hired in 2025.
Why this resume works
- You know have the relevant experience, but adding a resume summary can help employers quickly see your qualifications.
- Always customize your summary by including the employer’s name and position you’re seeking.
- Given that chefs work in a fast-paced environment, interviewers will always prioritize job-ready applicants over those who need additional training after hiring.
- This means you have to clearly demonstrate your relevant experience. If you have certifications or additional training, make sure to include it on your chef resume.
- If you can show how and why you’ve used certain certificates or training on the job, be sure to include that in your chef cover letter.
Why this resume works
- As a sous chef, you’ve probably written a resume before, but it can help to review common resume tips to ensure your resume is easy to read, comprehensive, and aesthetically pleasing.
- Interviewers are usually attracted to sous chef resumes that demonstrate competencies in skills or experiences that are mentioned in the job description.
- If you have any skills listed in the job description, make sure to include them in your skills section or work experience bullets. And don’t forge to list specific achievements in your sous chef resume.
View more sous chef resumes >
Why this resume works
- Your executive chef resume should demonstrate an increase in the level of responsibility you’ve taken on throughout your career.
- If you’ve had the chance to help hire or manage other kitchen or service staff, be sure to include that. Employers always like to see leadership skills!
- Remember to mention any relevant skills in your resume’s skills section.
- Always double-check the executive chef job description for relevant keywords you can include, like “budgeting,” “food preparation,” and “recipe creation.”
View more executive chef resumes >
Why this resume works
- Sometimes writing your pastry chef resume can feel impossible—how are you supposed to condense years of experience into one page?
- Start by only listing your most relevant experience. No employer needs to know every job you’ve held since you were 16.
- Once you’ve included the experience you want, mark down only your most notable accomplishments. And some responsibilities can be joined together, like monitoring ingredient consumption, labor costs, and customer preferences to manage the kitchen budget.
- Even the best writers make mistakes, so always run your resume through a resume checker to ensure there aren’t any misspelled words, punctuation errors, or grammar issues.
View more pastry chef resume examples >
Why this resume works
- You’ve got to highlight your ability to customize meals as per the different needs and restrictions of your private customers.
- Besides this, feel free to express your personal skills such as food presentation to pack your private chef resume with your key strengths.
Why this resume works
- To begin, listing relevant expertise like knife handling or rice mastery can do wonders here. Highlight your technical skills, especially your proficiency in food knowledge, safety, and quality standards through relevant certifications.
- Adding your creative past experiences and soft skills can take your sushi chef resume up a notch.
Why this resume works
- For a chef de partie resume that’s so mouthwatering that it leaves the potential employer famished for your expertise in their kitchen, zero in on your ability to run the show, so they know both their staff (and business) are set to thrive under your watch.
- You see, action words like “formulated,” “revolutionized,” “championed,” and “spearheaded” are the kind that put your leadership skills in the limelight and make your sales pitch impossible to ignore.
Why this resume works
- Despite being a novice, you can still whet the hiring manager’s appetite for more details about your career, which translates into a step closer to an interview. One secret? Use metrics to back up your accomplishments in your commis chef resume.
- Phrases like “Ensured consistent dish quality with ChefSteps-powered recipes, achieving 98% compliance with dietary standards” and “Coordinated meal delivery for large hotel events, managing 290+ plates/service within a one-hour window” from Evelyn’s piece fit the bill.
Why this resume works
- You probably don’t have a ton of experience to write on your entry-level chef resume. Luckily, you can add a resume objective to occupy space and inform interviewers why you’re a good fit.
- When writing a career objective, you need to mention keywords that will grab the interviewer’s attention, such as “assist kitchen staff,” “maintain a clean working area,” and “customer service experience.”
- Always make sure to include the name of the employer and the position you’re seeking.
See more entry-level chef resumes >
Related resume guides
How to Write a Chef’s Resume
When you write a chef resume, you must highlight two important things: your experience and culinary skills. You’re unlikely to impress recruiters without clearly describing those two things.
Fortunately, we are here to help you write a resume and ensure that the final document will get you hired.
Summarize your impressive chef profile
A summary section is a brief statement about your qualifications as a chef. It should provide details about places you’ve worked and the kind of impact you make wherever you go. You must say it here if you have special abilities, such as baking or an expertise in a specific cuisine.
For those starting in the culinary world, a resume objective would sell your potential to employers and let them know they can’t ignore you.
For a seasoned chef, a resume summary detailing your experience, skills, and achievements would show why patrons can’t have enough of your delicacies and why you deserve the job.
Example of a career objective for an entry-level chef
Passionate and hardworking culinary graduate seeking an entry-level chef position at Kavi’s Hibachi Grill to apply knife skills, food prep knowledge, and enthusiasm for Japanese cuisine in a fast-paced kitchen.
Example of a resume summary for an experienced chef
Accomplished executive chef with over 10 years of experience leading high-performing kitchen teams and delivering exceptional culinary experiences. Passionate about innovation, flavor, and consistency. Driven to inspire teams, elevate dining standards, and create memorable meals that unite people.
Highlight your culinary experience
Your work history will be at the center of this. It can be direct work, projects, internships, or charity activities that demonstrate your ability to take on the role and excel.
Did you invent a new menu that drove sales up, or did your expertise in cooking see more patrons coming to the hotel? Mention this and add numbers to emphasize your impact in the new role.
From all these, recruiters can see your value beyond the obvious routine of a chef. If the job also expects you to lead a team, ensure that you add bullet points that demonstrate your leadership and management skills. The correct way to add impactful and compelling work experience is to have three to four bullet points for each entry. Next, you should use active verbs to show what you accomplished.
Work experience
Sous Chef
Scampi
2023 – Current
Pittsburgh, PA
– Established a cleaning checklist for the closing shift, contributing to being awarded Most Hygienic Restaurant 2017 by Denver PHI
– Scouted and trained young chefs from local high schools to create unique monthly dishes, increasing sales of specialized dishes by $33K annually
-Managed budgets based on consumption plans that reduced wasteful purchases by 14% a year
List education and certifications
Adding education and certifications to your chef resume speaks highly of your technical skills, knowledge of the culinary subsector, and eagerness to learn and make an impact. Entry-level positions may not need formal culinary training, but you need it if you’re going for a senior chef position.
You can also add an apprenticeship under a well-known chef as part of your formal training.
For education, start with the highest and most recent qualification. Also, add the institution’s name, location, and graduation year. Ensure you only include relevant qualifications for the job you’re applying for.
Education
Associate of Science
Culinary Arts
Community College of Allegheny County
2022 – 2024
Pittsburgh, PA
Certifications show your specialization and are helpful when going for a leadership role or planning to work in a regulated environment. When you list them, don’t leave out the issuing institution, the date awarded, and the expiry date, if applicable.
Certification
ServSafe Manager, National Restaurant Association, 2025
Showcase relevant chef skills
Your skills will set you apart from the rest of the pack. However, mentioning software and other things you can do won’t cut it—you must demonstrate them and the results achieved.
Also, understand that some skills will cut across the hospitality sector, and you must list them. However, when applying for a specific role, tailor your resume using the key skills and keywords from the job description.
A mixture of hard and soft skills will make your chef resume stand out, but only include what you can do.
Hard skills for a chef
- Sautéing
- Grilling
- Cost control and budgeting
- Food safety & sanitation
- French, Italian, and Asian fusion cuisine expertise
Soft skills for a chef’s resume
- Problem-solving
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Multitasking in high-pressure environments
- Time management
- Customer service orientation
Common mistakes to avoid in a chef resume
When you review your resume before it’s ready for submission, check and ensure that you don’t make any of these common mistakes:
- Using a generic application for all roles
- Being vague when describing achievements
- Neglecting grammatical mistakes
- Failing to show management and leadership experience in senior roles
Chef Resume FAQs
In the guide above, BeamJobs has explored chef resume examples for all job levels and provided chef resume writing tips to help you create a job-winning document. For further inspiration, check out these expert-reviewed resume examples to write a resume that will get you more job interviews.
A chef’s primary duty is making dishes that keep customers coming back in numbers, creating more orders, and ensuring every meal leaves a lasting impression on the patrons. But that’s not what you will only discuss in your chef resume. Show how you’ve streamlined kitchen operations, saved on supplies via meticulous inventory keeping, trained junior staff, and collaborated with the rest to boost sales and customer satisfaction scores.
Ensure that both your direct and transferable skills match the requirements of the job posting. Next, use a career objective to summarize your unique attributes, skills, related work experience, and relevant culinary education and certifications. The game plan here is to show hiring managers that although you may lack direct work experience, you have the expertise and passion to exceed their expectations.
Yes, a chef must showcase their work experience because this is the best way to prove to recruiters that you have what it takes to succeed. Unlike other professions, chefs learn most of their craft while on the job and not from formal training. Therefore, adding relevant work experience to your resume and demonstrating measurable achievements gives a clear picture of your unique abilities.
Stephen is the co-founder and CEO of BeamJobs. He started his career in data fulfilling the dream of little kids everywhere: working for an insurance company. He then moved on to work in edtech for a company called Chegg before venturing out to start BeamJobs. Things have come a long way after countless “learnings” (fancy word for mistakes), and BeamJobs has now helped 2.5M+ people create their perfect resume. Stephen and BeamJobs have been featured on awesome sites like Business Insider, Chicago Tribune, Dallas News, Baltimore Sun, the Daily Press, Zendesk, HubSpot, and loads more.
