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Chef resume examples from 2025

Zippi

Land interviews using Zippia's AI-powered resume builder.

Updated March 26, 2025
6 min read
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How to write a chef resume

Craft a resume summary statement

A resume summary is your opening statement that highlights your strongest skills and top accomplishments. It is your chance to quickly let recruiters know who you are professionally - and why they should hire you for the chef role.

Step 1: Mention your current job title or the role you're pursuing.

Step 2: Include your years of experience in chef-related roles. Consider adding relevant company and industry experience as relevant to the job listing.

Step 3: Highlight your greatest accomplishments. Here is your chance to make sure your biggest wins aren't buried in your resume.

Step 4: Again, keep it short. Your goal is to summarize your experience and highlight your accomplishments, not write a paragraph.

Hiring managers spend under a minute reviewing resumes on average. This means your summary needs to demonstrate your value quickly and show why you are the perfect fit for the chef position.

Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.

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List the right project manager skills

Your Skills section is a place to list all relevant skills and abilities. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:

  1. Look to the job listing. You often need to include the exact keywords from the job description. Take note of the skills listed for the job.
  2. Put all relevant hard and soft skills in your skills section.
  3. Be specific. If you are too broad, you may not be giving the best picture of your skills and leave the hiring manager uncertain of your abilities.
  4. Be up to date. Software names change and companies merge. Don't look out of touch by being careless.
  5. Be accurate. Spelling and even upper or lowercase can dramatically change meanings. Make sure you are correctly listing your skills.
These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some chef interviews.

Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a chef resume:

  • Customer Service
  • Food Handling
  • Culinary
  • Food Service
  • Kitchen Operations
  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Quality Standards
  • Cleanliness
  • Quality Food
  • Chefs
  • ServSafe
  • Cuisine
  • Fine Dining
  • Food Production
  • Food Storage
  • Safety Standards
  • Fifo
  • Portion Control
  • Dinner Service
  • Sanitation Standards
  • Menu Planning
  • Broilers
  • Cost Control
  • Roasting
  • HACCP
  • Guest Satisfaction
  • Fryers
  • Labor Costs
  • Food Cost
  • Product Quality

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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How to structure your work experience

Your employment history is arguably one of the most important parts of your resume. It shows you have experience and foundation in your field to successfully master the chef position. Here is how to most effectively structure your work experience:

  1. List your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order. Employers care about your most recent experience the most.
  2. Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
  3. Include only recent, relevant jobs.

How to write chef experience bullet points

Effective job bullet points do more than just describe your job duties. Instead, they should be specific and measurable accomplishments. Here are some strategies to mastering job bullet points:

  • Use strong action verbs like Led, Built, or Optimized.
  • Follow up with numbers when possible to support your results. How much did performance improve? How much revenue did you drive?
  • Wrap it up by explaining the actions you took to achieve the result and how you made an impact.

Here are great bullet points from chef resumes:

Work history example #1

Chef

Darden Restaurants

  • Estimated amounts and purchased all food and supplies on a weekly basis to ensure efficient operations.
  • Trained in various stations including pantry, apps, saute,grill, and expo.
  • Cooked orders as they came in.
  • Involved in the daily operation with 4 other chefs.
  • Inspected supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure conformance to established standards in sanitation and food quality.

Work history example #2

Cooking Chef

Samsung Telecommunications America General

  • Attended International Culinary Center to learn about chocolate to create products for both The Warren Store and the Pitcher Inn.
  • Helped with drivethrew stocking, truck, dishes.
  • Developed full knowledge in all aspects of the BOH operations including prep and inventory.
  • Washed dishes and put away.
  • Needed the ability to attractively arrange and garnish dishes as per the standards.

Work history example #3

Chef

Hilton Worldwide Holdings

  • Managed team of 26 cooks, 3 supervisors and 2 Sous Chefs.
  • Worded on menu development, and worked with chefs in executing food and labor cost and recipe production
  • Prepared and served a full menu of American/Asian fusion cuisine.
  • Hired as Sous Chef to open a Mexican cuisine restaurant located at the Hilton Hotel for two years.
  • Supervised 2 junior sous chefs.

Work history example #4

Kitchen Chef

Hilton Worldwide Holdings

  • Managed team of 26 cooks, 3 supervisors and 2 Sous Chefs.
  • Hired as Sous Chef to open a Mexican cuisine restaurant located at the Hilton Hotel for two years.
  • Prepared a variety of casual American cuisine Critical team player in back house operations.
  • Prepared and served a full menu of American/Asian fusion cuisine.
  • Learned German cuisine and European recipes * Worked in a 5 Star kitchen under a respected chef

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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Add an education section to your resume

The education section should display your highest degree first.

Place your education section appropriately on your resume. If you graduated over 5 years ago, this section should be at the bottom of your resume. If you just graduated and lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.

If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education. If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.

Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:

Doctoral Degree in culinary arts

Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ

2011 - 2014

Highlight your chef certifications on your resume

If you have any additional certifications, add them to the certification section.

Include the full name of the certification, along with the name of the issuing organization and date of obtainment.

If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your chef resume:

  1. ServSafe Alcohol
  2. Certified Culinary Administrator (CCA)
  3. Certified Food Manager (CFM)
  4. Food Safety Manager Certification
  5. Certified Master Chef (CMC)
  6. ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification
  7. Certified Professional - Food Safety (CP-FS)
  8. Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS)
  9. Certified Executive Chef (CEC)
  10. OSHA Safety Certificate

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