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Head 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 head 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 head chef role.

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

Step 2: Include your years of experience in head 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 head 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

Many resumes are filtered out by hiring software before a human eye ever sees them. A robust Skills section can let recruiters (and bots) know you have the skills to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section:

  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 head chef interviews.

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

  • Kitchen Operations
  • Culinary
  • Dinner Service
  • Food Service
  • Cuisine
  • Safety Standards
  • Menu Planning
  • ServSafe
  • Quality Standards
  • Food Products
  • Fine Dining
  • Labor Costs
  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Food Cost
  • Cost Control
  • Inventory Control
  • Quality Food
  • Menu Development
  • Food Orders
  • Product Quality
  • Sanitation Practices
  • Allergies
  • Sanitation Standards
  • HACCP
  • Production Schedules
  • BOH
  • Garnishing
  • Menu Creation
  • Portion Control
  • Food Storage

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 head 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 head 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 effective examples from head chef resumes:

Work history example #1

Pizza Chef

Pizza Hut

  • Prepared pizzas stocked supplies wash dishes occasionally
  • Cooked pizzas, made wings, did dishes.
  • Assembled pizzas, cleaned dishes and kept the ingredient containers stocked.
  • Cleaned food preparation equipment including utensils, pans, dishes, and more.
  • Disposed of garbage and cleaned kitchen, restrooms and eating area.

Work history example #2

Head Chef

Pampered Chef

  • Prepared dishes from all over the world to be served to 50,000+ people.
  • Monitored portion guidelines to ensure accurate food and labor cost successfully.
  • Coordinated Star Chefs Program, in which celebrity chefs' menu ideas are utilized by airlines.
  • Contributed to re-launching a newly renovated restaurant featuring a new menu consisting of modern cuisine.
  • Worked directly with executive chefs in reference to food quality, ticket times, and sanitation while preparing exquisite dishes.

Work history example #3

Pastry Cook

Sonic

  • Led the pastry production for all outlets as well as service at AAA rated 5-diamond inn.
  • Finished cakes, filled case daily, finished every element of everything sold at the chocolate lounge.
  • Created sugar and chocolate showpieces for banquets and room service.
  • Created and prepared sauces and various dishes to assist sous-chef.
  • Cleaned and sanitized kitchen according to ServSafe regulations.

Work history example #4

Head Chef

Hilton Worldwide Holdings

  • Supervised all banquet culinary staff including 2 sous chefs.
  • Managed and trained a team of pastry chefs on equipment, food handling/preparation, portion sizing while maintaining health standards.
  • Created and implemented two new restaurant menus, in addition to new menu items for banquets, VIPs and sales calls.
  • Prepared and baked dishes including wings, pizzas, breadsticks, and a variety of desserts.
  • Worked as a part time food specialist that prepared food for serving in the restaurant Performed saut

Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.

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Add an education section to your resume

Employers are looking for a few things when looking at the Education section of your resume:
  • The highest degree you have achieved.
  • TWhere you attended school, and the dates (Although if you graduated some time ago, leave the date off to avoid ageism)
  • TField of study
  • TAny honors, relevant coursework, achievements, or pertinent activities

Here are some examples of good education entries for resumes:

Associate's Degree in fine arts

New York University, New York, NY

2013 - 2015

Doctoral Degree in culinary arts

Pennsylvania State University, Main, PA

2004 - 2007

Highlight your head chef certifications on your resume

Certifications are a great way to showcase special expertise or niche skills. Some jobs even require certifications to be hired.

To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.

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

  1. ServSafe Alcohol
  2. Certified Food Manager (CFM)
  3. Food Safety Manager Certification
  4. Certified Master Chef (CMC)
  5. Certified Professional - Food Safety (CP-FS)
  6. ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification
  7. Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS)
  8. Certified Executive Chef (CEC)
  9. Certified Master Pastry Chef (CMPC)
  10. Certified Planning Engineer (CPE)

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