When you are on the lookout for a foot in the door, or your next big break into the culinary world, a job as a Cook is a good place to start. Start by checking out our top-notch cook resume samples, for example, to see how that is done. You want to make sure your resume stands out from the rest by being both informative and entertaining to read, without overwhelming the recruiter or hiring manager with irrelevant information.
What you can read in this article
Or download these examples in PDF at the bottom of this page for free
Regardless of your work experience in restaurants, hospitality settings or corporate events, there are a few essential details employers and recruiters need to know about you as to ensure that you are the right fit for their team.
The first aspect to highlight is the type of cooking experience you have under the belt (or knife in this case). The main categories that cooks generally fall into are:
Prep Cooks : A prep cook's main responsibility is to prepare the food ingredients for other cooks to use in the making of dishes. Examples of this include peeling sweet potatoes, slicing mushrooms, and washing greens. Prep cooks may also be responsible for salads, bread, salad dressings, and other simple preparations.
Line Cooks : Line cooks work under a Head Cook or Executive chef, who will assign them to a workstation. In some cases, the station is related to the equipment or technique that is being used, such as grilling, sautéing, frying, and roasting.
Short Order Cooks: Short order cooks generally work in restaurants or coffee shops, where food is made and served quickly. They would prepare quickly-made foods, such as sandwiches, eggs, and french fries
Private Cooks : Plan and prepare meals in private homes, according to the client’s tastes and dietary requirements. They order groceries and kitchen supplies, clean the kitchen, and wash dishes and cutlery. They may also cater for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, and other social events. Private household cooks typically have one permanent client that they work for, but may also be employed by a private chef company and be outsourced to a few clients at a time.
Fast Food Cooks : Prepare a limited selection of food items in diners or fast-food restaurants. They cook and package food, such as hamburgers and chili dogs or chicken wraps, to be kept warm until served.
Camp Cooks : A camp cook is responsible for creating recipes and preparing all meals served at an outdoor, tourism, child care, or recreational facility.
Restaurant Cooks : These cooks for at specialty restaurants (Steakhouse, Greek, Japanese) and prepare a wide selection of individual dishes. Some restaurant cooks may order supplies, set menu prices, and plan the daily menu.
Cafeteria or Institution Cooks : Work in the kitchens of schools, cafeterias, businesses, hospitals, military facilities, and other institutions. For each meal, they prepare a large quantity of a limited number of food courses like entrées, vegetables, main dishes and desserts, according to preset menus.
Next, you need to elaborate on the industry experience you have gained. Cooks exist in many different settings, including fast-food outlets, restaurants, cafeterias, businesses, hospitals, military services, and private households. The types of industry areas you have worked on needs to be included both in the summary at the top of your resume, and within each position description.
*Cool Tip for a stellar resume
You can create an excellent first impression by showing them what you can do by creating a portfolio of your work (the events, the food, table setting) on Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive or Dropbox. Place this link to your Cook experience in your resume under the Career Summary section.
Start your career summary with your years of experience in the industry and the main duties you performed. When deciding what duties to add, use the job description as your guide. For instance, if the job you are applying for emphasizes expertise in decorative cake design or being familiar with fine dining cooking techniques, use those phrases in your resume if you have that type of skill. The more your resume resonates with the job description or keywords, the better fit you will seem.
Next, add a line that showcases any outstanding qualities that will add value to the company. A hiring manager would be interested to know if you have “strong time management skills, creative problem-solving abilities and if you can ‘’think on your feet in times of crises. It’s important to note that these qualities should be proven in the professional experience section to re-enforce your message.
Lastly, close with your educational degrees/diplomas and any certifications/licenses you may have that are pertinent to the job like your Bachelor of Hotel and Hospitality Management Degree or a Certificate in Culinary Arts.
'Recent culinary graduate with three years of part-time restaurant experience as a Prep Cook in a variety of restaurant settings including French, Italian, and Greek. Theoretical knowledge and practical experience gained Chef School Training into practice.'
'Passionate Cook with more than six years of experience in the upscale restaurant market. Primarily focused on increasing brand recognition and loyalty by providing superior dining experiences for guests. Extensive culinary and knife skills, and kitchen management experience'
'Line Cook with seven years of experience in Asian, Creole, and Middle Eastern Cuisines. Proven expertise in creating unique sauces, cooking seafood and poultry dishes, as well as following complicated recipes, demonstrated skills in improving cooking processes and reducing food waste and costs.'
An employer would expect to see the following proven foundational duties and skill sets within an applicant’s resume, depending on educational level and career stage.
When writing your resume, if you can answer the questions, “How much?” or “How many?” You should include those numbers. For instance:
Example 1: “Streamlined cooking procedures, shortening the food processing time by 30%, which resulted in the plating of most courses done in under 60 seconds“
Example 2: “Participated in monthly catering events with an average of 400 guests per sitting“
The education section forms an integral part of your resume even if you do not have a degree. Office Assistants these days also have access to career development training. In short, indicate What, Where and When regarding your qualifications, certifications or courses or workshops completed. The name of your qualification, institution, and date of completion is more than sufficient. Unless you are a graduate with limited working experience, there is no need to include major subjects or course curriculum topics.
Completed Secondary and Tertiary Education must be listed as follows:
Start with the commencement date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor’s degrees. For courses, you can just list the date of completion. Next comes the full name of the qualification, then the full name of the institution and then the City or abbreviated State name. List your high school diploma details similarly, but only include this when you have less than five years of working experience.
Here are some examples of a Cook’s Resume in terms of education:
2018 – Certified Culinarian (CC), American Culinary Federation, LA
2018 – ServSafe Certified, Udemy, Online
2014-2017 Bachelor of Hotel Management & Administration, Texas State University, TX
2012-2013 – Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts, Swan Community and Technical College, WA
2010 – Certificate in Advanced Culinary Techniques, Tampa Chefs Academy, FL
Although the catering field requires specific technical skills, employers look for other skills, called soft skills. These are the main types of skills that indicate your fit as a potential employee who will add value, has adequate knowledge, and sufficient experience and will be easy to manage. Incorporate these into your summary, or profile, and your accomplishment statements.