Line Cook Resume Examples and Templates for 2023

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Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.

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Downloadable Resume Examples

Entry-level
Line-Cook_Entry-level.pdf

Example #1 Entry-level

Mid-career
Line-Cook_Mid-career.pdf

Example #2 Mid-career

Senior-level
Line-Cook_Senior-level.pdf

Example #3 Senior-level

Line Cook Resume Examples

Years of Experience
  • Example #1 Example #1
  • Example #2 Example #2
  • Example #3 Example #3

Richard Sanders
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
123 Front Street, Orchard Park, NY 14127

Profile

Collaborative restaurant worker with experience in fast-paced kitchen operations. Skilled at preparing various appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Passionate about cooking and eager to learn new techniques and cuisines.

Key Skills

  • Back-of-House Restaurant Operations
  • Basic Food Preparation
  • Common Cooking Procedures
  • Efficiency Improvement
  • Task Timing & Sequencing
  • Team Collaboration

Professional Experience

Cook’s Assistant, The Thai Place, Orchard Park, NY | January 2019 to Present

  • Help prepare and cook ~250 entrees per night
  • Prepare salads and soups, and finish desserts
  • Replenish garnishes, raw foods, and other ingredients for serving lines
  • Put away daily deliveries of food ingredients
  • Maintain high standards of sanitization and cleanliness

Dishwasher, Bob’s Diner, East Arora, NY | June 2018 to December 2018

  • Cleaned dishware and smallware for up to 150 meals per night
  • Communicated with front-of-house staff to ensure a steady supply of clean dishes

Education

Graduate, Nichols High School, Buffalo, NY | 2018

Courses completed:

  • Culinary Arts Vocational Training
  • Food Safety Certification
  • Spanish

Lavonne Burns
(717) 000-1234
[email protected]
3785 Dunn Street, Unit #408, Pittsburgh, PA 12345

Profile

Line Cook with 11+ years of experience in fast-paced kitchen environments. Ready collaborator who promotes team safety, efficiency, and creativity. Skilled at developing and adjusting recipes to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Professional Experience

Assistant Caterer, Sally’s Events, Pittsburgh, PA | June 2015 to Present

  • Organize food preparation and distribution to 300+ dinner guests
  • Prepare pastries, candies, cakes, and cupcakes for custom orders
  • Set up themed dessert and appetizer tables at weddings, showers, and corporate events

Line Cook, Deltante’s Ristorante, Pittsburgh, PA | March 2014 to October 2015

  • Helped prepare 150+ traditional Italian and American entrees per night
  • Incorporated customers’ dietary restrictions with menu options as needed
  • Coordinated with kitchen managers to ensure utmost food prep efficiency and safety

Le Fleur de Lys, Pittsburgh, PA | June 2011 to October 2015

Assistant Saucier Chef (March 2014 to October 2015)

  • Prepared sauces, gravies, soups, and stews to order
  • Alerted sous chef of any food inventory needs
  • Kept station clean and sanitized at all points

Line Cook (June 2011 to March 2014)

  • Organized daily prep stations
  • Cleaned, chopped, and prepared vegetables and garnishes
  • Monitored inventory and condition of cooking equipment and utensils

Education

Associate of Specialized Technology in Culinary Arts, Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts, Pittsburgh, PA | 2011

Key Skills

  • Cooking Equipment Maintenance
  • Customer Service & Relations
  • Food Safety & Sanitation
  • Inventory Monitoring
  • Task Timing & Sequencing
  • Team Collaboration

Loren Hopkins
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
123 Front Street, Watkins Glen, NY 14891

Profile

Line Cook with 10+ years of restaurant kitchen experience. Skilled at preparing appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts while following all local food safety regulations.

Professional Experience

Line Cook, Francesca’s, Watkins Glen, NY | January 2019 to Present

[Popular local restaurant offering both traditional and modern American cuisine] 

  • Help prepare various menu items for 75+ customers per night
  • Oversee pre-open food preparations
  • Check deliveries for accuracy, and put away daily food orders
  • Ensure strict adherence to cleanliness and sanitation standards

Highlight:

  • Introduced processes that expedited average dessert preparation time by 20%

Line Cook, Overlook Banquet Hall, Watkins Glen, NY | July 2013 to December 2018

  • Prepared entrees, sides, and desserts for up to 250 meals per event
  • Put away daily deliveries, following strict health safety standards
  • Completed daily temperature logs of refrigerators and cleaners

Cook’s Assistant, Waffle Frolic, Corning, NY | June 2010 to June 2012

  • Finished waffles with customers’ chosen toppings
  • Prepared various desserts and beverages
  • Replenished food ingredients for the serving line
  • Maintained high cleanliness and sanitization standards
  • Relayed front-of-house requests to kitchen staff

Education & Professional Development

Associate of Culinary Studies, Corning Community College, Corning, NY | 2012

Food Safety Certification, Watkins Glen County Health Inspector | 2021

Key Skills

  • Basic Knife Work
  • Food Safety Procedures
  • Large-Scale Event Catering
  • Plating Design & Aesthetics
  • Team Collaboration
  • Time Management

Tips for Writing a Better Line Cook Resume

Use the time-honored “cooking” method

You’ll be encouraged to hear that one of the most influential writing ideas of the past century is actually a cooking metaphor. It comes from English professor Peter Elbow’s seminal 1973 book “Writing Without Teachers.” Elbow argued that in order to write anything well, you have to “cook” your starting information and ideas, i.e., meld them into something cohesive and satisfying. More specifically, he defined this process of information “cooking” as one piece of material being transformed or reoriented by another.

This dynamic interaction is exactly what you should aim for in writing your resume. Here the first “piece of material” is your career background to date. The second is your current job search goal. If you follow the “cooking” method, you’ll transform your career information for the better by reorienting it in terms of your goal. The result: a highly focused, effective resume.

The “cooking” approach may sound tricky and abstract at first. But in practice, it makes writing your resume as logical and intuitive as throwing together your favorite chili. The key is to (a) brainstorm and jot down a good amount of highlights from your career, and (b) compare that information methodically against your goals.

You’ll find a clear overview of this procedure in our Resume vs. Curriculum Vitae (CV) article – see the subsection “How to write a successful resume.”

Streamline how you show multiple jobs at one employer

For any given job in your Experience section, it’s usually best to list the information in this order:

Job Title, Employer Name, City, ST | dates

But what if you’ve held multiple jobs at the same employer? Following the above format causes you to list the same employer and location info multiple times, as in:

  • Assistant Saucier Chef, Le Fleur de Lys, Pittsburgh, PA | March 2014 to October 2015
  • Line Cook, Le Fleur de Lys, Pittsburgh, PA | June 2011 to March 2014

The effect can become tedious and distracting to the hiring manager, especially in cases where you’ve held many roles at one employer. For a better way to show these details, list the employer and location info first, once. Then indent the multiple roles underneath:

Le Fleur de Lys, Pittsburgh, PA | June 2011 to October 2015


  • Assistant Saucier Chef (March 2014 to October 2015)
  • Line Cook (June 2011 to March 2014)

Strike the right tone to describe your career background

For nearly any piece of regular writing, it’s important to choose language that sets and maintains a clear tone or “voice.” That rule applies equally to your job search documents. Here’s a quick overview of the voice you should aim for on each one:

  • Resume: formal, forthright
  • Cover Letter: engaged, confident
  • LinkedIn Profile: friendly, personable

To achieve a forthright voice on your resume, use simple sentences and straightforward accounts of your experience. Keep this advice in mind especially when writing your Profile section, since you may be tempted (or think you need) to use terms like “Exceptional” or “Outstanding at” when a more modest yet direct phrase like “Skilled at” is better.

Common Key Skills for Line Cook Resumes

One of the best ways to improve your resume is to add keywords.

That’s because most employers now use an applicant tracking system (ATS), which scans each submitted resume for keywords relevant to the job opening at hand. When the ATS finds a resume with many relevant keywords, it flags the document for the hiring manager.

To make your resume ATS-friendly, add a keyword-rich “Skills” or “Expertise” section. Here are some common keywords for line cook resumes:

Note: As the list below indicates, in this section you should only use noun phrases. Reserve personal attributes and adjectives (like “highly collaborative” or “strong work ethic”) for your Profile summary. Any time you’re unsure whether a term fits in this section, just plug it into the phrase “I’m skilled in [term].” If the term makes a correct sentence (“I’m skilled in team collaboration”), you can add it. But if it’s nonsense (“I’m skilled in highly collaborative”), leave it out.

Key Skills and Proficiencies
Back-of-House Restaurant Operations Basic Food Preparation
Common Cooking Procedures Cooking Equipment Maintenance
Customer Service & Relations Dinner Service
Efficiency Improvement Food Preparation
Food Safety & Sanitation High-Volume Restaurant Operations
Inventory Monitoring Kitchen Equipment Operation
Large-Scale Event Catering Menu Development
Mise en Place New Hire Training
Plating Design & Aesthetics Task Timing & Sequencing
Team Collaboration Time Management

Common Action Verbs for Line Cook Resumes

One of the most frequent resume mistakes is using too few verbs. You may fall into repeating the same generic verb (say, “Manage”) many times. This repetition can distract the hiring manager and fail to show the varied nature of your experience. The following list will help you mix up the verbs on your line cook resume:

Action Verbs
Arrange Assist
Bake Blanch
Blend Boil
Braise Chop
Clean Collaborate
Combine Communicate
Cook Core
Create Cut
Debone Develop
Dice Distill
Distribute Dot
Expedite Extract
Fillet Fold
Freeze Fry
Garnish Grill
Halve Heat
Julienne Lower
Maintain Measure
Mince Mix
Monitor Operate
Organize Oversee
Pare Peel
Place Plan
Plate Prepare
Puree Reduce
Reheat Remove
Replenish Rinse
Roast Sanitize
Scoop Scrub
Season Separate
Serve Sift
Slice Sprinkle
Stir Stock
Store Streamline
Support Temper
Train Transfer
Trim Whip

How to Align Your Resume with a Job Posting

For each job in your Experience section, consider adding a description of the restaurant or facility. You can place this description in brackets right next to or below the facility name. It also helps to match formatting. For instance, if you’ve italicized the facility name, italicize the description too. (See resume example 3 above.)

Facility descriptions let you show any similarity between the places you’ve worked and the place you now want to work. For instance, maybe you’ve worked in the same type of cuisine, or for a similar size facility. If you’re applying for a job in a high-volume or highly rated restaurant, use facility descriptions to emphasize any background you have in these environments. By working these details into your descriptions, you can make your resume that much more relevant to the job opening at hand.

More Resume and Cover Letter Resources

The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that jobs for cooks will increase by about 16 percent between 2021 and 2031. For more on finding opportunities in this field and related fields, check out the links below: