A good cook’s resume focuses on your relevant skills like food safety, recipe development, or team collaboration. Give examples of your past success as a cook or in similar roles, and show your knowledge base by citing any training or certificate programs you’ve done. This guide provides expert tips to help you create a results-driven resume showing your best cook experience.
Cook Resume Templates and Examples (Download in App)
Pastry Cook Resume Example
Why this cook resume example is strong:
This resume excels with a prominent skills section showing how the job seeker can add value to an organization.
Assistant Cook Resume Example
Why this cook resume example is strong:
This resume's experience section contains impressive performance data, showing how the candidate positively impacted their current role.
Banquet Cook Resume Example
Why this cook resume example is strong:
This resume uses dynamic verbs like "led" and "increased" to help express how the applicant has generated powerful results at each organization.
Breakfast Cook Resume Example
Why this cook resume example is strong:
This resume follows a consistent structure and format to ensure hiring managers can read it easily. The job seeker consistently includes basic details (title, organization, location, dates), letting the reader quickly scan their career progress.
Catering Cook Resume Example
Why this resume example is strong:
This resume has an impressive profile summary of Melissa's top qualifications. In a brief paragraph, the profile describes her overall experience and skill set, training the reader’s attention first and foremost on what makes her a great candidate. When writing your profile, include any relevant soft skills you possess and would like to apply to your target job.
Food Service Resume Example
Why this resume example is strong:
This resume effectively positions Charlotte for her goal of working for a large venue or dining establishment. See how the profile and experience sections start with a line referring to large-scale events. This detail focuses on the document and helps distinguish her from job seekers with similar service experience.
Line Cook Resume Example
Why this cook resume example is strong:
Eric introduces himself in the clear, direct tone recommended for resumes, with profile phrases like “focused on” and “skilled at.” Use simple words like these when writing your profile. Avoid flowery language and overly self-promoting terms like “excellent” or “outstanding at.” A good rule of thumb: Only write phrases you can see yourself saying out loud at an interview or job fair.
Cook Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples
How To Write a Cook Resume
1. Craft a compelling profile highlighting your cook expertise
In a brief paragraph or bullet list at the top of your resume, catch hiring managers’ attention by giving the three to five main reasons you’ll excel in your next job. (Note: most job seekers find it easier to write their profile last.)
Example
Pastry cook with a strong education from The Culinary Institute of America, Johnson & Wales University, and Le Cordon Bleu. Skilled at developing recipes, maintaining quality control, and training junior staff, demonstrated through successful roles at Marriott International and Starbucks Corporation. Certified Pastry Culinarian (CPC) known for enhancing dessert sales, reducing food waste, and improving team efficiency.
2. Create a professional experience section focused on cook achievements
Use your resume’s experience section to give examples of your background and success in your target role. For each job in your recent work history, brainstorm your duties and achievements on a separate document or sheet of paper. Then, choose the most relevant ones to include as bullet points on your resume. With this approach, you can write a detailed and focused experience section.
Example
Sous Chef, Marriott International, New York, NY | January 2019 to present
- Helped prepare a range of dishes, contributing to a 20% increase in customer satisfaction
- Implemented a new inventory system that reduced food waste by 15%
- Maintained high sanitation standards, resulting in consistent top health department ratings
3. Add education and certifications that align with your cook qualifications
Give the basics on any bachelor’s degree(s) you’ve completed or worked toward. Then, flesh out this section with any certifications or other details that help show your relevant knowledge base.
Below are templates and examples to help you format your education and certification details. Optional template areas appear in [brackets].
Education
Template
- Degree Name — [Major, Minor], School Name, City, ST or online | [Year]
- [Select Coursework]
Example
- Bachelor of Science in Culinary Management, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI
Certifications
Template
- Certification Name or Title, [Awarding Organization] | [Year]
- [Description]
Example
- Certified Sous Chef (CSC), American Culinary Federation
4. Highlight essential key skills for a successful cook
Add a key skills section to show the various ways you can contribute to your target job. Below are some common skills and keywords for cook resumes:
| Key Skills and Proficiencies | |
|---|---|
| Baking and pastry techniques | Breakfast food preparation |
| Cooking equipment maintenance | Cost control |
| Customer service | Event catering |
| Food preparation | Food safety and sanitation |
| Inventory management | Kitchen cleanliness |
| Kitchen management | Kitchen sanitation |
| Menu planning | Recipe development |
| Task timing and sequencing | Team collaboration |
| Team leadership | Time management |
How To Pick the Best Cook Resume Template
As with most vocations, cooks should use a straightforward resume template. Opt for a layout that lets the hiring manager quickly review your best career details. Select a traditional resume font, and avoid any template with a colorful or elaborate design. Also, ensure the template complies with applicant tracking systems (ATS) employers use to screen resumes.
Frequently Asked Questions: Cook Resume Examples and Advice
What are common action verbs for cook resumes?-
We can get stuck when writing the experience section of a resume. You may start to run out of action verbs to describe your work. To help you with this challenge, we compiled the common action verbs below that describe cook roles.
| Action Verbs | |
|---|---|
| Chopped | Created |
| Decreased | Enhanced |
| Fostered | Generated |
| Grew | Increased |
| Introduced | Monitored |
| Plated | Prepared |
| Ranked | Reduced |
| Seasoned | Streamlined |
| Won | |
How do you align your resume with a cook job posting?-
One great way to customize your resume is by adding brief descriptions of the places you’ve worked in [brackets] right next to or below the restaurant name. Restaurant descriptions let you show any similarities between your past employers and the one who posted the job. For example, maybe you've worked for restaurants of a similar size or cuisine. Or perhaps you’ve worked at organizations with a similar service approach or philosophy. By adding these details, you can make your resume more relevant to the job opening.
What is the best cook resume format?-
Most job seekers should use the combination (or hybrid) format. True to its name, this format combines two important features of other resume formats: the chronological format’s experience section and the functional format’s profile section. (The resume examples on this page all use combination format.)
A combination resume offers the best of both worlds by fusing these features. The experience section lets you outline your recent work history – essential information for most employers. At the same time, the profile section enables you to display your career highlights at the top, regardless of whether they're from that work history or another part of your background. As a result, you can present yourself both clearly and strategically. With this format, you give hiring managers the best view of your experience and relevant strengths so they can decide to call you for an interview.
Write and submit a strong cover letter to increase your chances of an interview. The key to a good cover letter is tailoring it to each job opening. Read our cover letter guide to learn how. For more tips and examples, see our food service cover letter guide.
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