Restaurant Resume Examples

This restaurant resume template follows the correct resume format:

The restaurant industry includes a wide number of exciting and versatile career options. You can find success in the restaurant industry whether you’re:

• just starting out in your career
• looking for a job to work part-time while you’re attending school
• dedicated to pursuing a full-time career in the industry

But with a low barrier of entry comes plenty of competition. So if you want to land a well-paying job, your restaurant resume needs to help you stand out and advertise your most valuable qualifications.

Whatever your level of experience, follow these tips to write a strong restaurant resume:

1. Highlight your relevant hard skills

If you have previous experience working in a restaurant, list the skills you’ve gained from these positions front and center in the skills section of your resume.

For example, the following hard skills are relevant to a variety of careers in the restaurant industry:

• POS (Point of Sale)
• Food handling techniques
• Food preparation
• Reservation scheduling
• Menu planning
• OpenTable
• Recordkeeping
• Inventory
• Culinary Software Services ChefTec
• Recipe and menu software

If you don’t have a lot of experience in the restaurant industry, don’t worry. Experience in a related industry like customer service or retail has likely left you with plenty of transferable skills to list on your restaurant resume, such as:

• Cash handling
• Inventory management
• Order processing
• Stock rotation
• Upselling techniques

2. Emphasize your soft skills

Be sure to highlight a few relevant soft skills, such as your ability to remain calm under pressure, or develop a rapport with customers. Nearly any restaurant job requires customer interaction and the ability to handle high-stress situations, making soft skills essential for success.

Here are some important restaurant-related soft skills to include on your resume:

• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Confidence
• People skills
• Customer service skills
• Positive attitude
• Good work ethic
• Organizational skills
• Problem-solving skills
• The ability to work well under pressure
• Attention to detail

To emphasize your skills, you should also include examples of how you put your expertise to work in your resume experience section.

For example, if you listed customer service skills in your resume skills section, you could add the following bullet to your work history:

“Handled phone, email, and in-person customer requests and complaints with empathy and respect, resulting in positive customer feedback and contributing to an average 4.5-star rating on Google and Yelp reviews”

If you’re writing a resume with no experience, you can still include evidence of soft skills on your resume. For example, you may have picked up soft skills from volunteer work or internships listed on your resume.

3. Target your restaurant resume to the job post

One of the simplest ways to make sure your restaurant resume stands out is to adjust the content to address the needs of each restaurant you apply to work at.

To do this, scan through the job listing for the jobs you want. Take note of any required or desired skills and qualifications, and be sure to include them in your resume (as long as you have them). Doing this makes you appear more qualified than if you submit a generic resume to every restaurant you apply to.

In addition to qualifications that are specifically mentioned in the job description, do some research on the restaurant and try to gear your resume toward their customer-service approach and values.

For example, a family-owned restaurant may place more emphasis on making customers feel like family, while larger chain restaurants may focus more on your ability to work in a fast-paced environment.

4. Include relevant certifications and training

No matter what restaurant job you’re applying for, being able to show employers that you have the training necessary to contribute to giving customers the best experience possible will strengthen your application.

There are numerous restaurant certifications available and which one you should get depends on your role at the restaurant, but here are a few common ones to consider adding to your resume:

When adding certifications to your resume, list them in your skills section or create a separate section for them (if you have three or more).

If you’ve taken any courses or attended workshops related to menu development, hospitality and customer service, health and safety training, or specialized cooking techniques, include these on your restaurant resume as well.

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