Ensure your CV format is structured to best highlight your unique experience and life situation.
Chef CV Template (Text Format)
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Passionate Chef with 15 years of experience managing food and beverage services for 500+ guests daily. Skilled at directing the food preparation process, developing menus, ordering supplies and stock, enforcing health and safety standards, and leading teams. Track record of increasing revenue and building a loyal customer base through authentic and premium tastes.
WORK EXPERIENCE
The Old Vicarage, Sheffield
Head Chef, Dec 2020–Present
- Increased restaurant by £6K per month by serving hygienic food as per guests’ taste
- Generated £2K per month savings by transitioning from six vendors to only one supplier
- Decreased food and drink wastage by 10% through wastage and spoilage tracking
- Introduced 8 new items within the menu based on season, occasion, and guest preferences
- Ensured quality, quantity, freshness, and presentation of food throughout service
- Gained customer loyalty and appreciation for food by personally attending requests of each guest
Joro Restaurant, Sheffield
Sous Chef, Jun 2018–Dec 2020
- Increased loyal customer base by 25% through exceptional dinner service
- Promoted passion for food service among kitchen staff members
- Developed staff schedules with a focus on seamless workflow and functional excellence
- Trained 10+ kitchen staff members to meet strict standards defined by head chef, Marco Pierre
- Planned, coordinated, and directed food preparation in the kitchen as per set recipes
- Assisted head chef with menu design, inventory sourcing, and staff management
EDUCATION
Sheffield Hallam University (2018)
BSc in Culinary Arts Entrepreneurship — upper-second class honours
Relevant modules:
- Food Science
- Culinary Arts
- Hospitality Industry
- Human Nutrition
- Advanced Techniques in Culinary Arts
- Human Resource Management
- Human Nutrition, Fish, and Crustaceans
- Meat Utilisation
- Pastry Arts
- Financial Management
- Art of Food Styling
- Digital Marketing
- Menu Development
Birmingham College of Food (2017)
Diploma in Hospitality Management
University of West London (2016)
Certificate in Culinary Arts
KEY SKILLS
- Culinary expertise
- Knife skills
- Communication skills
- Management and leadership
- Customer service skills
- Attention to detail
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Bodybuilding
How to write a chef CV
Before you begin writing, make sure you know how to write a CV in a way that best emphasises your strengths.
People enjoy fine dining, and they’ll pay well to dine where a chef produces great food. But you’ll only get to showcase your culinary skills if you impress your future employer with an effective chef CV.
You also need to make a cover letter that introduces your chef CV to the employer.
Employers look for chefs who are experienced in preparing meals, presenting dishes and cooking with different foods and ingredients. Scroll down to learn how to create an outstanding CV for a chef role using four guided tips.
1. Open with a convincing personal statement
A great chef CV starts with a strong CV personal statement of 2–4 sentences that introduces your expertise with food and cooking.
A CV personal statement sits at the top of your CV under your name and contact details. You can format your chef CV personal statement as a paragraph or use bullet points.
A chef CV personal statement’s goal is to help employers understand exactly who you are and what skills and expertise you can bring to their restaurant or business.
Your chef CV personal statement should:
- start with a professional title with a strong adjective (for example: ‘Experienced chef’, ‘Top chef’)
- introduce your previous experiences as a chef
- summarise your most relevant skills
- explain how you’ll be beneficial in that position
Unless you know the exact wording to include in your CV, write your personal statement last. By writing it last, you’ll identify relevant skills to include in it as you’ve write your other sections.
Here’s an example of a well-written chef CV personal statement that highlights the applicant’s key chef skills and years of experience:
2. Choose proper CV formatting
The correct CV layout will make your chef CV look organised and easy to read.
So use a standard CV format. For the quickest results, use a CV template for your chef CV, but if you prefer a made-from-scratch document, ensure that it contains five to six sections.
Here’s what to include in a CV for chefs:
- Your CV title
- Your personal statement
- Work experience section
- Education section
- Skills section
- Additional sections such as your hobbies and interests or certifications
If you include an additional section at the bottom of your CV, make it short and use bullet points..
And because employers are primarily interested in what you’ve done recently, emphasise your most recent work history by using reverse-chronological CV format.
Reverse-chronological CV format means starting with your most recent (or current) job, and then working backwards. Reverse-chronological format lets employers see your most recent positions or education first, which are usually the most relevant.
3. Highlight your chef skills
An impressive chef CV that showcases your exceptional key skills will secure an interview.
Chefs need many hard skills to succeed as a chef in a fast-paced restaurant or hotel.
For instance, some hard skills for chefs include preparing gourmet dishes, creating menus, and managing the restaurant’s budget.
Here are some other hard skills for your chef CV:
- Baking
- Culinary expertise
- Developing new interesting recipes
- First aid training
- Grilling
- Keen sense of taste and smell
- Knife skills
- Pastry production
- Portion control
- Presentation skills
- Sanitation and safety knowledge
- Specialised dietary knowledge
Before you add skills to your CV, check the job advert for skills that the employer values the most and add them to your personal statement, work experience section, or anywhere they seem fit.
Also, showcase any specific certifications you have as a key skill on your CV or in a separate section for certifications. For example, a first-aid certificate is relevant because it shows you can handle medical emergencies in the kitchen, such as burns.
4. Quantify your experience using hard numbers
Recruiters like to see numbers and results on a CV because positive numbers mean their business will grow with you on their team. And quantifying your contributions using hard numbers gives evidence of your value and shows how much you’ve positively impacted the restaurants and hotels you’ve worked in.
So include any relevant data such as percentages, sales, and time worked that’ll help your accomplishments and work experience section stand out.
Here’s an example of how to use hard numbers in your chef CV’s work experience section:
- Increased loyal customer base by 25% through exceptional dinner service
- Trained 10+ kitchen staff members to meet strict standards defined by head chef, Marco Pierre
- Increased restaurant revenue by £6K per month by catering for special dietary requirements
- Generated £2K per month savings by transitioning from six vendors to only one supplier
- Decreased food and drink wastage by 10% through wastage and spoilage tracking
Additional resources for your chef CV
If you’re new to the kitchen industry, the perspectives of other professionals are an invaluable resource for starting your career. Ryan Dean Dexton is a vlogger who offers a comprehensive view of kitchen hierarchy, skills a professional chef needs, and tips for breaking into the culinary world: