Chef resume example
By Bhagirath Sheela, founder of JobCatch ·
Kitchens hire chefs on cuisine, station and discipline. A chef's resume names the cuisines you cook, the stations and positions you have held, the size of the kitchen and the covers served, and your food safety training — and shows you can run a section under pressure.
What recruiters look for
- Cuisines: Indian (North, South, tandoor), continental, Chinese, bakery
- Positions: commis, chef de partie, sous chef, head chef
- Kitchen size and covers per service
- Food safety and hygiene training (such as FSSAI's FoSTaC), food cost control
Section order
With experience
- Summary
- Experience
- Skills and languages
- Education
- Certifications
As a fresher
- Summary
- Skills and languages
- Education
- Training or part-time work
Summary examples
Fresher
Hotel management graduate with six months of industrial training in a five-star hotel's Indian kitchen, trained in tandoor and FSSAI food safety.
Experienced
Chef de partie with six years in hotel and restaurant kitchens, specialising in North Indian and tandoor. Run the Indian section for 250 covers a night and cut food cost by 4 points.
Skills, spelled the way postings spell them
An applicant tracking system matches the words in the job posting, and it does not reliably treat two spellings as one skill. The left column is the form most postings use; the right, other spellings people type. Use the posting's own spelling for each application, and list only what you can discuss in an interview.
| Skill | Also written as |
|---|---|
| Inventory management | Stock management |
| Team leadership | Team management, People management |
| Vendor management | — |
| Hindi | — |
| English | — |
Also worth listing if you have them: North Indian and tandoor, Continental, Food costing, FSSAI FoSTaC training, Menu planning.
Bullet examples
Each bullet says what you did and what changed because of it. Change the numbers to your own; a recruiter will ask about every one.
- Run the Indian and tandoor section for about 250 covers a night in a busy hotel restaurant.
- Cut the section's food cost from 34% to 30% through portion control and better ordering.
- Created a regional thali menu that became the restaurant's best-selling lunch item.
- Train and supervise four commis chefs on recipes, hygiene and station setup.
- Kept the section audit-ready for food safety inspections, with no major findings.
For freshers: projects and internships
- Six months of industrial training in a five-star hotel's Indian kitchen, rotating through tandoor and curry stations.
- Completed FSSAI FoSTaC training in food safety.
- Cooked for a college festival food stall serving 600 plates over two days.
Mistakes to avoid
- Not naming cuisines and stations. Kitchens hire for a specific section.
- Leaving out covers and kitchen size. They tell a head chef what pace you can handle.
- No food safety. Hygiene training is expected; say what you have.
What an ATS reads from this sample
An applicant tracking system turns the PDF into plain text before anyone reads it. This is that text for the sample above, extracted by the same code as "What the ATS reads" in the app. Everything is in reading order, under the right heading, with the name and email intact — which is what a single-column template is for.
Mohan Bisht Chef de Partie, Indian Cuisine [email protected] | +91 98765 43210 | Gurugram, Haryana | linkedin.com/in/mohanbisht Summary Chef de partie with six years in hotel and restaurant kitchens, specialising in North Indian and tandoor. Run the Indian section for 250 covers a night and cut food cost by 4 points. Experience Chef de Partie, Indian, The Aravali Grand Hotel Jan 2022 – Present Gurugram Run the Indian and tandoor section for about 250 covers a night in a busy hotel restaurant. Cut the section's food cost from 34% to 30% through portion control and better ordering. Created a regional thali menu that became the restaurant's best-selling lunch item. Demi Chef de Partie, Spice Route Restaurant Jun 2019 – Dec 2021 Gurugram Train and supervise four commis chefs on recipes, hygiene and station setup. Kept the section audit-ready for food safety inspections, with no major findings. Education Diploma, Food Production 2017 – 2019 Institute of Hotel Management, Dehradun · First class Skills Inventory management, Team leadership, Vendor management, Hindi, English, North Indian and tandoor, Continental, Food costing, FSSAI FoSTaC training, Menu planning Projects Regional thali A lunch thali menu that became the restaurant's best-selling item. Certifications FSSAI FoSTaC: Food Safety Supervisor, 2023 Languages English, Hindi
Interview questions to prepare
The app's interview prep for this sample and a plain Chef posting. It works from the resume and the posting only, and tells you how to prepare, never what to say.
Questions every interview has
- Tell me about yourself. Two minutes: what you do now (Chef de Partie, Indian at The Aravali Grand Hotel), one result you are proud of, and why this role is next.
- Why do you want this job? Read their website and one recent piece of news before the call. Name something specific.
- Why are you leaving your current job? Say what you are moving towards. Do not criticise your employer.
- What is your notice period, and what salary are you expecting? Decide your number before the interview, so you are not deciding it on the call.
About the skills the job asks for
- Tell me about a time you used Vendor management. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Team leadership. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Inventory management. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used English. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
- Tell me about a time you used Hindi. Pick one real example: what the problem was, what you did, and what changed.
About what the resume claims
- You wrote: "Run the Indian and tandoor section for about 250 covers a night in a busy hotel restaurant." Expect three follow-ups: how exactly, what was your own part, and how you know it worked.
- You wrote: "Cut the section's food cost from 34% to 30% through portion control and better ordering." Expect three follow-ups: how exactly, what was your own part, and how you know it worked.
- You wrote: "Created a regional thali menu that became the restaurant's best-selling lunch item." Expect three follow-ups: how exactly, what was your own part, and how you know it worked.
Questions to ask them
- What would a good first three months in this role look like?
- Who would I work with most closely?
- What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear back?
Templates that suit this role
All of these are single-column and read cleanly by an applicant tracking system. Classic is free, with no watermark.
Questions
Should a chef's resume include a photo?
It is common in Indian hospitality, though not required. A plain, neat photo in chef's whites is fine if you include one.
What certifications help a chef in India?
A hotel management degree or diploma, and food safety training such as FSSAI's FoSTaC. Specialised courses in bakery or a cuisine help for those sections.
Next: the Chef cover letter the app drafts from this resume.
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