Food service

Head chef CV: example and template

This example is for head chefs and sous chefs at restaurants, hotels, caterers and restaurant chains, and for experienced cooks who want to move into a management role.

The restaurant owner wants to know which menus you create, how you cost dishes, how you lead the team and how you look after standards and hygiene. We show you how to describe this on your CV.

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Example CV: head chef

All the details in this example are fictional. Treat it as a model of layout and wording, and replace the content with your own experience.

Tomasz Kowalewski

Head chef

Warsaw +48 123 456 789 tomasz.kowalewski@example.com

Professional profile

Head chef with 14 years of experience, for the last 6 running the kitchen of a 120-cover seasonal restaurant. I create menus and recipes, calculate food cost, lead a team of 12 and handle orders and work with local suppliers. I cut food cost from 34% to 29% of revenue, and the restaurant was listed in a culinary guide.

Work experience

Head chef

02.2020 - present

Seasonal restaurant, 120 covers, Warsaw

  • A seasonal menu changed 4 times a year, recipes and spec sheets.
  • Cutting food cost from 34% to 29% of revenue.
  • Leading a team of 12: rota, training and appraisals.
  • Orders and work with 15 local suppliers.
  • HACCP, health inspections with no findings and a listing in a culinary guide.

Sous chef

05.2015 - 01.2020

Hotel restaurant, Warsaw

  • Running the shift and the pass.
  • Banquets of up to 300 people.
  • Stocktakes and orders.

Education

Nutrition and catering services technician

2007 - 2011

Catering School in Warsaw

Skills

  • Creating menus and recipes
  • Food cost and cost control
  • Leading a kitchen team
  • Orders and suppliers
  • HACCP and inspections
  • Opening new venues

Qualifications and training

  • Cost management in food service training, 2021
  • Stage at a guide-listed restaurant, 2018
  • Food safety health certificate

Languages

  • English: B2
  • French: A2

Additional information

  • Consulting on the opening of 2 venues

I hereby consent to the processing of my personal data for the purposes necessary to carry out the recruitment process, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (GDPR).

How to write a head chef CV

Professional summary

Write which kitchen you run, at which venue, how big the team is and what your key results are: food cost, ratings, awards. Add menus and recipes, because a head chef is responsible for the offer and its profitability. Owners look for a chef who cooks well and counts money.

Sous chef with 4 years of experience at a hotel restaurant who runs the shift, the pass and orders. I prepared 2 seasonal menus with the head chef. I am looking for work as a head chef at a smaller restaurant.

Experience: duties and achievements

Describe the venue, number of covers, team, menu, food cost, suppliers and results. Show effects in numbers and awards. Add venue openings if you took part in them.

Weaker: Creating the menu.

Better: A seasonal menu changed 4 times a year, recipes and spec sheets.

Weaker: Costs.

Better: Cutting food cost from 34% to 29% of revenue.

Weaker: Team.

Better: Leading a team of 12: rota, training and appraisals.

Skills worth listing

List menu creation, costs, team management, orders and hygiene. In your soft skills show leadership, calm at peak times and teaching others.

Professional skills

  • Menus and recipes
  • Food cost
  • Kitchen team
  • Orders
  • HACCP
  • Venue openings

Personal skills

  • Leadership
  • Calm at peak times
  • Teaching others
  • Creativity
  • Decisiveness

Qualifications and training

List cost and management training, stages at well-known restaurants, culinary competitions and the health certificate. Guide listings are worth giving in your summary.

How to become a head chef

People usually move into this role from sous chef or shift leader. On your CV show the team you have already led and the menu you worked on.

Learn to calculate food cost and describe one example of cutting costs. It often decides a promotion.

Tailoring your CV to the job offer

A chef-led restaurant looks for menus and creativity, a hotel for banquets and a large team, and a restaurant chain for standards, costs and new openings. Move to the top what the job ad is about.

The most common mistakes on a head chef CV

Questions and answers

What should a head chef put on a CV?

The venue, number of covers, team, menu, recipes, food cost, suppliers, HACCP, results, awards and training.

How does a head chef differ from a sous chef?

A head chef is responsible for the whole kitchen, menu and costs, a sous chef stands in and runs the shift.

How do you become a head chef?

Usually after years as a cook, shift leader and sous chef.

Should food cost go on the CV?

Yes, owners look for chefs who keep costs under control.

Create a head chef CV in the builder

In the CV Majster builder you enter your details step by step and see right away what the document looks like. You can copy the wording from this page and adapt it to yourself. The finished CV as a PDF costs a one-off PLN 5, with no subscription, and you see the preview before you pay.

Go to the CV builder

See also

Resume examples for similar jobs

Career guide

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