Chef CV Example

How to write a chef CV summary

Your summary should place you in the brigade within one sentence. Start with your level (commis, chef de partie, junior sous, sous chef, head chef, executive chef), your years in kitchens and the style of food you cook. Then add the volume you are used to and one proof that you can be trusted with more responsibility.

• Level and style: Chef de partie with five years in modern European and fine-dining kitchens.
• Volume: covers per service, the size of the brigade, banqueting numbers.
• Business skills: menu costing, GP targets, ordering, rotas and stock takes. These matter more with each step towards head chef.
• Next step: the role and type of kitchen you want, especially if you are moving from hotels to restaurants or the other way round.

Avoid opening with passionate chef who loves food. Show it instead with what you cook, where and to what standard.

What to put in your experience section

Owners and head chefs want to picture the kitchen you came from. For each job, give the type of venue (independent restaurant, hotel, gastropub, contract catering, care home, events), its size in covers and any recognised standard, such as AA Rosettes or a guide listing. Then use three to five bullets for what you cooked and what you were responsible for.

• Sections: which sections you ran, such as larder, fish, sauce, grill or pastry.
• Volume and speed: covers per service, banquets, tickets per hour at peak.
• Money: gross profit percentage, food cost, waste reduction, supplier changes, weekly food spend you managed.
• Menus: specials or seasonal menus you wrote, dishes that stayed on the menu, tasting menus you helped develop.
• Standards and people: food hygiene inspection results, HACCP records, commis chefs you trained, rotas you wrote.

A sous chef or head chef CV without any numbers on cost, GP or waste looks unfinished. If you don't know the exact figures, ask your head chef or use the targets you worked to, labelled as targets.

Food hygiene, HACCP and allergen training

Food safety training is checked early in hiring, so give it its own section with the qualification name and year. Which certificate is expected depends on your level and country:

• Commis and chef de partie: a Level 2 food hygiene or food safety certificate, or the equivalent in your country, such as the REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene course in Scotland.
• Sous and head chef: a Level 3 or intermediate food safety certificate and HACCP training, because you will be responsible for the kitchen's food safety management system.
• Allergens: allergen awareness training and experience keeping an allergen matrix, since kitchens across the UK and EU must provide information on the 14 regulated allergens.

Inspection results are worth a line too, phrased as the local scheme shows them: a 5 rating under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or a Pass under the Food Hygiene Information Scheme in Scotland. Only include results from kitchens where you had a real part in keeping standards.

Skills: cooking techniques and kitchen management

List cooking skills you can actually demonstrate in a trial shift: butchery of whole lamb, fresh pasta, classical French sauces, sourdough and laminated pastry, sous vide, wood-fired grill. Specific techniques tell a head chef where you could slot into the brigade.

From chef de partie upwards, add kitchen management skills: menu costing and recipe specs, ordering and supplier management, stock takes, rota planning, and running the pass. Soft skills should reflect kitchen life: calm communication during service, giving clear instructions, training juniors and keeping standards on a long double shift.

Trial shifts, length and tailoring

Most chef jobs end with a trial shift, so your CV's job is to get you into the kitchen. One page works for commis chefs and two pages for sous and head chefs. A photo of your food is better kept for a portfolio link or your phone at interview than on the CV itself.

Tailor each application to the kitchen. For a fine-dining restaurant, lead with technique, menu development and recognised standards. For a hotel or contract catering role, lead with volume, banqueting, cost control and food safety systems. For a gastropub or independent, show you can work across sections and help keep food cost under control. If the advert mentions a cuisine or a dietary focus, such as vegan, Asian or allergen-free cooking, make your matching experience easy to find.

Chef CV summary examples

Chef CV bullet point examples

• Ran the pass for up to 220 covers on Saturday nights, keeping ticket times under 18 minutes for mains during peak service.
• Re-costed the full menu and switched two suppliers, raising kitchen gross profit from 63% to 70% within six months.
• Wrote and launched four seasonal menus a year, with specials costed to a 72% GP target and documented in recipe specs for the whole brigade.
• Reduced recorded food waste by 35% by introducing prep lists, par levels and a daily specials board built around surplus stock.
• Led the kitchen through a local authority food hygiene inspection with no actions raised, maintaining a top rating for three consecutive visits.
• Ran the larder and pastry sections for weddings and conferences of up to 250 plated covers in a 4-star hotel.
• Trained three commis chefs to chef de partie level within 18 months, using a section sign-off checklist I created.
• Managed ordering and weekly stock takes for a £7,000 food spend, cutting stock-holding by a fifth without running out of menu items.
• Built and maintained the kitchen's allergen matrix for a 40-dish menu and briefed front-of-house staff at every menu change.

Skills for your Chef CV