HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT HEAD CHEF CV THAT WILL BE SNAPPED UP BY EVERY RECRUITER!

The Head Chef is the crowning glory for all restaurants. When applying for the position your CV needs to be detailed, listing all your skills and experience, because when you are successful, the opportunity is there for a secure and long term job and a chance to shine and progress.

Recruiters receive dozens of applications throughout the day, and if you want your CV to be noticed you need to get straight into your skill set, but keeping it all straightforward with a clean and easy to read layout.

Use bullet points for lists and bold text for titles and dates. Keep it to 2 pages if possible, with more detail of your most recent position and less detail for older jobs.

Have a look at our format tips and information to include, we have given examples but you will have your specialist skills that must be included.

Don’t jazz up your CV too much with logos and images as recruiters just want to get straight to your information. If you decide to use a template keep it simple.

You always have your name and contact details at the top of your CV. Don’t include the words CV, but just have your name in bold with your mobile number, email address and location in smaller writing below.

Profile:  2 or 3 sentences.

Remember that for the majority of positions you will be moving into a kitchen situation with an established menu, and be expected to hit the ground running, so this needs to come across in your profile.

Begin with a statement of your current position if already a Head Chef, or name it as the role you are looking for if not.

Example 1: Head Chef for 5 years in a 3 star London restaurant and 15 years experience working with large teams in busy kitchens. Speciality is fusion cuisine, but wide ranging culinary skills and techniques and an excellent record of training others.
Example 2: Chef with 8 years experience in busy London restaurants, now looking for a Head Chef position to utilize my proven ability to lead a team. Efficient and productive in fast paced kitchens, experienced in sourcing ingredients, stock control and controling budgets.

Key Skills:

This is optional, but for a Head Chef it is a good section for you to list all your skills at a glance. Use bullet points. Don’t repeat anything from your profile, if you prefer include your key skills in your profile, but listing them is quicker for recruiters to see at a glance.

  • Organized kitchen management
  • Staff training and task assignment
  • Record keeping and budget management
  • Calm in pressured environment
  • Recipe creation and menu planning
  • Specialist culinary techniques for food preperation
  • Food plating and presentation

Experience / Career Summary: Begin with your most recent employment.

Dates on the left hand side then clear title of your position and the name of the restaurant/company. All in bold.

Outline: Detail the type and size of restaurant and include any Michelin stars or awards.

Key Responsibilities: List your responsibilities, see examples below:

  • Led a team of 6 chefs and supervised kitchen personnel to provide high quality food in an efficient and timely manner.
  • Designed recipes and menus and effectively instructed staff on the ingredients, cooking and presentation.
  • Managed staff rotas, recruitment, training, complaints and issues.
  • Oversaw stock and quality control, ingredient sourcing, budgets and finance records.
  • Ensured strict food hygeine regulations were adheared to at all times by all staff.

Key Achievements: Optional, but try to think of a couple of points you are proud of.

For example: events you catered for; food waste reduction; keeping up to date with food trends and introducing popular recipes and menus which brought in custom. Restaurant food reviews or awards during your employment.

Education and Qualifications: Begin with your culinary degree and then list all other certificates and specialist qualifications.

Additional Information: Include any personal culinary or management awards and languages spoken.

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