Five Steps to Putting Your Culinary Skills in a Resume

Emily Weller reports:

"You might excel in a professional kitchen, but struggle to capture your cooking ability on paper. A culinary arts resume needs to demonstrate your skills and experience to an employer. It should also let a potential employer know what you are looking for in a position. When it comes to writing a resume, remember that there is no one-size-fits-all formula. Craft your resume based on your personal work history and skill set...Type your full name and contact information at the top of the resume page. Center your name and information on the page. You can make the text size of your name bigger than the rest of the text on the page, size 18 or 20 points instead of the standard 12. Include all of your contact information, including your mailing address, email address and phone numbers...Create an objective that is specific to the position to which you are applying...List any relevant experience you have working in a kitchen. Start with your most recent position and work your way backward through time. Include the name of your position, the name and location of your employers and when you were at each position in your list. Create a bulleted list of your responsibilities and accomplishments at each job...Include your experience before your education if you want a potential employer to see how much industry experience you have already...Add a section detailing your education at the end of the resume. If your work experience is thin, you might want to put the education section first. List the schools you attended, your course of study and when you attended. Also note it if you earned a degree...Include an additional section listing honors or awards you have received. You can include culinary certifications you've received in this section or in the education section. Fully explain the award or honor and note when you received it...To give a potential employer a summary of your experience and skills, include a 'Skills and Qualifications' section under the objective, but above the experience section. A separate qualifications and skills section is useful if you are a new graduate of a culinary program or are just getting started in your culinary arts career, because it highlights what you can do, even if you don't have much on-the-job experience yet."