Resume Advice For Cooks
1. The Difference between a Line and a Prep Cook
At some restaurants, the job duties of line and prep cooks may overlap, so it is understandable that many mistake the positions as being one in the same. Still, the majority of the restaurant industry will tell you that there is a clear division between line and prep cooks.Confusing the two on your resume could be disastrousand end up ruining your career in the kitchen before it even starts. So, let’s begin by clarifying exactly what the difference is.
A prep cook is the first step to becoming a full-fledged chef. As the title suggests, prep cooks are responsible for preparing the cooking stations and ingredients. This often entails chopping vegetables, making long-cook protein items, cooking soup, and cleaning and stocking each station.
A line cook is the next rung up on the cooking totem pole.Line cooks are responsible for actually filling ordersas they come in from the servers. Working on the line can be extremely challenging. During busy lunch and dinner hours, cooks on the line have to remain calm and composed in order to multiple orders simultaneously.
Now that we’ve reviewed the difference between the two, let’s find out all the ingredients that line and prep cooks need to create a resume.
2. Skills for Line & Prep Cooks
The more skills you add to your resume, the better your chances are of getting an interview. Restaurant owners like to see applicants who already have knowledge of food processing techniques and kitchen organization because it implies that won’t have to spend as much time training them.
Below are the most important skills that line and prep cooks should include on their resumes.
Skills for Line Cooks
Skills for Prep Cooks
3. Choose A Resume Introduction
Every resume should begin with an intriguing introduction that provides the hiring manager with an overview of your skills and achievements. Job seekers have a choice between a professional profile, career objective, or a qualifications summary.
The two samples above both use a career objective to highlight their experience with different cuisines,demonstrated skills, and accomplishments. Including these threes elements in your objective will give employers a reason to read through the rest of your resume.
Let’s break down how the samples above used a career objective to their advantage.
Career objective for a line cook:
Line Cook with 5 years of experience in Cajun, Creole, and Middle Eastern Cuisines. Possess expertise in creating sauces and cooking seafood and poultry, as well as following recipes and presentation with meticulous detail.Demonstrated skills in improving cooking processes and reducing food waste and costs.Recipient of awards, commendations, and numerous positive feedback from patrons.
Career objective for a prep cook:
Prep Cook with experience working in Italian and Mexican restaurants and up to 100-seating establishments. Recognized for exceptional ability to prep all kinds of ingredients with precision and efficiency according to recipe specifications. Commended numerous times by head chef and other staff members fororganizational and prioritization skills.
If you can follow the same style as the examples above, you will be sure to capture the attention of restaurant owners.
4. Write an Achievement-Oriented Professional Experience Section
The key to a great professional experience section is to include achievements and avoid repeating the job description. As the a line or a prep, a restaurant owner already has a good idea of what your tasks were, so don’t include generic job duties. Instead, they are looking for proof of how you excelled in your previous positions.Employers are looking for proof of how you excelled in your previous positions.
The best way to do this is to add measurable achievements to your resume. The samples above offers numerous examples of how this can be done for a cook resume.
For instance, the line cook states that he:
Quantifying the number of guests that he cooked for helps give the employer a better idea of the workload that he is capable of handling. Additionally, the applicant highlights the impressive achievement of receiving a 93% in positive customer feedback. No matter what industry, employers love to hire candidates that know how to make the customer happy.
Simple ways to quantify your resume:
5. Action Verbs for Cook Resumes
| Assist | Create | Prepare |
| Arrange | Garnish | Season |
| Bake | Inspect | Stock |
| Clean | Measure | Wash |
| Cook | Portion | Weigh |
Need more? Get every action verb in the universe!
Save time and make an line/prep cook resume in minutes with our online software. Our free resume builderautomatically generates job description bullet points and formats them into a beautiful resume template.
No comments:
Post a Comment