Chef CV example
Create a chef CV that highlights your creativity, kitchen expertise, and leadership skills. Stand out in the culinary world with a polished, professional application that demonstrates your passion for food and creating memorable dining experiences.
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Ready to turn up the heat on your CV? Our recruiter-approved chef CV example shows you how to go beyond listing past roles and responsibilities. We’ll guide you through creating a CV that reflects your culinary passion, highlights your leadership in the kitchen, and demonstrates the real value you’ve brought to each venue, from flavour to financial impact.
Read on for:
- Sample chef CV
- Chef CV templates
- The best format for your chef CV
- How to write an effective CV for a chef
- Top dos and don’ts for chef CV writing
- Your chef questions answered
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Download Turn up the heat on your job search with our chef CV example
David Dunne
8 Holgate Road
Bristol BS2 9NF
david.dunne@example.co.uk
07912 345678
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Accomplished Chef with 10 years of proven ability to drive sales growth, reduce costs, and build business relations. Passionate, spirited, and classically trained culinary professional, skilled in building relationships and developing high-performing teams. Leader in the delivery of excellent customer service, directing operations, and achieving culinary excellence. Dedicated to food safety, customer service best practices, and quality food service.
WORK HISTORY
Chef (10/2017 – Current)
Kitchen Restaurant, Bristol
- Hired, trained and managed all kitchen staff, including employee development, issuing disciplinary action and conducting performance reviews.
- Incorporated customer feedback in the experimentation and creation of new signature dishes.
- Reduced food costs by 12% by expertly estimating purchasing needs and buying through approved suppliers.
Chef (03/2012 – 09/2017)
Street Restaurant and Bar, Abbots Leigh
- Monitored food budget and purchased all supplies within the established budget.
- Regularly developed new recipes in accordance with consumer tastes, nutritional needs, and budgetary considerations.
- Produced exceptional menu items, consistently winning diners’ praise.
Chef Assistant (06/2009 – 02/2012)
George’s Great British Kitchen, Bristol
- Rotated frozen food items.
- Diligently enforced proper sanitation practices to prevent spoilage or contamination of foods.
- Prepared bakery and speciality products such as bagels, breads, and pastries.
EDUCATION
Advanced Diploma in Cuisine & Patisserie (2009)
Ashburton Chefs’ Academy, Bristol
SKILLS
- Fine-dining expertise
- Employee training and development
- Budgeting and cost control
- Banquets and catering
- Food preparation techniques
- Menu planning
- Purchasing
- Strong butchery skills
- Contemporary sauce work
Chef CV templates
Start by customising one of our chef CV templates to reflect your unique experience and skills, or browse our collection of top CV templates to find the perfect match for your career goals.
The best format for your chef CV
When creating a chef CV, choosing the right layout is essential to showcase both your culinary talent and kitchen leadership. A reverse chronological CV format is ideal for chefs with a steady progression in the hospitality industry. It places your most recent or current job at the top, helping employers assess your career progression and key responsibilities.
If you’re changing careers or have gaps in your employment, a skills-based CV format can highlight cooking techniques, creativity, and teamwork without focusing too much on your timeline. Follow these additional tips to ensure your chef CV stands out visually and professionally:
- Use a clean, modern font such as Calibri or Helvetica to reflect professionalism in a fast-paced industry.
- Include bold headings for each section and space entries well to avoid visual clutter – recruiters scan CVs quickly.
- Consider including a small section for signature dishes or cuisines, formatted as a short list or in line with your experience.
- Use consistent spacing and alignment to reflect your attention to detail, just as you would in a kitchen environment.
How to write an effective CV for a chef
Creating a CV isn’t just about listing jobs you’ve had – it’s also about showcasing your culinary identity, from specialities to leadership styles. A well-structured CV with clearly defined sections will help employers quickly identify your strengths.
In this section, we’ll break down what each part of your chef CV should contain, with expert tips and examples to guide you.
- Adding contact details to your chef CV
- Writing your chef CV’s personal statement
- Adding an experience section to your chef CV
- Top skills for your chef CV
- Outlining education on a chef CV
Adding contact details to your chef CV
The first element you want positioned at the top of the page is your contact section. Keep your information simple and professional. Include your full name, phone number, email, and location (just the city or region is enough). Make sure your email address is appropriate, easy to read, and professional.
Example of a contact section for a chef’s CV
Brett Hawkins
53 Church Way
Sheffield S1 9TH
07912 345678
brett.h@example.co.uk
Writing your chef CV’s personal statement
Your personal statement is your chance to make a bold first impression. Recruiters will scan this section to quickly understand who you are, your culinary background, and what makes you stand out from other candidates. Use it to summarise your key qualifications, specialist training, and any outstanding experiences, such as working in Michelin-starred kitchens, managing a brigade, or catering for high-profile events.
If you have a particular cooking style or area of expertise (such as pastry or modern British cuisine), mention this here. This section should be tailored to the role you’re applying for and be powerful, giving employers a taste of your skills and passion before they delve into the details of your CV.
Example personal statement for a chef CV
Passionate and experienced professional chef with over 10 years of experience in fast-paced restaurant and hotel kitchens, including two Michelin-starred establishments. Skilled in modern European cuisine, menu development, and team leadership, with a strong track record in reducing food waste and increasing kitchen efficiency. Trained in HACCP and Food Safety Level 3, I pride myself on producing high quality food whilst maintaining impeccable hygiene standards.
Adding an experience section to your chef CV
When writing the experience section of your chef CV, the aim is to highlight not just where you’ve worked but also what you’ve contributed. Employers want to see how you work under pressure, your familiarity with different kitchen environments, and your ability to lead or work with others. Make each entry performance-based – don’t just list your duties, show how you added value.
Include your job title, restaurant or company name, dates of employment, and a bulleted list of accomplishments. Tailor each entry to the role you’re applying for, using action verbs such as ‘led’, ‘managed’, ‘prepared’, ‘trained’ or ‘designed’. Focus on:
- Types of cuisine you’ve worked with
- Volume of service (for example banquets or a la carte)
- Any management or supervisory roles
- Certifications or on-the-job training completed
- Results (reduced waste, improved prep time, or trained new staff)
Example of work experience for a chef CV
Sous Chef (March 2024 – Current)
The Copper Spoon, Birmingham
- Supervised a brigade of 10 chefs in a high-volume gastropub serving modern British cuisine.
- Developed seasonal menus in collaboration with the head chef, leading to a 15% increase in repeat diners.
- Trained junior staff on safe food handling, prep efficiency, and presentation standards.
- Oversaw inventory and ordering, reducing kitchen waste by 20% over one year.
- Managed dietary requirements and allergen control, ensuring compliance with FSA standards.
Top skills for your chef CV
Make sure the skills highlighted on your chef CV reflect both your technical culinary expertise and your ability to manage kitchen operations effectively. From the precise art of food preparation to the ability to lead a team, recruiters are looking for a balance of creativity, efficiency, and leadership.
Include specific cooking techniques such as knife skills, baking, grilling, or plating that demonstrate your culinary versatility. In addition, mention kitchen management skills such as inventory control, food safety protocols and cost management, which are essential to running a successful kitchen.
Soft skills are equally important, so highlight your ability to work under pressure, communicate with staff and customers, and solve problems quickly in a fast-paced environment. These qualities make you not only a skilled chef, but also a reliable team player who can thrive in high-stress situations while maintaining high standards of quality.
Essential skills for a chef
- Fine-dining expertise
- Menu planning
- Budgeting and cost control
- Banquets and catering
- Contemporary sauce work
- An understanding of food hygiene
Desirable skills to set you apart
- Expert communication
- Attention to detail
- Teamwork
- Calmness under stress
- Excellent customer relations
- Commitment to working long hours
Outlining education on a chef CV
The education section of your chef CV should highlight your culinary qualifications and any relevant training that demonstrates your expertise and passion for cooking. Whether you have formal training from a culinary school or have learnt through hands-on experience, this section should demonstrate your foundation in cooking techniques, food safety, and kitchen management.
Start by listing your most recent or relevant qualifications first, followed by any additional culinary or hospitality-related courses. Remember that even if you’ve gained most of your experience on the job, certifications such as food hygiene or kitchen management courses are highly valued by employers.
In addition, you can mention any other achievements, such as awards or recognition, to demonstrate your dedication and passion for the culinary arts.
Example of an education for a chef CV
Diploma in Culinary Arts (2018)
Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School – Paris, France
Certificate in Food Safety and Hygiene Level 2 (2017)
City College Culinary Programme – London, UK
Kitchen Management Training (2016)
Gordon Ramsay’s Restaurant Group — London, UK
Top dos and don’ts for chef CV writing
DO
DO use industry-specific language
Not only will it help you to get through scanning software, but using keywords linked to the job will ensure you stand out for the right reasons. For example, using keywords like ‘patisserie’, ‘food safety’, and ‘culinary’ to show you understand the industry.
DO highlight achievements over responsibilities
Rather than listing tasks, focus on showcasing your achievements. Where possible, use figures and percentages, such as “increased kitchen efficiency by 20%” or “reduced food waste by 15%” to demonstrate your impact.
DON’T
DON’T include irrelevant experience
Stick to professional cooking roles or relevant experience. If you’ve worked in a completely unrelated field, such as retail or office work, leave it out unless you can demonstrate direct transferable skills, such as customer service.
DON’T forget about proofreading
A CV full of typos or grammatical errors can make even the most experienced chef look careless. Make sure you proofread your CV carefully, or ask someone else to do so, before submitting it.
Your chef questions answered
What qualifications do you need to be a chef in the UK?
Although there is no formal requirement to have a degree when applying for a role as a chef, certain qualifications could make your CV more appealing:
- A diploma in cuisine and patisserie will guarantee certain technical skills.
- Qualifications in food hygiene are vital when running a busy kitchen.
- Undertaking further on-the-job training could enhance your wider view of the catering industry.
How far should my experience as a chef go?
It can be tempting to cram all the experience you’ve ever had as a chef, but this can make your CV look messy, and recruiters may find some roles irrelevant. Follows these rules:
- Include up to ten years of experience.
- Only include experience directly relevant to the job you’re applying for, i.e. no need to say you were a nanny – unless you cooked, of course!
- Try to keep your CV to a max of 2 pages for ease of reading.
Are chefs in high demand?
The fast-growing UK restaurant sector means that there is always a strong demand for more chefs to join the workforce. Options open to chefs include:
- Specialist restaurant work based on a specific cuisine.
- More generalised delivery in a gastro-pub setting.
- Large-scale mass catering in a workplace canteen.
What should be the focus of my chef CV?
The focus of your chef CV should be on demonstrating your culinary skills, experience, and the value you can bring to a kitchen. It’s also important to demonstrate your leadership skills, especially if you’ve held positions such as head chef or sous chef. Include specific achievements such as awards, successful menu launches, or cost-saving initiatives that demonstrate your impact. Always tailor your CV to the specific role, highlighting the skills and experience that meet the employer’s needs.
Build your perfect chef CV
Building the perfect chef CV is a bit like cooking a perfect meal. When you use our CV templates and CV builder, you’ll be given all the right ingredients and told exactly how to put them together.
We’ll give you the structure, tips and CV examples you need, and before long, you’ll be embarking on the next exciting stage of your career.
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