Chef competency or skills for resume

[Cookwithlove]

Dear Learned chefs, I hope is the right place to pose this subject here!

I am applying for a senior position in the kitchen possible an Executive chef or Executive Sous chef and according to a seminar I attended on resume writing, it is recommended to list your competencies and I am listing mine here for members to proof read to suggest or add important omission I may have missed out. Could you kindly input your 2 cents?

"COMPETENCIES REQUIRED FOR THIS JOB:

Menu planning, food costing,Inventory control, food sanitation and kitchen management.

Conduct training for kitchen crew

Experience in cooking western, asian and chinese food.

Manipulating big and small woks well.

Competend in handling large and small volumns food preparation.

A hands-on team player with a postive attitude and customer 1st mindset.

Mindful of food quality, food portioning and food presentation at all times".

Thanks you very much.

Edited August 9, 2009 by Cookwithlove (log)

[pastrygirl]

Good start. What is the difference between Asian food and Chinese food? Maybe you could say Asian cuisines including Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese, or whatever is relevant. 'Chinese' is a pretty big category, depending on the job you may want to be more specific.

Edited August 9, 2009 by pastrygirl (log)

[Cookwithlove]

Good start.  What is the difference between Asian food and Chinese food?  Maybe you could say Asian cuisines including Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese, or whatever is relevant.  'Chinese' is a pretty big category, depending on the job you may want to be more specific.

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Asian foods include malaysia, Thai, Singapore, vietnam, philippines, Laos and Japanese.

Chinese food are china those provinces, including Hong Kong and Mecau.

[Niki Heber]

another thing that works well is when you talk about previous positions and how business was during those times.

did you keep food cost down?

did you keep labor cost manageable?

how about profits? did they go up or down?

and can you get information to back up your claims?

I think people are more likely to hire you for higher up positions if you can really show solid numbers.

[KatieLoeb]

I agree with Niki. Phrases such as "lowered food cost by X% in two months..." or "maintained labor costs at X%..." are very helpful. If you have facility with Excel, list that as a skill for providing solid numbers/graphs/reports to upper management on a weekly and/or monthly basis. How about supervisory experience?? "Managed a staff of thirty kitchen employees" sounds good too. How about inventory control? They expect you to be able to cook, even for a less lofty position. What makes you a leader are the other skills.

[Cookwithlove]

Thanks Niki and Katie for the input. Points noted. Quantify, figure is what management likes to see.

[Cookwithlove]

I agree with Niki.  Phrases such as "lowered food cost by X% in two months..." or "maintained labor costs at X%..." are very helpful.  If you have facility with Excel, list that as a skill for providing solid numbers/graphs/reports to upper management on a weekly and/or monthly basis.  How about supervisory experience??  "Managed a staff of thirty kitchen employees" sounds good too.  How about inventory control?  They expect you to be able to cook, even for a less lofty position.  What makes you a leader are the other skills.

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How do we says about inventory and how it should be control or rather maintain?

Thanks .

[paulraphael]

Menu planning, food costing,Inventory control, food sanitation and kitchen management.

Conduct training for kitchen crew

Experience in cooking western, asian and chinese food.

Manipulating big and small woks well.

Competend in handling large and small volumns food preparation.

A hands-on team player with a postive attitude and customer 1st mindset.

Mindful of food quality, food portioning and food presentation at all times".

I can't comment on much on content, but you can definitely tighten up the writing.

Instead of "cunduct training for kitchen crew," say "Train kitchen crew."

"asian and chinese" is absolutely redundant. The easy fix is with specificity: "experience cooking Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Philippine, Laotian, Japanese, mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, and Mecau foods" (assuming you're actually experienced in all that. yikes!)

The last two lines, about being a hands-on team player and being mindful of quality ... that doesn't really belong on a resumé. Those are your appraisals of yourself. A resumé is for information that's factual. Those appraisals belong in a cover letter. But better yet, say things in the cover letter (supported by factual lines on your resume) that lead the boss to come to those conclusions on his own.

Saying "I'm a hard worker!" won't impress too many people. Pointing to facts like the shifts you worked, the responsibilities you took on, the improvements you made, etc., show that you're indeed a hard worker.

The comments by Niki and Katie and Pastrygirl are spot on.

[KarenDW]

I would suggest having the correct spelling.

[Niki Heber]

How do we says about inventory and how it should be control or rather maintain?

Thanks .

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the inventory portion will be probably tricky... cause it's really hard to quantify your inventory numbers. it all shows in your food cost percent. standard (ideal) for the industry is about 30% Food cost, 30% labor cost... but the lower, the better.

if you can use statements like 'took weekly inventory of perishable and non-perishable assets' and BACK UP THAT STATEMENT before and after you get hired, you will definitely more than likely be hired (or at the least given a job interview). Of course in some cases, a weekly inventory is impossible, but if you can keep a steady, detailed inventory over a fiscal period (bi-weekly or at the very least once every 4 weeks), you will do wonders for your resume, skill set, and restaurant.

even putting on your resume that you have done bi-weekly inventory or taken inventory regularly throughout the fiscal period shows that you understand the business aspect and that you take it seriously enough to put it in precious resume space.

[Cookwithlove]

How do we says about inventory and how it should be control or rather maintain?

Thanks .

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the inventory portion will be probably tricky... cause it's really hard to quantify your inventory numbers. it all shows in your food cost percent. standard (ideal) for the industry is about 30% Food cost, 30% labor cost... but the lower, the better.

if you can use statements like 'took weekly inventory of perishable and non-perishable assets' and BACK UP THAT STATEMENT before and after you get hired, you will definitely more than likely be hired (or at the least given a job interview). Of course in some cases, a weekly inventory is impossible, but if you can keep a steady, detailed inventory over a fiscal period (bi-weekly or at the very least once every 4 weeks), you will do wonders for your resume, skill set, and restaurant.

even putting on your resume that you have done bi-weekly inventory or taken inventory regularly throughout the fiscal period shows that you understand the business aspect and that you take it seriously enough to put it in precious resume space.

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Thanks nikki, good points. good day!

[JoRic]

I'd like to give you this restaurant owner's perspective if I may. The last two ads we ran for a chef netted at least 150 responses each. That is a lot of information to sift through, and it can be overwhelming. Here's what we look for:

Keep it very simple and concise. As stated above, give concrete stats if you can. I don't want to hear that you have leadership abilities. I will be more impressed if you say that you managed a staff of 20 at X labor percentage and increased productivity resulting in X reduction in food cost.

We are able to tell more about you from 1.) the trajectory of the places in which you have worked, and 2.) how long you have been at each job. Have you tried to work in places that will further your culinary abilities, or just worked in "average" restaurants. Do you hop from job to job in a year or less? I've seen resumes for applicants who have worked at 10+ restaurants in 10 years.

If those two things are out of line, it's doubtful that the rest of the resume will be read.

I also am not impressed by resumes that are padded with basic things that should be a given (I don't need to read that you know about sanitation) or mean nothing on paper- I can't tell you how many times someone has talked about their plate presentation or understanding of flavor profiles and not been able to back these claims up. Also, I don't need your photo. Really.

Personally, I prefer to see a thoughtful, sincere, intelligent cover letter followed by a simple resume that includes the kind of experience that I have stated I am looking for. You would be surprised by how many responses to our ad for a chef with experience in "American regional and ethnic cuisine" have been from chefs who have only cooked in, say, Italian restaurants. Honest to God, one guy kept sending a resume who only had done sushi.

I know this has been a bit of a rant, but I'm really just trying to make the point that it will help to consider who is on the other side reading these resumes. Try to make it easy for them to see your strengths clearly.

Good Luck!

[Cookwithlove]

I'd like to give you this restaurant owner's perspective if I may. The last two ads we ran for a chef netted at least 150 responses each. That is a lot of information to sift through, and it can be overwhelming. Here's what we look for:

Keep it very simple and concise. As stated above, give concrete stats if you can. I don't want to hear that you have leadership abilities. I will be more impressed if you say that you managed a staff of 20 at X labor percentage and increased productivity resulting in X reduction in food cost.

We are able to tell more about you from 1.) the trajectory of the places in which you have worked, and 2.) how long you have been at each job. Have you tried to work in places that will further your culinary abilities, or just worked in "average" restaurants. Do you hop from job to job in a year or less? I've seen resumes for applicants who have worked at 10+ restaurants in 10 years.

If those two things are out of line, it's doubtful that the rest of the resume will be read.

I also am not impressed by resumes that are padded with basic things that should be a given (I don't need to read that you know about sanitation) or mean nothing on paper- I can't tell you how many times someone has talked about their plate presentation or understanding of flavor profiles and not been able to back these claims up. Also, I don't need your photo. Really.

Personally, I prefer to see a thoughtful, sincere, intelligent cover letter followed by a simple resume that includes the kind of experience that I have stated I am looking for. You would be surprised by how many responses to our ad for a chef with experience in "American regional and ethnic cuisine" have been from chefs who have only cooked in, say, Italian restaurants. Honest to God, one guy kept sending a resume who only had done sushi.

I know this has been a bit of a rant, but I'm really just trying to make the point that it will help to consider who is on the other side reading these resumes. Try to make it easy for them to see your strengths clearly.

Good Luck!

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Many thanks JoRick for taking time and share with us your experience. Always good to have first hand informations from employers.

[fishoner]

what about acf or school certification what about the good old letter of reccomendation froma well standing executive chef