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To successfully apply to a prep cook position, you need a resume with the same detail and diligence you put into your daily prep. With our step-by-step resume tips, prep cook resume examples and free downloadable templates, you can prep your application to perfection by focusing on your kitchen organizing skills and your readiness to handle a fast-paced environment.
Download one of our free resume templates or use our job-specific resume examples to write your next resume with high-quality professionalism.
Prep Cook Resume
As you can see from this prep cook resume sample, Noel Morales outlines his career progression and culinary expertise. Use this example to see how fellow job seekers highlight their formal training and hands-on kitchen prep experience to impress hiring managers.
Your resume will break this information into the following sections:
These free resume templates perfectly suit your needs for a prep cook position.
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Career Starter
Just as you prep the kitchen for the chef to take over, you need to prep yourself before resume writing. Try these suggestions and ready yourself for the task ahead:
The next crucial step in your resume-building journey is choosing the right resume format. The three main resume formats can play up strengths such as lengthy work history or multiple skill sets and downplay weaknesses like work gaps or frequent job changes.
These factors come into play when picking a format from chronological, combination and functional. These tips may help you identify the appropriate one in your case:
Still confused about which format to go with? Rest assured, our resume formats guide will provide further clarity on resume formats and assist you in reaching a decision.
Chronological
Functional
Combination
Now let’s start writing your resume in the format you’ve chosen with our step-by-step suggestions and recommendations.
1. Start with your introduction.
Begin with your introduction by filling out your contact information. Ensure the accuracy of the following details are written in your header:
2. Write a strong opening statement.
An impactful opening statement helps pitch your top culinary strengths to a recruiter. Your opening statement can be approached in two forms, using a summary statement or a career objective. The choice depends on factors like:
If you have a few years of experience and professional accomplishments under your belt, open your prep cook resume with a summary statement. A summary statement is the better option, since it introduces one or two of your professional strengths and that ties in directly with a specific job advertisement.
However, if you’re a newcomer to kitchen prep work, you should opt to write an objective statement. An objective statement highlights your career goals while expressing your general understanding of culinary needs. Use this if you fall under these job-seeking circumstances:
You can use the following summary statement example to tailor your prep cook resume.
Prep Cook Summary Statement Example:
“Seasoned professional offering 11 years of experience in food service. Proficient in preparing and serving food compliant with predefined portion control procedures. Well-versed in protocols for kitchen safety and sanitary preparation of food items.”
This summary statement projects the skills and eligibility gained through eleven years of exposure in the food service industry.
Try these tips to write your summary statement:
Prep Cook Objective Statement Example:
“Hardworking and trained prep cook with a working knowledge of a brigade-style kitchen, seeking a job in your restaurant. Looking for an opportunity to enhance my skills and grow into a line cook role.”
If you choose to write an objective statement, follow this formula. Remember to mention relevant culinary skills that benefit an employer alongside your career ambitions.
3. Display your skill set.
Your skills assert your ability and competence as a prep cook. The skills section in your resume underlines your diverse skill set (six to eight) acquired through education, training and professional exposure.
The resume format determines the nature of the skills section.
If you opt for the popular chronological or combination format, your skills section will follow this simple layout:
Sample Prep Cook Resume Skills Section:
Skills
The functional format will include this same simple, bulleted list and it will also have a separate and detailed section that breaks down three or more skills based on related abilities or accomplishments. You can see one sample entry of this below:
Functional Prep Cook Resume Resume Example:
Professional Skills
Basic Culinary Skills
While displaying your skills on the resume, it's recommended to include a collection of soft, hard and technical skills to unravel the range of your ability. We have developed a list of skills that may help you.
Soft skills refer to your personality traits that dictate your communication with peers, chefs, customers, managers and other staff. You can include these soft skills your prep cook resume:
Hard skills refer to your learned practical abilities as a prep cook supporting your performance. These hard skills can be included on your resume:
Technical skills refer to your ability to handle the technologically inclined tools that aid your role as a prep cook. These technical skills can be included on your resume:
For more job-specific skills, check out our resume builder.
Your work history informs the employer about your professional trajectory and progression. Record your work-related triumphs, various jobs you had and your professional skills under the work history section.
Your work history section should include these details:
We crafted a sample prep cook work history for chronological and combination resumes to show how your information should look:
Work History
This example reveals how to document your job description under a title. The role of head prep cook is expressed in three points highlighting the skills and responsibilities of the candidate.
Incorporate these tips while building your work history:
Your education section summarizes your academic background by mentioning the formal degrees or diplomas you earned. A prep cook can get away with a high school diploma as long as your skills in handling the kitchen and practical experience carry more weight. There are no formal education requirements for this position but you should add any and all culinary courses or training that you completed in this career path in either this section or the specialized certification section below.
You may rely on these tips to build this section:
You may create additional sections to display your certificates, licenses or awards to underline your eligibility. These certificates may help you ramp up your resume:
The American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute awards this certification for training individuals in performing key tasks required in the food service industry.
The American Culinary Federation awards this certificate and it's beneficial for entry-level positions as a cook in the food service sector.
Food Protection Manager Certification
ServSafe, a nationally recognized institute, awards this certificate in food safety training.
Certified Nutrition Specialist
This certificate gives you an edge and proves your knowledge to incorporate food nutrition.
If you are looking to advance in your career, these courses or specializations may help your case:
We have these free and downloadable prep cook resume templates. Pick any design to your liking and start customizing in your favorite word processor.
A prep cook plays an essential role in ensuring the kitchen environment complies with health regulatory protocols. The duties and responsibilities of prep cooks increase with their experience level and the kind of restaurant they are a part of. The three must-have skills of a prep cook, among others, include the following:
Your skills and kitchen handling experience add to your uniqueness. Your resume should present your best skills acquired through your years of exposure in a kitchen environment and paint a professional identity worthy of attention. For instance, including a certificate in food safety reassures the chef of the attention to detail you’d bring to your tasks.
A good objective for a prep cook reveals your career ambitions and your skills and eligibility to pursue this goal.
An objective statement for a prep cook with no experience may read, “Trained cook seeking an entry-level prep cook position in the food service industry. Certified food safety manager with kitchen organization and inventory management skills looking for an opportunity to learn and further enhance my skills.”
This objective statement briefly mentions the career aspiration, the role-supporting skills and the qualification of the candidate to become a prep cook.
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