Free Downloadable Food Service Resume Templates and Expert Writing Tips

9 Food Service Resume Examples

Resumes come in three distinct formats: functional, combination and chronological formats. Each format serves a different purpose and can be utilized based on your experience level and skills. Resume formats strategically showcase your top strengths and downplay your limitations. Therefore, selecting the appropriate format can mean the difference between getting rejected or considered for a job.

We’ve created resume formats for hypothetical candidates in the food service industry so you can appreciate how different they look depending on the format. Let’s browse them and figure out the perfect resume format for you.

Chronological Resume

The chronological format is ideal for professionals with over a decade of experience in the food service industry. We suggest incorporating this layout for the following food service roles:

Food and beverage managers, restaurant managers, lead mixologists and bar managers all generally have at least 10 years of experience under their belt. Professionals can boast their industry expertise and back it up with a diverse skill set. A food service resume in the chronological layout can look something like this:

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  1. Bartenders: This professional resume perfectly showcases the candidate’s journey from being a barback to a lead mixologist through reverse chronology. It also highlights the versatile skills such as spirits knowledge, mixology and inventory management picked up by the candidate through years of experience. Planning menus and training new employees also add to their leadership skills.
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  2. Food and Beverage Managers: Food service managers have to overlook staff scheduling, food and safety hygiene standards, and coach and motivate their employees. This applicant's resume goes into detail by shedding light on all their responsibilities and quantifying them with numeric data. The chronological format shows the candidate's steady job flow in the same industry. For a manager, skills like trend analysis and facility management are a great addition.
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  3. Restaurant Servers: Highly-traJenna’s resume may lack a specialized degree or certification but the work experience shows her credibility and skills. Food safety knowledge and memorization are a must for servers. Expert tip: Quantify key skills in your work history section. For example, this resume highlights Jenna’s ability to serve around 300 guests in a shift.

Combination Resume

The combination format is for you if you have the skills and hands-on training but have limited industry experience. This resume format gives equal importance to a candidate’s skills and work history, and shows off a strong candidate all around. Because of its balanced focus on qualifications, the combination format is also a great choice if you want to apply for a promotion.

Combination resumes can be lengthier and include the skills section before or alongside the work history. We suggest utilizing this format if you’re pursuing the following food service profiles.

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  1. Barbacks: Barbacks usually assist the lead bartenders in ensuring smooth service. Notice how this applicant's resume puts the skills section alongside the work history; this ensures the recruiter looks at the skills section right after the professional summary. By highlighting mixology training and POS knowledge, the combination format adds importance to the candidate’s skills.
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  2. Busser: The combination format is especially helpful for keeping the focus on your specialized skills. Although this candidate started out as a customer service associate, he eventually moved to the food service industry.He'll want to use the professional summary and skills to mention relevant skills like customer satisfaction and attention to detail. Instead of shedding light on the limited industry experience, focus on the versatile skills gained through various jobs.
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  3. Restaurant Servers: Servers with minimal experience can amp up their resumes through the combination format's dual focus on skills and work history. This resume example includes an additional summary to highlight key skills for a food service professional. By quantifying the accomplishments in the work history, you can also show you've had a measurable impact on the job.

Functional Resume

Functional formats focus mainly on a candidate’s skills section, making this resume ideal for candidates with little to no formal experience. If utilized correctly, functional formats can benefit people who’ve recently graduated school or have long career gaps.

If you’re applying for leadership roles that require evidence of formal experience, we suggest looking at other resume formats. However, if your profile is more skill-based, you can opt for a functional format to easily convince employers you have everything you need to excel at the job.

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  1. Baristas: Baristas need to be skilled at brewing coffees, creating beverage recipes and maintaining station hygiene. Functional resumes are the perfect fit for entry-level candidates who have less than two years of experience. This resume example gets the job done by emphasizing the candidate's professional skills first and simply outlining the job history at the end.
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  2. Entry-level Bartenders: This candidate's resume plays up bartending skills like mixology, supply management and bar operations. The summary of qualifications gives her a chance to briefly elaborate and quantify her skills, while the main skills section goes into depth by mentioning various accomplishments per skill.
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  3. Catering Servers: The key with functional resumes is to highlight a candidate’s skills and downplay their inexperience. This applicant's resume has three different skills sections: one summary, one list and the expanded skills section so employers get a comprehensive idea of all their qualifications despite having a minimal work history section.