Working in a restaurant is something more than 11 million people in the United States do. It's one of the most hands-on jobs you can have - and equips employees with an abundance of restaurant skills as a result.
Like any job, a restaurant job teaches skills and processes you can put on your resume in addition to soft skills that make you both a better worker and a more well-rounded person.
If you're new to the industry and are wondering what experience you'll acquire in a restaurant job, or if you're an industry vet looking to clearly communicate your abilities and skills on a restaurant resume, read on for 20 distinct skills learned while working in a restaurant. Plus tips for writing a killer restaurant resume to get the position in the first place.
5 Restaurant & Food Service Skills for Your Resume
When you're applying to a new restaurant job and need to outline and organize your tenure on a single resume, consider bucketing your experience into these five restaurant skill areas.
1. Health, Allergen, and Food Safety Training and Certifications
Cross-contamination. Spills. Undercooking. Commercial kitchen equipment safety. Food allergies. Misunderstanding one of these in a given role can be disastrous.
Many restaurant employees are either required or choose to get certified in one or more of these areas. Examples include a TIPS certification, ServSafe Allergen, or a local accredited restaurant safety course. If this is something you've done, name the course(s) taken, the certification achieved, and/or the name of your educator/institution for added credibility.
2. Food Service, Kitchen, & Hospitality Tech
In the ever-expanding landscape of restaurant tech, employees will become skilled to some degree with a variety of different technology and software tools on the job. What those technologies are completely depends on the role, but here are a few of the more popular examples:
3. Cooking and Food Preparation
Back-of-house roles involve constant time spent hovering over a grill, standing by an oven, and diligently working magic on a cutting board. A resume for a cook or chef job should include familiarity with and specific experience in the following areas, if applicable:
- Food prep of specific menu items
- Cooking specific menu items
- Recipe card creation
- Menu item creation and menu building
4. Taste Profiling
Restaurants are coming to realize that education is one of the best ways to engage and retain staff. For example, at Branch Line in Watertown, Massachusetts, employees not only partake in relevant industry classes - they take turns hosting them.
These increasingly popular restaurant employee classes and programs supplement traditional training and equip employees with extensive taste profiling for different types of food and cuisine in addition to beer, wine, and spirit tasting. As a result, employees can speak knowledgeably about these topics and offer catered recommendations and pairings.
Whether it's in a formal class or just from years of experience, most restaurant employees walk out on their last day with some heightened taste profiling experience. Even if the skill was gained in a fast food restaurant, it's likely you'll know more about seasoning, meat, condiments, and certain types of cooking oil than the average person.
5. Business Savvy
Restaurants offer a unique upward momentum ability, where hustle and hard work in front of the right eye can be immediately noticed and rewarded. One of the best ways to move up in the restaurant industry is through experience.
The more experience you have in the industry, the more likely you'll improve on your business skills and be able to practically apply them on the job. You can approach thinking about this skill in two different ways:
General Experience: This pertains to less formal business training. Examples include general understanding of finance, customer satisfaction, business hierarchy, and career advancement.
Practical Experience: This is where things get more technical. For example - business classes or restaurant courses, experience with restaurant open book management, or practical business projects you've been assigned. Basically, if your experience led to any direct changes to the business or involved a class, that's where this skill fits in.
Recommended Reading: 17 Restaurant Job Interview Questions (and How to Answer Them)
Restaurant Resume Example & Resume Template
Not sure where to start? Here are examples of resumes geared towards restaurant positions. You can download these resume templates for your own job search. These are actual resumes from real restaurant workers, but we changed the names and locations.
A simple, modern resume template design. Edit and download the template on Canva.
Or use a more traditional but easy to read restaurant resume template design for Google Documents.
Download The Sample Restaurant Resume
15 'Soft' Food Service Skills For Your Resume [List]
In addition to the hard skills you gain while working in a restaurant, there are plenty of supplemental “soft” skills you'll pick up on the job. These include the way you treat others and how quickly you learn new things and complete your tasks. While it may seem “fluffy” to list soft skills on your resume, you can use your past accomplishments to show you have these traits.
If you're just now looking to get into the restaurant workforce, make sure you brush up on these restaurant skills. At the very least, a basic comfort with all of them will be required on day one, but don't worry - you'll quickly get better at each of them every time you clock in.
1. Patience
We wouldn't make you wait for this one. Patience is a crucial restaurant skill. Between customer complaints, mistakes from coworkers, and long stretches of time without breaks, you'll need to be physically and emotionally patient in any restaurant job. All while maintaining a smile on your face and a welcoming disposition.
Remember, the customer is always right! Keeping your cool when things escalate prevents you from making matters worse. It also helps disgruntled customers save face and collect themselves.
2. Multitasking
Whether you're prepping multiple plates in the kitchen or accommodating multiple parties at their tables, you're never taking care of “just one thing” in your restaurant job - which is why multitasking is one of the most essential restaurant skills.
Managing these tasks is a lifelong skill that can be valuable for any career, but is easier said than done. "Multitasking is not a natural-born skill. We think we are better at multitasking than we really are. That's why practicing it is so important," says monday.com Senior Project Manager Dotan Egozi.
Waiters, servers, and managers alike need to juggle countless customer requests. The trick is to be dedicated to all of them without losing focus on any of them. It's not exactly for the faint of heart, but when mastered, multitasking maximizes efficiency and productivity without detracting from the dining experience.
3. Mental Math
One of the most valuable yet unappreciated restaurant skills acquired on the job is the ability to do quick mental math. Cashiers and servers reading this sentence can probably tell you the change for a $6.78 check out of a $20 bill yields one ten, three ones, two dimes, and two pennies before someone without restaurant experience even finished reading this sentence.
Even in the back of house, workers need to routinely check orders in progress to ensure there aren't too many steaks on the grill or enough chicken wings in the fryer.
And you thought you'd never use math after you finished school.
4. Communication
Communication skills are imperative if you want to survive working in a restaurant. There are two facets to this skill, both enormously important:
Staff Communication: The always-moving pieces in a restaurant can become even more scrambled with staff miscommunication. Servers need to know the best ways to tell other servers that a table is calling for them. They have to be able to relay to the kitchen staff that the boy at table four has a severe soy allergy.
Meanwhile, the back of house needs to know to tell waitstaff what's been 86'ed. The server can then avoid upsetting the woman who can't have the swordfish she was craving. Understanding and adhering to these best staff communication methods and channels is key in smooth restaurant operations.
Guest Communication: Guests need to know they are welcome and valued, and it's every employee's job to ensure that truth comes across clearly. Things you think aren't a big deal - such as tone, facial expression, or word choice - could severely impact a guest's experience. That's why customer service skills are essential when you're in the front of house.
5. Attention to Detail
It's your job to ask the customer who didn't touch her plate if there's anything you can do to make her experience better. It's your job to ask the waiter if he meant pickles when he added peppers to the hamburger order.
Triple-checking orders, not forgetting to send that extra request to the kitchen, adding that final garnish before it's ingrained in your muscle memory - it's all part of the job.
6. Speed
Not only does efficient service make guests happy, it also increases a restaurant's table turnover time - meaning the restaurant can serve even more guests every shift.
The trick to mastering this time management skill is to be quick without being pushy. Preparing a guest's plate too fast means the appearance and quality of the meal could be jeopardized. Showing up immediately to a table and asking what they want comes off as pushy. Find that sweet spot between aggressive and lazy to reach the ideal restaurant speed.
7. Kindness
Unless you're working at Dick's Last Resort, being kind to your customers is an asset at any restaurant job-or any service industry job for that matter.⁶
Obviously, if guests are being intentionally obnoxious, rude, or confrontational, it's time to involve management to try to diffuse the situation. But in all other cases, a positive vocal inflection, a smiling face, and a helpful and guest-first attitude will get you far in this industry.
8. Listening
There's a lot of noise in a restaurant, but this doesn't negate the need for active listening.
All restaurant employees need to listen to guests during their visits, but there's more to it than that. Anyone with decision making power in a restaurant needs to listen and gather guest feedback, reviews, and employees to ensure the business runs smoothly and continues to grow. Servers and cooks need to listen to feedback from their managers to ensure they're doing their jobs well and to know where they can improve.
9. Trust
In this industry, success on the job is largely dependent on others. Back of house needs to trust the front of house to send the right orders and clarify modifications. Front of house needs to trust back of house to consistently make delicious meals without mistakes. Management needs to trust everyone to take their work seriously to keep the operation of the business flowing.
The key here is to always assume positive intent. If something seems off about a coworker who isn't on their A-game, it may be a personal problem rather than laziness. In turn, if something is affecting your work performance, you should be able to trust your manager enough to explain what's happening so you don't come off as unfocused or uninterested.
10. Stress Management
Anyone who has worked for an hour in a restaurant knows how stressful it can get. A shift can quickly escalate from a slow night to a line out the door with no warning. You need to be able to smile and deliver exceptional results either way.
Being able to keep your composure and offer outstanding service no matter the circumstances develops the crucial skill of stress management. Without it, you won't last two seconds in a restaurant job.
11. Physical Endurance
Believe it or not, there are more than 2 million search results on Google for the term “bartender injuries.”
That's because bartenders - like all restaurant employees - are on their feet for extended periods of time and are constantly working with their hands. Restaurant work is more physically demanding than one might expect, so stamina and endurance are key.
12. Cleanliness
My time in a restaurant has taught me one simple fact: there's always something to clean. Cleanliness impacts both presentation and safety in a restaurant, and is thus one of the restaurant skills that will most impact the customer experience.
Dishes, tables, surfaces, boards, grills - you name it. Working in a restaurant requires being able to identify when something needs to be clean and, depending on your role, knowing how to clean it well yourself.
13. Mentorship
With a constant rotation of new faces in and out of the industry, there's always an opportunity for a seasoned pro to show the ropes to a newbie.
Mentorship is one of the most rewarding parts of any job. A mentorship role in a restaurant - official or unofficial - can quickly lend itself as a qualification for a restaurant manager or team trainer position. It's also personally rewarding and makes the mentor more accountable, responsible, and invested in the team.
14. Memorization
Over the months or years you spend working at a restaurant, you start to acquire a memorized list of everything on the menu and all of the ingredients they contain - which comes in handy for questions about food allergies, drink pairings, suggestive upsell ideas, and substitution ideas.
On a micro level, you'll also need to memorize the little details about orders you're sending or preparing, and custom asks from guests that you didn't have the chance to write down. If you work in a full-service restaurant, you often have to remember daily and weekly specials.
15. Teamwork
Working in a restaurant builds a unique, family style, collaborative dynamic between you and your coworkers. With an open mind and a great group of professionals, this results in a solid understanding of and appreciation for teamwork.
Bringing interpersonal skills to any restaurant is more than welcome. Positive teamwork builds strong camaraderie and leaves more staff members satisfied. That can help lengthen the three month average tenure of a restaurant employee and lower replacement costs.
Recommended Reading: Restaurant Lingo & Slang Guide for FOH and BOH
Making Your Food Service Resume Stand Out
Let's face it - managers don't read every resume word-for-word. Most of them will only glance at your CV, which is why it's important to quickly show that you're the best candidate. Here are some tips to stand out from the crowd.
Include relevant experience only
6 seconds is all you have, on average, to impress the recruiter. Whittle down your resume to the most important points. Your barista experience? Perfect. That summer gig you had painting houses with your uncle? Probably not.
In a similar vein, leave out any work experience from over 10-15 years ago, unless you have no other background. If this is your first time in a hospitality role, highlight transferable skills from past jobs. Look back at the ones we mentioned above for inspiration.
Tailor your resume to the job posting
Put your best foot forward. Don't give the same resume to 50 companies. Each restaurant has different values, expectations, and levels of service. A plant-based QSR might like to know about your passion for sustainability. A high-end steakhouse may be more interested in your wine knowledge.
Larger restaurant chains receive thousands of job seekers and often use an applicant tracking system. These systems scan for keywords from the job description, so it helps to re-use the same language in your resume. If you're applying for a higher-up position, do the same with your cover letter.
Spotlight your achievements
Instead of listing out daily tasks from your past roles, focus on the impact you had on the business. Any form of recognition, like employee of the month or highest tip earner is worth mentioning. It doesn't have to be an award. Perhaps one of your suggestions made the kitchen layout more efficient. Maybe your quick thinking helped de-escalate a dispute with a VIP guest.
Make it easy on the eyes
People eat with their eyes first. The same idea applies to reading. When information is laid out in a visually appealing way, it's easier to digest. You can find free resume templates on Canva if you're not artistically-inclined. As a rule of thumb:
- Don't use too many fonts. Two should suffice.
- Don't use too many colors, which can be distracting.
- Make important info, like headers and job titles, easy to find. Bold them or increase the font size. (That being said, don't overdo it with bold, italics, or underline)!
- White space is important. Your resume shouldn't look cramped, which goes back to the first point: Relevant. Info. Only.
First impressions count. You only have a short amount of time to get the hiring manager to notice you, so catch their attention. Intrigue them so they keep reading and invite you in for a job interview.
Hard Work and Experience Builds Your Skills
Despite the fact that millions of people call a restaurant their place of work, the restaurant workforce suffers from a notoriously high turnover rate and oftentimes low levels of specialization and training.
Those who take it upon themselves to learn and develop new restaurant skills are those that stand out in the vast sea of restaurant workers. They can enjoy a long, happy, successful career in the restaurant industry.
If you're interested in working in a restaurant, read our blog post to learn about the different positions, what to expect, how to choose the right restaurant to work in and how to get the job: Working in A Restaurant: Everything You Need to Know
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AJ Beltis
AJ Beltis is a freelance writer with almost a decade of experience in the restaurant industry. He currently works as a content manager at HubSpot, and previously as a blogger at Toast.