Prep Cook Resume Sample & Writing Tips

123 Your Address
City, State, Zip Code
(xxx)-xxx-xxxx
your@email.com

Enthusiastic and detail-oriented culinary professional with a thorough understanding of health and safety regulations. Positive and reliable team player dedicated to efficiency and punctuality, with a proven ability to work well under pressure. Comprehensive knowledge of seasoning and preparing food for maximum effect.

Professional Experience

Little Italy Ristorante, Houston, TX

Prep Cook, June 2016 – Present

Prepare entrée and appetizer ingredients, using precision trimming skills to de-bone poultry and maximize meat yield
Monitor food storage to ensure optimal freshness, helping reduce spoilage by 14%
Measure and regulate oven, broiler, and roaster temperatures to ensure cooking at correct temperatures
Sanitize working surfaces, utensils, and kitchen equipment in accordance with kitchen safety regulations
Manage and track ingredients, rotating stock as necessary to reduce seasonal food costs by 11%

Fish City Market and Grill, Sugar Land, TX

Prep Cook/Dishwasher, September 2014 – May 2016

Trained 5 line cooks on kitchen sanitation after consistently scoring 100% on routine safety and cleanliness checks
Coordinated an average of 300-350 daily food orders to support timely delivery to each table
Washed, peeled, and portioned vegetable and meat ingredients according to restaurant menu specifications
Vacuumed the restaurant’s 800-square-foot dining area and washed its kitchen floor prior to closing
Cleaned kitchen equipment and operated industrial dishwashing machine

Education & Honors

Houston Community College, Houston, TX, 2014

Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts, GPA: 3.6
2013 Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show Best Bites Competition, 3^rd Place

Additional Skills

Baking, frying, and grilling
Capable multitasker
Excellent customer service
Familiarity with electric kitchen equipment (food processor, oven, steamer, mixer, trash compactor, dish machine, and flattop)
Food plating
Knife handling skills and techniques

1. Start off with a strong objective

Think of your resume objective as your base ingredient. It’s the snappy introduction that reels in potential employers, who often read through dozens or more resumes to find the right candidate. Take a look at our sample objective for some inspiration:

rep cook resume objective example — The resume objective should highlight your strengths in a concise way.

Since recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds reading an individual resume, it’s important to make sure your objective leaves a lasting impression. It shouldn’t be too lengthy — so keep it short and to the point.

Add flavor by using vivid language to highlight your technical skills and provide hiring managers with a sense of your work ethic and personality.

2. Highlight and tailor your skills

As an entry-level position, the education requirements for prep cook are generally minimal. To come out on top then, it’s wise to note any skills and capabilities both inside and outside of the kitchen, regardless of whether or not you have a formal culinary background.

This might include familiarity with standard equipment operations, cooking techniques, and people skills, as seen in our sample prep cook resume.

prep cook additional skills example — Our sample candidate lists both technical and soft skills to demonstrate their expertise.

Depending on the job posting’s specifications, consider including familiarity with preparing a certain type of cuisine (e.g., seafood, Mediterranean, Vietnamese).

Identifying key skills in the job description and including a combination of relevant hard and soft skills will inform employers that you’re more qualified for the role than the average Joe.

3. Beef up your resume with numbers

Set yourself apart from other applicants by quantifying your past achievements in the dining industry. By including specific numbers in your professional experiences, your resume will give a more tangible sense of the potential contributions you could bring to a restaurant kitchen.

Monitor food storage to ensure optimal freshness, helping reduce spoilage by 14%
Coordinated an average of 300-350 daily food orders to support timely delivery to each table
Vacuumed the restaurant’s 800-square-foot dining area and washed its kitchen floor prior to closing

Of course, it’s not always intuitive how to quantify your previous work — and understandably so. This may require some creativity, so consider how you might answer the following questions for a better idea: