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Head Chef skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted Experts
Aaron Guerra,
Stacey Schwartz
Head Chef Example Skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical head chef skills. We ranked the top skills for head chefs based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 26.6% of head chef resumes contained kitchen operations as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a head chef needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 head chef skills for your resume and career

1. Kitchen Operations

Here's how head chefs use kitchen operations:
  • Facilitated kitchen operations for large-scale in-house and off-site catering events to present seamless, smooth-running events.
  • Directed, supervised and managed overall kitchen operations and kitchen staff activities.

2. Culinary

Here's how head chefs use culinary:
  • Ordered special catering events and offered culinary instruction and/or demonstrations of culinary techniques.
  • Supervised, coordinated and directed all culinary activities within the food service department.

3. Dinner Service

Here's how head chefs use dinner service:
  • Led a team of talented line cooks through nightly dinner services, brunch services, and on/off site catering events.
  • Provide intimate catering and private dinner services to customers in Wilmington, and local suburbs.

4. Food Service

The food service industry is a vast industry comprising of restaurants, caterers, cafeterias operating in institutions and any other business offering a meal not prepared at home. Foodservice operators require necessary utensils for preparing food for the consumers, foodservice distributors are the people who take care of this need for them.

Here's how head chefs use food service:
  • Managed food service operations including Catering, College Cafeteria and Daycare meals.
  • Budget responsibility for food service.

5. Cuisine

Cuisine refers to a certain style, method, or manner of preparing food peculiar to a particular country, region, or establishment. It is often characterized by distinctive techniques, ingredients, and dishes that are usually associated with a specific geographic region or culture. Examples include New Mexico Chile in New Mexican cuisine and Japanese rice in Japanese cuisine.

Here's how head chefs use cuisine:
  • Designed menu items and daily specials emphasizing healthy and vegetarian cuisine.
  • Prepared German and international cuisine.

6. Safety Standards

Here's how head chefs use safety standards:
  • Maintained impeccable hygiene and safety standards.
  • Complied with food handling and safety standards as stated by City and State health department.

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7. Menu Planning

Menu planning is the process of making a list of the food items you are going to prepare and serve in any type of meal e.g. for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Menu planning helps you to decide what you will eat for each meal, to know how many meals to plan for, and the right time to serve them.

Here's how head chefs use menu planning:
  • Lead responsibility for menu planning and food preparation.
  • Participate in menu planning especially for special events.
Select Skills To Add To Your Resume

8. ServSafe

Here's how head chefs use servsafe:
  • Maintain quality control with ServSafe sanitation guidelines followed.
  • Obtained ServSafe certification in compliance with state and county health department regulations and reporting.

9. Quality Standards

Quality standards are a specific level of standards of products that are set by the companies for the customers that have to be met and maintained throughout the process until the time of delivery. Quality standards are information that includes the customer's requirements, guidelines, and characteristics for the needed final product or service.

Here's how head chefs use quality standards:
  • Coordinated supply ordering, rotating menus, catering and promotional sale items; while maintaining exceptional quality standards.
  • Developed product ranges, established quality standards, selected and evaluated suppliers.

10. Food Products

Food products are the types of various food items that are created and processed to be sold as a product. These products are consumed by humans for nourishment and are mostly processed and created in a huge factory. Tinned goods, milk, meat, etc are the most common food products, and they are not limited to any specific kind except tobacco, beers, and alcohol as they are not considered food products.

Here's how head chefs use food products:
  • Maintained and inventory of food products imported/exported.
  • Established solid working relationships with vendors, negotiated best prices, and placed orders for food products and supplies.

11. Fine Dining

Here's how head chefs use fine dining:
  • Designed menus, developed recipes and portion specifications for local fine dining establishment.
  • Executed daily operations of managing a fine dining restaurant.

12. Labor Costs

Labor cost is the total of all financial expenses incurred during the production of a product or in the services rendered by a company. This includes wages paid to workers directly, benefits, health care, meals, training, and payroll taxes involved in the process. It also include indirect expenses on labor which is why it's divided into direct and indirect wages.

Here's how head chefs use labor costs:
  • Improved and maintained cost-effective inventory control and labor costs.
  • Demonstrated continuous commitment to reducing food and labor costs

13. Kitchen Equipment

Kitchen Equipment refers to all those essential items which are crucial for the task of cooking.

Here's how head chefs use kitchen equipment:
  • Selected the finest quality ingredients to produce gourmet pizza while simultaneously installing kitchen equipment.
  • Maintained kitchen equipment and created food preparation reports.

14. Food Cost

Food costs are the ratio of ingredients and the revenue they generate when sold. It is often used to determine the price of a meal at a restaurant.

Here's how head chefs use food cost:
  • Initiated drastic food cost reductions by implementing classical butchering techniques and scratch menu preparations.
  • Completed monthly inventory and answered for increases/decreases to inventory level and food cost.

15. Cost Control

Cost control is a process in which actual costs are recorded and incorporated into a format that allows comparison with project budgets to regulate and control operating costs within an organization. The goal of cost control is to manage project delivery within the approved budget and reduce expenses to increase profits.

Here's how head chefs use cost control:
  • Performed managerial duties such as menu management, cost control, recipe development, ordering, labor administration, and inventory.
  • Participated in menu development to reflect the needs and wishes of the residents while maintaining cost control and dietary guidelines.
top-skills

What skills help Head Chefs find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on Head Chef resumes?

A

Aaron GuerraAaron Guerra LinkedIn Profile

Tenured Professor of Cuisine Management, Department Head, Clark College

ServSafe 5 year certification as a student; basics of any quality student: good attendance, substantial grades, evidence of incorporating and demonstrating hard skills like plating and organization as well as soft skills like the ability to cost recipes correctly, produce accurate production sheet, and execute events; portfolios and management project binder that illustrate previous skills (Our students must provide a portfolio at the end of the program with their 120-hour externship paperwork and develop a small business plan/Restaurant management project that includes menu, full costing including q factor and budgeted yield percentage, profit and loss sheets, equipment depreciation, dining area and kitchen floor plans, business prospectus including demographics, marketing, and specified segmentation.

What Head Chef skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

S

Stacey SchwartzStacey Schwartz LinkedIn Profile

Chef Instructor, Edmonds Community College

If a student needs to take a gap year, a good way to spend it would be immersing themselves in culinary literature and information, familiarizing themselves with the basics, eating diverse foods, and exploring unique ingredients. This would be a wonderful way to start!

What type of skills will young Head Chefs need?

R

R. Earl FrederickR. Earl Frederick LinkedIn Profile

Tenured Professor of Cuisine Management, Clark College

Graduates entering the workforce need to have the ability to multitask, communicate well, think critically in high-pressure situations, and be reliable. For years, the margins for restaurants and most food service establishments have been skinny. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the most successful businesses have pivoted and learned to adapt to thrive. This same attitude is what we instill in our students so that they can be successful.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about Head Chef

List of head chef skills to add to your resume

Head Chef Skills

The most important skills for a head chef resume and required skills for a head chef to have include:

  • Kitchen Operations
  • Culinary
  • Dinner Service
  • Food Service
  • Cuisine
  • Safety Standards
  • Menu Planning
  • ServSafe
  • Quality Standards
  • Food Products
  • Fine Dining
  • Labor Costs
  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Food Cost
  • Cost Control
  • Inventory Control
  • Quality Food
  • Menu Development
  • Food Orders
  • Product Quality
  • Sanitation Practices
  • Allergies
  • Sanitation Standards
  • HACCP
  • Production Schedules
  • BOH
  • Garnishing
  • Menu Creation
  • Portion Control
  • Food Storage
  • Meal Preparation
  • Dishwashers
  • Menu Changes
  • Staff Training
  • Private Parties
  • Recipe Development
  • Gluten Free
  • Food Preparation
  • Inventory Management
  • Menu Design
  • Line Cooks
  • Requisition Food
  • Buffets
  • FOH
  • Food Inventory
  • La Carte
  • Groceries
  • Fryers
  • Seasonal Availability

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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