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Prep Chef skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Quoted Experts
Aaron Guerra,
Stacey Schwartz
Prep Chef Example Skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical prep chef skills. We ranked the top skills for prep chefs based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 32.9% of prep chef resumes contained kitchen equipment as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a prep chef needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 prep chef skills for your resume and career

1. Kitchen Equipment

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

Here's how prep chefs use kitchen equipment:
  • Learned proper kitchen equipment operation and safety standards.
  • Included heavy operation of kitchen equipment.

2. Dishes

Dishes refers to the act of cleaning dishes and utensils used in a restaurant. Collecting dirty dishes is often the job of a busser, who clears a table of any dishes once customers have paid and left the restaurant. Dishes are often cleaned by industrial dishwashers, which use high water temperatures and tougher cleaning solutions to clean dishes more quickly.

Here's how prep chefs use dishes:
  • Replicated unfamiliar dishes with accuracy.
  • Help the kitchen staff and chef prepare fresh dishes for customers, as well as bust tables and clean dishes.

3. Cleanliness

Here's how prep chefs use cleanliness:
  • Demonstrated strong organization skills and cleanliness.
  • Maintained cleanliness in a professional kitchen.

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 prep chefs use food service:
  • Communicate effectively with servers to ensure quality food service.
  • Performed end of day food service maintenance, sanitation, and related duties.

5. Dinner Service

Here's how prep chefs use dinner service:
  • Prepared items for high volume dinner service, received and rotated stock, helped create an excellent dining experience for guests.
  • Assigned as the morning shift opener; opened and prepared the kitchen for lunch and dinner service.

6. Prep List

Here's how prep chefs use prep list:
  • Assisted owners and management with prep lists, schedules, ordering, menu development, and training.
  • Assemble assigned items according to the Prep Lists, Firing Chart, par levels set by management.

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7. Fine Dining

Here's how prep chefs use fine dining:
  • Learned and applied skills of fine dining food prep and production including saute, grill, cold bar.
  • Prepared and cooked food in fine dining restaurant.
Select Skills To Add To Your Resume

8. 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 prep chefs use food products:
  • Prepared all food products for the day and next days as a Prep Chef.
  • Mixed ingredients to make various food products.

9. Food Orders

Here's how prep chefs use food orders:
  • Read food orders or received verbal instructions on food required by patron, and prepared and cooked food according to instructions.
  • Control and Prepare the Days Menu's and Supervision of Hourly Employee's, Food Orders, Employee Precision.

10. Safety Standards

Here's how prep chefs use safety standards:
  • Complied with all site safety standards for the use of food preparation equipment sufficient to ensure personnel safety and equipment reliability.
  • Prepared large quantity food items with sanitation to industry health and safety standards.

11. Slicers

Here's how prep chefs use slicers:
  • Worked with slicers and Rotisserie chickens.
  • Utilized all equipment associated with the position, including but not limited to choppers, slicers, mixers, and grinders.

12. Quality Food

Here's how prep chefs use quality food:
  • Produce food consistent high quality food, taste and presentation expedited during peak meal periods.
  • Prepared five star quality food for our elite members from around the world.

13. Line Cooks

Here's how prep chefs use line cooks:
  • Prepared food prior to restaurant opening and during shift to ensure line cooks could quickly and efficiently prepare patrons meals.
  • Organized, scaled out any ingredients for recipes, to then pass on to line cooks.

14. 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 prep chefs use quality standards:
  • Maintained fast and accurate service, positive guest relations, and ensured products are consistent with quality standards.
  • Maintained a clean, safe and sanitary facility by adhering to food quality standards and sanitation regulations.

15. Caf

Here's how prep chefs use caf:
  • Assist Chef's with daily preparation of menu for caf and patient line.
  • Prepared food for Life Caf and Bistro following corporate recipes.
top-skills

What skills help Prep Chefs find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on Prep 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 Prep 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 Prep 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.

List of prep chef skills to add to your resume

Prep Chef Skills

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

  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Dishes
  • Cleanliness
  • Food Service
  • Dinner Service
  • Prep List
  • Fine Dining
  • Food Products
  • Food Orders
  • Safety Standards
  • Slicers
  • Quality Food
  • Line Cooks
  • Quality Standards
  • Caf
  • Cooking Ingredients
  • Customer Orders
  • Bus Tables
  • Inventory Control
  • Clean Kitchen
  • Kitchen Maintenance
  • Food Storage
  • Fryers
  • Garnishing
  • Cooking Food
  • BOH
  • Food Cost
  • Food Inventory
  • Food Preparation

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.

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