Last updated: September 18th, 2023
You love cooking. You love the buzz of a busy kitchen on a Saturday night. Strangely, you (almost) love the thrill of being yelled at by the Head Chef.
What you don’t love is writing your resume.
I know how you feel. Writing resumes is an acquired taste (ha), so I’ve created an Australian Chef Resume Example just for you. It is written with a healthy dash of tongue-in-cheek humour by describing the career of a well-known international chef.
Use it as a departure point for writing your own chef resume.
Important!
Don’t copy mt chef resume example word-for-word. You’ll get the best results if you tailor it to your career background and target role.
If you get stuck, you can get unstuck by using my recommended:
- free resume builder, if you’re on a budget
- top-rated CV company, if you’d like professional help
Australian Chef Resume Example.
This resume example hypothetically belongs to Gordon Ramsay, who is no stranger to anyone looking for a career in hospitality.
Love him or hate him, he has achieved a lot during his 3-decade career as a chef, and the resume example below has a shot at selling his skills to a potential employer.
Page 1/3.
Here’s why Gordon’s resume is likely to stand out to restaurant owners and hotel managers:
- Clean, minimalist design. Don’t make your resume look like a fruit salad. Keep the number of different font sizes down to a maximum of 4 and use the same font type throughout. Use minimalist graphics to create a sense of logic, guiding the reader’s eye from the most important element to the least.
- Attention to detail. If you don’t have an eye for detail, you won’t succeed as a chef. Convey that you have this skill by ensuring that your resume is 100% free from grammatical errors and typos.
- DOB, gender and photograph are not necessary. Do not add them to your Australian chef resume.
- Narrative-driven profile. Did you notice how Gordon’s resume kicked off by telling the story of his career? You need to do the same. Craft a real story that walks the reader through the most salient aspects of your career, highlights your key achievements and showcases your strengths. Don’t stuff it full of generic cliches like “excellent chef with a lot of experience across a variety of settings”!
- Key skills/assets. Think of this section as a red wine reduction. It’s an intense, small, but punchy summary of who you are as a chef. Focus on your impact rather than your duties.
Page 2/3.
The two most important features of this page are:
- Reverse format. Ideal for a chef with a healthy amount of experience, the reverse-chronological resume format places emphasis on parts of your career that potential employers care about the most – the most recent stuff.
- Strong achievements. Writing effective achievements is similar to cooking a great steak. It requires the correct technique plus a little bit of creativity. Remember to kick off each achievement with an action verb – and never confuse it with a responsibility.
Page 3/3.
Many Australian chefs miss job opportunities with top restaurants because they neglect the last page of their resume.
Finish the race with the same amount of zeal as you had at the start. The last page can make or break your job application.
Expert Tip.
When two chefs are evenly matched, restaurant owners often use the information on the last pages of their resumes as a tiebreaker.
- Correct length. First of all, don’t overcook the word count. Aim for between two and three pages in length.
- Volunteer experience. Have you contributed to the restaurant industry in ways that don’t involve paid gigs? Have you taught at TAFE? Have you donated your time to cook for Meals On Wheels?
- Courses and qualifications. Include all of the qualifications you’ve picked up along the way. Where did you do your apprenticeship? Do you have any esoteric, highly specialised qualifications that position you as an expert in Kosher and Halal diets?
- References. Australian restaurant owners don’t expect you to list your referees on your resume. “References Available Upon Request” on the last line is sufficient. You’ll provide the contact details of your referees at a later stage.
Australian Chef Resume Templates.
Did you know you can write your chef resume in half the time using resume templates and online resume builders?
They provide you with a starting point and guidelines that prevent writer’s block.
These free templates from Resume.io are the best:
If you’d like to focus on cooking and outsource the task of writing your resume to a professional, I know good resume companies in Sydney and in Melbourne that are ready to take your resume to the next level.
They have helped dozens of professional chefs land roles at top restaurants around Australia.
Job Outlook For Chefs In Australia.
The Australian hospitality industry is booming. By 2024, there will be more than 117,000 chefs in Australia. This is a projected growth of 15% from 2019 (101,000).
Chefs will be among the most in-demand workers over the next five years, according to the Federal Government’s latest Skills Priority List, revealed earlier this year.
Most job openings attract strong competition from overseas chefs because the job offers a pathway to Permanent Residency (PR) in Australia.
The job is notorious for its long working hours and irregular schedules, but the relatively high salary does offset some of the sacrifices you’ll need to make. Entry-level chefs can expect to make a relatively low $50-70K, but experienced chefs at top restaurants take home an average of $80-110K.
Related Australian Resume Examples.
P.S. Are you a chef, looking for a job in Australia? What challenges have you encountered in the job market? Share your roadblocks below, and I’ll do my best to help you overcome then without personalised tips and actionable advice.
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