How to write a resume for hospitality and food service jobs

Food safety and alcohol service training matter in many of these jobs. List the certificates you hold with their expiration dates, written exactly as issued, and describe the venue clearly so a reader can picture your shift.

What people hiring in hospitality and food service usually look for

In general terms. Every employer is different, so read each posting closely.

• The type of venue: quick service, casual, fine dining, catering, hotel, resort or event space, and how busy it was.
• Your station or role: front of house, back of house, bar, front desk, housekeeping, banquets.
• Food safety or alcohol service certificates you hold, with expiration dates.
• Guest care: handling special requests, complaints and large parties.
• Systems: point-of-sale, reservation or property management software, named as [system] until you fill in the real name.
• Trust and leadership: cash handling, opening and closing, training new staff, shift lead duties.

How to structure a hospitality resume

• Certificates near the top. Food handler, food safety manager or alcohol service certificates, with the issuing program and expiration.
• Venue and pace in each job. Open with the venue type and size or covers if you know them.
• Skills by station. Front of house, back of house, bar or front desk skills, plus systems.
• Availability. Nights, weekends and holidays, if the posting asks.

Three layouts cover most situations, each in one column with standard headings:

• Front of House and Guest Service: Servers, bartenders, hosts and front desk staff. Order: Summary, Certificates, Hospitality Experience, Skills and Systems, Availability.
• Kitchen and Culinary: Cooks, prep cooks and kitchen leads whose stations and food safety lead. Order: Summary, Certificates, Skills and Systems, Hospitality Experience.
• Shift Lead and Supervisor: Shift leads, supervisors and people moving into management. Order: Summary, Hospitality Experience, Certificates, Skills and Systems, Education.

Example bullet structures

These are structures, not real results. Replace every [placeholder] with your own facts, and leave out any number you can't back up.

• Served [number] guests per shift in a [number]-seat [venue type], handling [number] tables per section.
• Prepared [menu items or station] on the [line or station] during [service type, e.g. dinner rush] following [recipes or specs].
• Checked in [number] guests per day at a [number]-room [hotel type] using [property management system].
• Handled cash and card payments on [POS system] and balanced the drawer at close.
• Followed food safety practices for [storage, labeling and temperature logs] under [certificate held].

Action verbs for this field

Summary structures

• [Role] with [number] years in [venue type], known for [strength] during busy service. [Certificate] current through [Month Year].
• Line cook with [number] years on [stations] in [venue type], comfortable with [cuisine or technique] and high-volume service.

More structures by situation (career change, returning after a layoff, new graduate) are on our resume summary examples page.

Common mistakes

• Not naming the venue type or pace, so the reader can't picture your experience.
• Leaving off certificates the job requires, or listing them without expiration dates.
• Writing "fast-paced environment" without saying what made it fast: covers, rooms or events.
• Listing every short seasonal job; group similar ones if it keeps the page clear.
• Forgetting systems like POS or reservation software, which many postings name.

Do it yourself, or have it done

Questions

Other resume guides: government and federal, nursing and healthcare, skilled trades and construction, and the career services page. Got laid off? See what to do after being laid off.

General information, not career, legal or employment advice. We are not career counselors, and nothing here promises interviews, offers or a particular result.