Crafting an Impressive Restaurant Management Resume

Developing a compelling restaurant management resume is a critical step in the competitive hospitality industry. This document is more than a mere summary of your work history; it’s a potent tool that showcases your skills, achievements, and potential as a leader and sets you apart from other candidates.

A well-crafted resume can highlight your qualifications and professional journey, distinguishing you in the restaurant business, where operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and team coordination are key.

A good restaurant management resume should illustrate your expertise in various aspects of the industry, from staff supervision and training to inventory management and customer service excellence. It should also demonstrate your problem-solving skills, adaptability, and capacity to thrive in high-pressure environments.

Including specific accomplishments, such as increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction scores, or successfully implementing new operational procedures, can provide concrete evidence of your impact.

Additionally, tailoring your resume to the job you're applying for can significantly increase your chances of success. Highlighting relevant experiences and skills that align with the employer's needs shows that you are qualified and genuinely interested in contributing to their establishment's success. A good restaurant management resume is your gateway to showcasing your potential and securing your next career opportunity in the dynamic world of hospitality.

Your Career Objective and Goals

Take time to clarify what you hope to get from your restaurant management career. For some, this might be using a culinary degree at the mid-management level; for others, it might involve using years of customer service experience in a restaurant setting.

Whenever you are considering a career at the management level, employers are looking for candidates who look ahead to the future five, ten, or even fifteen years—and all within the same organization.

Your Education

If you have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in restaurant management or hospitality management, put this close to the top of your resume. That’s because when you attend an accredited and recognized program, you will likely gain an edge over others interested in the position.

Other degrees can also help improve your chances. For example, a culinary degree can prove your commitment and experience in the kitchen, and a general business degree can demonstrate your ability to work well with restaurant management's accounting and administration aspects.

Your Experience

Although an education is important, there is no substitute for hands-on work experience in the field. This doesn’t mean you must have spent years training as a sous chef in a kitchen or worked your way up the ranks.

In many cases, the internship you completed for school or any experience related to business management, customer service, and hospitality will count. Highlight your specific successes and job responsibilities related to the restaurant industry.

Your Skills

Restaurant management positions draw on many skills—not all directly related to working in the industry. Accounting, office administration, customer service, human resources, conflict management, inventory control, and marketing can all be counted as skills that will help you excel in the field, even if these skills were acquired in a different industry.

One of the reasons restaurant and hospitality management makes such a great lifelong career is that there are so many different aspects of the industry that you can focus on. Whether you’re more interested in cooking, customer service, or business management, your unique skills and experience can translate to an incredible future.