Top Catering sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers & results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a strong Catering experience section
Checklist: Ways to Make Your Experience Section Stand Out
- Find balance: use 4-6 bullet points per position;
- Include positions that are relevant to the job you’re applying for;
- Use action verbs when describing your responsibilities and results;
- Highlight your achievements by adding numbers to them (e.g. instead of saying “achieved a steady increase in…”, say “achieved an X% increase in…”);
- Prove that you’re willing to work hard, both individually and in a team.
The work experience samples below come from real Catering resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Led a team of 10 kitchen staff in the preparation, set-up, and service of food and beverages for corporate events.
- Managed catering budget of $100,000 per month, ensuring cost-effective purchasing and minimal waste.
- Implemented food safety protocols and procedures, reducing incidents of foodborne illness by 50%.
- Streamlined the catering process, reducing set-up and service time by 30% and increasing customer satisfaction.
- Collaborated with clients to create customized menus and provided exceptional customer service, resulting in repeat business and positive feedback.
- Assisted in the coordination of catering services for events with up to 300 guests, ensuring timely delivery and service of food and beverages.
- Managed inventory and ordering of catering supplies, reducing waste and cost by 20%.
- Trained and supervised 5 kitchen staff in food preparation and service, ensuring a high level of cleanliness and hygiene.
- Provided exceptional customer service and addressed any concerns or issues in a timely and professional manner.
- Collaborated with vendors to create customized menus and provided recommendations for wine and beverage pairings.
- Created culturally-authentic menus that received an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 from customers
- Increased revenue by 25% through effective marketing strategies and expanding catering services to include weddings and corporate events
- Managed a team of 15 employees to ensure seamless execution of events
- Negotiated contracts with vendors resulting in cost savings of 15% for the company
- Increased revenue by 20% through upselling event services and packages to clients
- Collaborated with vendors and clients to create customized menus, resulting in high customer satisfaction ratings
- Managed event budgets of up to $100,000, consistently meeting or exceeding profit margins
- Trained and supervised a team of 5 event staff to ensure successful event execution
- Created and implemented new menu items, resulting in a 20% increase in customer satisfaction ratings
- Managed inventory and ordering of supplies, resulting in a 10% cost savings for the company
- Trained and supervised a team of 10 staff to ensure timely and efficient execution of events
- Collaborated with chefs to create culturally-authentic menus for diverse clients
- Delivered catering and event support to 100+ functions and events resulting in 95% customer satisfaction.
- Developed and maintained positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including vendors and catering providers.
- Managed and trained a team of 10 casual staff, ensuring they provided high-quality service.
- Sourced, quoted, and ordered items for functions/events to meet budget requirements.
- Planned, budgeted, and executed 50+ events resulting in a 90% satisfaction rate from customers.
- Negotiated contracts and managed relationships with vendors, catering providers, and sponsors.
- Developed marketing and promotional materials, resulting in a 30% increase in attendance.
- Coordinated logistics and on-site event management.
- Assisted in the planning and execution of 20+ events, including coordinating logistics and managing on-site operations.
- Developed marketing materials and managed social media accounts, resulting in a 20% increase in attendance.
- Provided excellent customer service to clients and guests.
- Managed event set-up and break-down, ensuring smooth transitions between activities.
PRO TIP
Make sure to relate your experience to your job description, but never lie. That’s not tolerated and will show up in the face-to-face interview later on.
Action Verbs for your Catering Resume
Recommended reads:
Catering Resume: The Skills Section!
How to write a strong Catering resume skills section?
- Make sure to include all types of skills - soft, hard, technical;
- Focus on skills that show your expertise in the field;
- Check the job description for keywords and make sure to add them to your resume – this will help you pass ATS;
- Leave room for discussion – elaborate on some of your strongest skills in other sections of your resume
Top skills for your catering resume
Food preparation
Menu planning
Food safety and sanitation
Inventory management
Vendor management
Event setup and breakdown
Table setting and service
Culinary techniques
Baking and pastry
Food plating and presentation
Customer service
Time management
Problem-solving
Attention to detail
Teamwork
Communication
Adaptability
Organization
Leadership
Creativity
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Catering resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Mastering the summary section: Checklist
- Mention the total years of experience you have in the field;
- Focus on 2 to 3 of your top achievements;
- Highlight the things that make you the best fit for the position;
- Go for short, easy-to-read sentences to keep the recruiter’s attention.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a professional taster. Use it wisely. Effectively convey your professional profile and let the hiring manager know that if they hire you, they won’t be disappointed. Make sure to include keywords from the job description too! Elaborate on your abilities further in your experience section. Again, cater to the job description.
Recommended reads:
Choosing the Right Format for Your Catering Resume
In general, there are three basic formats for your resume:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Some things to consider when choosing the right format for your Catering resume include the stage of your career, whether you have all the right skills required for the job or are looking for an industry change, and what field you’re looking to grow in.
The reverse-chronological resume format is the most common one. It lets you describe your most recent job and then move backward. This makes it great for people who have around or less than 10 years of experience and are looking to highlight only their work-related skills and qualities.
If you’re just starting your career journey and reverse-chronological resumes sound too demanding, go for the functional resume format. It’s ideal for showcasing your strengths, personal qualities, skills, education, and the courses you’ve taken, without putting too much pressure on experience and expertise.
Don’t worry if neither of these sounds suitable for you – the hybrid or combination resume format will surely match your needs. It’s similar to the reverse-chronological, but with a catchy twist. Combination or hybrid resumes are great for showcasing both your experience and work-related skills and your personal qualities. Add a “What my day looks like” section for enhancing the jaw-dropping experience!
Don’t miss our resume format checklist:
- Go for a traditional easy-to-read resume font sized 10-12p;
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Make sure your Catering resume fits in one to two pages;
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid having it edited by someone else.
Looking for more tips? Check out our job-winning guide for crafting a resume that gets you remembered!
