Cook resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what cooks actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most cooks should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Cook with hands-on experience preparing and cooking meals to order in fast-paced commercial kitchens. Comfortable working across grill, fry and stovetop stations while maintaining food safety standards and consistent plate presentation. Works well under service pressure and coordinates smoothly with front-of-house and kitchen colleagues.
Key skills
- Food preparation and cooking
- Food safety and hygiene
- Commercial oven and stovetop operation
- Knife skills and prep work
- Portion control and plating
- Food storage and refrigeration management
- Time and deadline management
- Attention to detail
Experience: example bullet points
- Prepared and portioned ingredients to recipe specifications for up to [X] covers per service, maintaining consistency across dishes
- Operated grills, fryers, ovens and stovetops during peak service periods, keeping ticket times within kitchen targets
- Followed food safety and hygiene protocols including temperature checks and stock rotation, maintaining a clean audit record
- Plated and presented dishes to house standard, reducing returned meals during busy shifts
- Coordinated with kitchen and front-of-house staff during service to keep orders moving smoothly through the pass
- Managed food storage and stock levels to reduce wastage and prevent spoilage
Education
Typically a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery (or equivalent kitchen experience gained through an apprenticeship or traineeship), often combined with a Food Safety Supervisor certificate.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- Food Safety Supervisor certificate
- HACCP
- Commercial kitchen experience
- Food Standards Code (FSANZ)
- Safe food handling
- RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol)
- Certificate III in Commercial Cookery
- Menu and portion control
- Stock rotation and rotation labelling
- Kitchen hygiene standards
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.