Prep Cook Resume Guide
Introduction
A well-crafted resume for a prep cook position in 2025 should clearly showcase your culinary skills, work experience, and ability to support kitchen operations efficiently. Since many restaurants and food service businesses rely on ATS to filter applications, aligning your resume with relevant keywords and a clean format is essential. This guide provides practical advice on creating an ATS-friendly prep cook resume that captures attention and passes automated scans.
Who Is This For?
This guide is suited for entry-level to mid-level prep cooks applying in regions like the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, or other developed countries. Whether you're new to the culinary industry, returning after a break, or transitioning from a different food service role, this advice applies. If you possess basic kitchen skills but lack formal culinary training, focus on your hands-on experience and reliability. For those with more experience, highlight your leadership in prep tasks or specialized techniques. The goal is to demonstrate your ability to support chefs and maintain kitchen standards efficiently.
Resume Format for Prep Cook (2025)
Use a clear, logical structure that emphasizes keywords and readability. A typical format includes:
- Summary: A brief overview showcasing your culinary background and key skills.
- Skills: A dedicated section with ATS-optimized keywords.
- Experience: Chronologically listed roles focusing on relevant duties and achievements.
- Projects or Portfolio (optional): If relevant, include any culinary projects or certifications.
- Education: Basic culinary or general education credentials.
- Certifications: Food safety, sanitation, or specialized training.
Generally, a one-page resume suffices for entry-level prep cooks, but more experienced candidates may extend to two pages if necessary. Ensure that all sections are labeled clearly and formatted simply—avoid excessive graphics or text boxes that can confuse ATS parsers.
Role-Specific Skills & Keywords
To improve ATS compatibility, include both hard skills and soft skills, using keywords that hiring managers and ATS systems frequently scan for. Examples include:
- Kitchen prep and mise en place
- Food safety and sanitation standards (e.g., ServSafe)
- Knife skills and food handling
- Inventory management and stock rotation
- Knowledge of kitchen equipment (e.g., slicers, mixers)
- Time management and multitasking
- Attention to detail and cleanliness
- Ability to follow recipes and instructions
- Teamwork and communication skills
- HACCP compliance
- Cold storage and ingredient organization
- Basic cooking techniques (e.g., blanching, chopping)
- Adaptability in fast-paced environments
Incorporate these keywords naturally into your experience descriptions and skills section to align your resume with ATS criteria.
Experience Bullets That Stand Out
Focus on action-oriented, metric-driven statements that demonstrate your contributions. Examples:
- Prepared ingredients for daily service, reducing prep time by ~15% through efficient organization.
- Maintained high standards of cleanliness and sanitation, passing all health inspections with zero violations.
- Managed inventory levels for fresh produce and dry goods, minimizing waste by ~10% annually.
- Assisted head chef with plating and garnishing, contributing to a consistent presentation for 200+ meals per shift.
- Trained new kitchen staff on safety protocols and prep procedures, improving team efficiency.
- Ensured food safety compliance by adhering to HACCP guidelines and sanitation standards.
- Supported busy kitchen operations during peak hours, consistently meeting service deadlines.
Use specific numbers or percentages where possible to quantify your impact and make your achievements tangible.
Related Resume Guides
- Experienced Cook Resume Guide
- Line Cook Resume Guide
- Dietary Cook Resume Guide
- Prep Chef Resume Guide
- Banquet Cook Resume Guide
Common Mistakes (and Fixes)
- Vague descriptions: Instead of “assisted in food prep,” specify tasks like “chopped and portioned ingredients for 200+ meals daily.”
- Overloading with irrelevant info: Focus on prep-related skills; omit unrelated roles unless they highlight transferable skills.
- Dense formatting: Use bullet points, clear headings, and avoid cluttered layouts to aid ATS parsing.
- Including decorative graphics or tables: Keep formatting simple with standard fonts and plain text.
- Lack of keywords: Regularly incorporate role-specific keywords from the list above to optimize ATS ranking.
ATS Tips You Shouldn't Skip
- Save your resume as a Word document (.docx) or plain PDF, ensuring compatibility with ATS systems.
- Name your file with your full name and role, e.g.,
John_Doe_Prep_Cook_2025.docx
. - Use standard section headings like Summary, Skills, Experience, Education, and Certifications.
- Incorporate synonyms and related terms (e.g., "food prep," "kitchen assistant") to improve keyword matching.
- Keep the formatting simple: consistent bullet points, uniform font size, and clear section separation.
- Avoid embedding important keywords in headers or footnotes that ATS might ignore.
- Maintain past tense for previous roles and present tense for current roles.
- Ensure there are no spelling errors or typos that can hinder ATS recognition.
Following these tips will help your prep cook resume get noticed by both ATS and hiring managers, increasing your chances of landing your next culinary role in 2025.