Restaurant Manager Resume

An ideal restaurant manager is one of the crucial barriers to the success of a restaurant or a food establishment. Are you an experienced restaurant manager, planning to shift your job, or looking for better opportunities? The first step is to build or update your resume, molding your skills, experiences, and accomplishments that might attract a recruiter.

Are you confused about creating a restaurant manager resume? Here are some guidelines that might help you. 

However, before jumping into it, we have some free restaurant manager resume templates that might help you. 

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Template 2

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Template 4 

Guidelines to Create a Restaurant Manager Resume

1. Pick the Right Format

The type and tone of your resume should be clear, concise, and readable. The most effective formats for restaurant managers are as follows.

Reverse-Chronological Format: This is the most popular format for the resume. It focuses on listing of work experiences, starting with the most recent one.

Functional Format: This format highlights an individual's skills rather than the history of their work. It's good for people who may be changing careers into a restaurant management position or for people with lapses in their employment.

Combination Format: It showcases elements of the above two by mentioning your relevant skills and work experience. It is useful if you want to focus on crucial competencies along with a good work history. 

2. Ink Your Powerful Professional Summary

The top section that a hiring manager will read is your professional summary; make it count. In 2-3 sentences, summarize your experience, qualifications, and key strengths as a restaurant manager. This should be the section where, at a glance, one can comprehend why you are the ideal candidate for the post.

3. Highlight Key Skills

The key competencies section is the core in terms of your capabilities about what you can bring on board. Ensure that your key competencies include both hard and soft skills. Hard skills are usually technical. Whereas, soft skills are considered to be interpersonal. Adding restaurant management-related skills like operations management, staff recruitment and training, customer service, etc., will help you.

4. Add Your Professional Experiences

Your work history is the largest and most significant part of your resume. The past positions, responsibilities, and successes recorded should be summarized briefly and in a highly organized fashion. It is better to list your responsibilities with the use of bullet points and stating how you succeeded.

Structure:

Job Title

Company Name – Location

Dates of Employment (Month, Year – Month, Year)

List of Responsibilities and Achievements

5. Include Your Education and Certifications

List your highest degree first, followed by institution name, location, and graduation date. Here is an example:

Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management

University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA

Graduated May 2015

If you have any relevant certifications, add them to their section. The type of certification could distinguish you from other applicants and demonstrate that you are bonded to industry standards.

Some certifications: 

• ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification
• ABC Certification
• CRM-Certified Restaurant Manager
• First Aid and CPR Certification
• Pro Tip: In case you don't have a formal degree but have extensive industry experience, highlight relevant certifications and professional development courses.

6. Mention Awards and Recognitions

If you have acquired some recognitions and certifications, you can include them on your resume to make your resume stand out from the restaurant manager job market. Sometimes, awards prove your competency and success in the position.

Example:

Employee of the Year, The Gourmet Spot, 2020

Best Team Leadership, Culinary Excellence Awards, 2019

Pro Tip: Only list relevant awards to your restaurant management career, and if not self-explanatory, add a brief description of the award.

7. Add a Technical Skills Section

As a restaurant manager, it is also very common that you have to be technical with different types of software point-of-sale systems to inventory management and scheduling tools. A list of technical skills shows the hiring manager you're tech-savvy and able to run the business side of the restaurant efficiently.

Examples of Technical Skills:

POS Systems, for example, Toast, Micros, Square

Inventory management software examples, PeachWorks, MarketMan

Scheduling tools- for example, HotSchedules, 7shifts

Microsoft Office Suite-Excel, Word, PowerPoint

8. Tailor Your Resume for Each Job

Before sending your resume, double-check for spelling and grammatical errors or problems with formatting. That could be the only chance you are given to give a bad first impression. Align your resume to match the position with your previous experience and skills tailored to what the job advertisement is asking for.

Pro Tip: Include keywords from the listing in your resume. Most employers use ATS, or Applicant Tracking Systems, which scan and filter through resumes before a human ever does. Tailor your resume by including keywords to increase visibility.

9. Design it Professionally 

A clean, professional design can help your resume pop without overwhelming. For this, try using clear section headings. With a crisp and clean, you can give a proper introduction in the form of a professional summary. Add your work experiences, skills, and educational background in the form of bullet points. This way, you can increase the readability of your resume. 

Final Words

The resume writing that will make your restaurant manager stand out calls for attention to detail, key accomplishments, and quite clearly stating experiences and skills. Using this guide, you can build a resume that identifies your expertise, impresses hiring managers, and gets you interviews for restaurant management positions.