How to write a hospitality CV

There are currently a huge number of vacancies in hospitality, so if your next career step could be in the hotel, bar, restaurant or leisure sector then this is the perfect opportunity to make your move. But first, you'll need to know how to write a hospitality CV that impresses at first sight. Luckily, CV Shed has you covered!

Use a clear format for your hospitality CV

As with all CVs, a hospitality CV should be written in reverse-chronological order and needs to include certain sections. The most useful are:

• Contact details
• Professional profile
• Key skills
• Professional experience
• Qualifications and professional development

Ensure that each section has a clear header and that the CV is laid out logically, with plenty of white space. Read some of CV Shed's other blogs for more information on format and layout.

Explain your hospitality experience

Hospitality covers a wide range of roles, from bars and restaurants, to hotels, events and beyond, so your hospitality CV needs to make it clear exactly where you fit in. Are you a bartender in a city centre pub or a receptionist at a boutique country hotel? A chef at a five-star venue or a manager at a fast-food joint? 

It may not seem important when you’re desperately looking for a job – any job! – where you can use your skills to pay the bills, but a targeted, focused CV will be much more successful than a generic one. If you make your hospitality CV too broad, you’ll end up looking like a Jack of all trades and master of none. Help the recruiter to see exactly where you could fit into their business by aligning your previous experience with their needs. 

Similarly, a recruiter will want to know what level of the hospitality industry you operate at. Are you a Team Leader? Supervisor? General Manager? Make the scope of your role clear by quantifying your responsibilities wherever possible. Put numbers against budgets, team sizes, sites and so on. That way, the recruiter can see whether you have the experience they’re looking for. 

If you’ve worked in any prestigious venues, or for particularly well-respected businesses, make sure you say so! A bit of name-dropping is a great way to strengthen your hospitality CV. Don’t forget to mention 5-star ratings and AA rosettes as well. If you’ve worked with high-end customers in the past, their shine will rub off on your CV and recruiters will understand that you can offer the required standards of service and presentation. 

Of course, if you have no experience in hospitality to put on your CV, you can focus on transferable skills gained in other jobs, voluntary work or extra-curricular activities instead.

Highlight skills on your hospitality CV

When you write about your current and previous roles, include plenty of keywords. Don’t leave the recruiter guessing! It may feel like you’re stating the obvious, but to someone that doesn’t know you it’s important to explain what you can do and what your skills are. The ATS will also rank your CV more highly if it finds the keywords it's looking for.

Keywords for a hospitality CV would include some of the following: customer service, food preparation, fine dining, health and safety, complaint handling, customer experience, event planning, stock control, front of house, back of house, guest relationships, banqueting, conferences, new venue openings, menu planning, presentation, hygiene, language skills, food and beverage, relationship building, guest satisfaction… the list is endless! 

To identify keywords suitable for your own career, scrutinise several job adverts for roles aligned with your experience and goals, and also check out the LinkedIn profiles of professionals in similar positions. You’ll soon see what you’ve missed!

Show where you've added value

When several candidates are applying for hospitality vacancies, recruiters need to see how you’re going to add value to their business. One of the easiest ways to do this is by adding Achievements sections to your hospitality CV, explaining exactly what you contributed in every role. If you performed well in the past, it’s likely that you’ll perform well in the future. Try to think of ways that you surpassed expectations and went beyond your basic job description. Consider:

• Did you receive any positive feedback from customers or management?
• Have you been mentioned in any TripAdvisor reviews (or on other hospitality review sites)?
• Did you achieve or surpass your targets?
• Did you generate repeat business?
• Were you (or your team) nominated for any internal or external awards?
• Were you trusted to train new staff?
• Did you increase profits or reduce costs in any way?
• Were you involved in any one-off projects? What impact did they have on the business?
• Did you open any new venues?
• How else did the business benefit from employing you?

If you can, speak to colleagues and review your past performance appraisals - these can be a great source of information if you’re having trouble putting your finger on your successes. Don’t forget to include figures to quantify your achievements as often as possible. 

Write a great profile for your hospitality CV

With recruiters only spending a very short time reviewing each CV, you need to make an impact from the moment they set eyes on it. It’s customary to write a Professional Profile, positioned immediately below your name and contact details. Make sure that yours packs a punch! 

Don’t bother with cliches (e.g. enthusiastic and hardworking), historical detail (e.g. worked my way up from pot-washer in 1983) or why you want a new job (e.g. made redundant due to COVID-19 pandemic). None of these sound like a dynamic, high-achieving professional that they can’t turn down. Lead with exactly what you do and follow with proof that you do it well. Give the recruiter a reason to keep reading your CV and a reason to interview you.

Hospitality CV example

To help you put this advice into action, here's a basic hospitality CV example that you can use as inspiration for your own:

Bilal Gill                                                                                       Restaurant Manager

                                      London, SE12     07890 123456     hospitalitycv@gmail.com

Professional Profile

A multilingual hospitality professional, with significant experience in high-end bars and restaurants. Confident preparing and serving both food and beverages, demonstrating a commitment to quality and exceptional customer service. Leads teams to deliver premium service whilst meeting profit targets. Thrives in multicultural, customer-facing environments and is keen to share ideas to enhance the product offering.

Professional Experience

Restaurant Manager                                                                                                                                                  2021 - date

Castanets Restaurant, Spain

• Training front-of-house staff to achieve compliance with corporate standards
• Maintaining health, safety and hygiene standards throughout the venue
• Led by example to deliver exceptional customer service at every interaction

Key achievements

• Increased revenue by 20% by proactively engaging with both new and existing customers to upsell products
• Recruited and developed a high-performing team that were consistently mentioned on Trip Advisor for their excellent service standards, contributing to an increase in the venue’s overall rating
• Developed innovative new cocktail menus which generated additional footfall due to an improved local reputation

Head Waiter and Bartender                                                                                                                                       2019 - 2021

Modern Times Restaurant (5-star), Spain

• Delivered high standards of customer service when serving at the bar and in the restaurant
• Monitored stock levels and placing orders to maintain optimal availability
• Planned staff rotas and managing a bar team of 6
• Created seasonal drinks and cocktail menus in line with budgets

Key achievements

• Established new cleaning rotas to improve standards in the bar, restaurant and kitchen areas, resulting in a 5-star hygiene inspection
• Reduced bar waste by 5% and increased sales by 7% by adding new drinks to the menu
• Proactively sold and upsold products, contributing to a 10% increase in profits

Bartender                                                                                                                                                                       2014 - 2019

The Green Room, UK

• Managed the bar during private parties
• Ordered bar stocks and established baseline controls
• Delivered first class customer service when taking and preparing drinks orders

Key achievements

• Developed seasonal drinks and cocktail menus

Qualifications

Level 3 award:              Food Hygiene, Health and Safety, UK, 2019

Bachelors degree:        Italian and Mediterranean Cuisine, Italy, 2010

Personal Details

Languages:                  Fluent English, Italian and Spanish, basic French and Portuguese                                     



More CV help 

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