Home Kitchen Hand Resume template
Kitchen Hand resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what kitchen hands 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 kitchen hands should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Reliable kitchen hand with hands-on experience in food preparation, hygiene compliance and cleaning within busy commercial kitchens. Comfortable working under supervision at pace during service, with a strong focus on food safety and supporting chefs to keep stations running smoothly.
Key skills
- Food preparation and basic cooking tasks
- Food safety and hygiene compliance
- Commercial dishwashing machine operation
- Knife handling and safe use of prep equipment
- Cleaning and sanitising of kitchen surfaces and equipment
- Stock receiving, rotation and storage
- Waste management and disposal procedures
- Working to WHS and food handling standards
Experience: example bullet points
- Prepared and portioned ingredients across multiple stations to keep chefs supplied during service without delays
- Washed, sanitised and stored kitchen equipment and utensils in line with food safety protocols, maintaining a clean, compliant workspace throughout shifts
- Received, checked and rotated food and beverage stock, reducing waste by flagging near-expiry items before they spoiled
- Cleared and cleaned work surfaces, floors and disposal areas between services to meet hygiene inspection standards
- Supported chefs during peak service periods, adapting quickly to changing priorities without compromising safety or cleanliness
Education
No formal qualification is required to start; most kitchen hands learn on the job, often alongside or before completing a Certificate III in Hospitality or a recognised food safety handling course.
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
- Safe food handling
- HACCP principles
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Code
- WHS compliance
- Commercial kitchen hygiene
- Stock rotation and storage
- RSA (if bar duties involved)
- Cleaning and sanitising procedures
- Food handler training
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.