While you might not flip the hamburgers or knead the pizza dough, you're just as responsible for getting food on the customer's table as the cooks and servers you supervise. Your food and beverage director resume needs to convey your attention to detail, knack for management and passion for the food services industry. So how do you accomplish this?
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Resume.io is here to help. With 300+ resume examples and writing guides, we're a career resource for job seekers in all fields. This guide, along with the corresponding food and beverage resume example will cover the following topics:
- What does a food and beverage director do?
- How to write a food and beverage director resume (tips and tricks)
- The best format for a food and beverage director resume
- Advice on each section of your resume (summary, work history, education, skills)
- Professional resume layout and design hints.
What does a food and beverage director do?
Food and beverage directors manage and oversee all aspects related to food and beverage service in a facility. They coordinate staff and direct operations of food preparation and service. Food and beverage directors have a wide range of tasks usually including creating schedules, training staff, managing budgets, maintaining inventories, creating menus, and striving to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. Food services managers have many different responsibilities including managing employees, hiring and training staff, ordering and maintaining inventory, making schedules, and handling customer service issues. A food and beverage director position is typically physically demanding and may include long hours of being on your feet. The main goal of a food and beverage director is to increase the success and revenue of a food service establishment by working to improve day-to-day functions and achieve customer satisfaction.
How to write a food and beverage director resume
All resumes follow a standard structure that ensures the hiring manager can find all the key elements they are looking for. Your food and beverage director resume is no different. Here's what it should contain:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
A food and beverage director resume should clearly exhibit a candidate’s ability to oversee operations and procedures related to food service in a facility or establishment. A food and beverage director might work in the food sector of an entertainment venue, hospital, school or other large scale establishment. They create menus, balance budgets, keep record of inventories, and oversee staff. The goal of a food and beverage director is to maximize performance, minimize costs, increase revenue, and achieve customer satisfaction. Focus on creating an impressive profile section, where you list your greatest achievements and attributes relevant to the food services industry. An impressive food and beverage director resume calls attention to strong leadership skills and organizational skills, necessary for the management of procedures and staff. While no degree is required for this position, a degree in business or management is preferred. Highlighting valuable experience is crucial as well, along with any certifications that support managerial skills.
Food and beverage directors work alongside many other hospitality & catering professionals. If your experience extends into another area, you may want to check out our related resume examples such as our food service worker resume sample, restaurant manager resume sample, McDonald's resume example or food services manager resume sample.
Choosing the best resume format for food and beverage directors
For most job seekers, including food and beverage directors with some previous experience, the reverse chronological resume format is the right choice. This resume format centers on an employment history section where the candidate can list their related roles beginning with the most recent and working backwards through the past ten years. This is the format preferred both by hiring managers and Applicant Tracking Systems or ATS, meaning you should choose this format whenever possible.
In rare cases, candidates may opt for alternative resume formats, which you can read more about in this blog.
Beating the ATS
In medium and large companies that use online application portals, Applicant Tracking Systems or ATS will likely be the first set of "eyes" to read your resume. These algorithms scan resumes for keywords found in the job description and send only the highest ranking candidates to the HR team for review. While there is no way to guarantee your resume will pass this stage, here are some steps to reduce the chances of being filtered out:
- Read the job description closely and look for duties or skills the employer emphasizes.
- Place these "keywords" in the appropriate resume sections while being honest about your experience.
- Stick with common section headings like "Skills" or "Employment History" to let the ATS know where it should look for information.
Resume summary example
The resume summary is like a tasting menu: it offers a glimpse into each "course" of what you have to offer. Highlight a few traits, along with your most noteworthy experience, achievements, skills and education. These 3-5 sentences are one of the few places you can show personality on a resume, so make sure to communicate your ability to be a team leader and a pleasant colleague. This is also an important section when it comes to adding keywords that the ATS might be scanning for.
Below you'll find the summary from our adaptable resume example.
Experienced food and beverage director with a proven track record of helping large scale dining facilities to find success. Adept in all aspects of managing food and beverage service to maximize profit and minimize costs. Experienced in creating winning menus, working with vendors, maintaining inventories, coordinating staff, and meeting and exceeding industry standards. Committed to ensuring optimal productivity and high levels of customer satisfaction. Bringing forth with a beneficial skill-set, conducive to achieving food and beverage goals.
Employment history sample
The employment history section is at the heart of a great resume. In this section, list your relevant positions starting with the most recent. Don't forget to include the job title, employer name, dates worked and location. Underneath, you can create 4-5 bullet points that highlight your duties, accomplishments and skills. Make sure to use quantifiable data wherever possible, for example when describing the size of the staff, number of locations or number of customers served every day. Remember to use powerful action verbs and mention job specific roles. Below you'll find the employment history section from our resume example.
- Managed and operated a high traffic hospital cafeteria
- Effectively coordinated daily operations, directed staff, and oversaw finances and inventories
- Created staff schedules and encouraged high levels of performance
- Worked with chefs to design menus that were both cost-effective and pleasing to customers
- Addressed any problems or customer concerns appropriately
- Interviewed, hired, and trained dining staff
- Worked with other hospital management professionals to achieve unity and success
CV skills example
A great CV skills list highlights your areas of expertise and draws a hiring manager's attention to your strengths as a food and beverage director. Make sure to include a balance of hard (technical) skills and soft skills, which can also be defined as personality traits. The skills section is generally formatted as bullet points so it's best to choose competences that can be listed in a word or two. Avoid clichés here, and instead opt for skills that emphasize your knowledge and built a coherent picture with the other sections.
- Leadership Skills
- Hospitality Management Skills
- Customer Service Skills
- Inventory Control
- Problem Solving Skills
- Food Safety Awareness
Food and beverage director resume education example
While food and beverage directors aren't required to have a formal education, this section helps explain your background to the hiring manager and give them a sense of your formal training. Make sure to list degrees in reverse chronological order and include the name, school, years attended and location. If you've completed higher education, you may leave off your high school. Your GPA is also unnecessary unless you are a recent graduate.
The education section is also a great place to mention any professional memberships you hold or professional training you've completed. List these as you would your degrees.
Here's the education section from our resume sample.
- 2001-2005 Iona College, Associate of Communications New Rochelle, NY
- 1997- 2001 Loyola High School, High School Diploma NY, NY
Resume layout and design
The layout and design of your resume goes a long way to communicate your professionalism and interest in the role. It's worth matching your page layout to the look and feel of the company you're applying to. For example, a food and beverage director of a fast food chain would likely choose a different presentation than someone who supervises a hospital cafeteria. A resume template can make it easier to adjust your layout quickly. Here are some other formatting tips:
- Keep a balance of white space to text to avoid visual fatigue for the reader
- Use a font size of 10-12 point
- Create an attractive header that highlights your name and contact information
- Let your resume spill onto a second page unless you have decades of experience
- Adjust the size of the margins too much – 1 inch is standard.
- Submit a resume without first proofreading for spelling and grammar mistakes.
Key takeaways for a food and beverage director
- A great resume is essential to landing your next food and beverage director position so make sure to take your time when writing.
- Stick to the key sections found most resumes to ensure you don't confuse the hiring manager or the ATS.
- Make sure to create a header that draws attention to your name and contact information.
- Check out our food and beverage director resume sample for more formatting ideas.
