Resumes for Food Service Professionals: Restaurant Managers

In the boxing ring of the current recession, competition that was heretofore nonexistent or negligible has now pulled off the gloves and tossed them down on the mat.  While mega-retailers such as Wal-Mart tempt consumers with packaged foods that, assembled and heated at home, are more cost-effective than patronizing restaurants, eateries such as The Outback and Appleby’s are hanging on to their piece of the pie by offering complete meals and/or select menu items for under ten dollars.  McDonald’s now muscles in turf that was once exclusively Starbucks, with a new line of gourmet-flavored coffee drinks accompanied by an unabashed, “We are up-scaling and cheaper!” ad campaign.  With the food service industry so aggressive, front-of-the-house professionals must expand beyond feint-and-jab maneuvers to remain standing in the ring.  They must give better than their qualified job-seeking peers have got.

Whether the environment is a fine dining establishment, a large chain, or institutional dining, the scope of restaurant managers’ responsibilities is both broad and demanding.  Vital to bottom-line profitability, their most essential functions — and those that must be highlighted on a resume beginning with keywords or a keyword summary — revolve around cost control, staffing, development and oversight of human resources, creation and/or implementation of special promotions, safety/compliance and of course, customer relations.   As with any career synopsis, resumes for food service professionals must also relate, in descriptive (and, we advise, bulleted) form, the specifics of those job functions.  For example, cost containment is wide-ranging, encompassing efficient scheduling of personnel, judicious purchase of food products and restaurant supplies, and safety/risk management.

The latter category mandates compliance with regulations that control storage, preparation/handling, and service of food as well as occupancy rates and safety of the premises (i.e. functionality of fire suppression systems).  Some restaurant managers, particularly those employed by major chains, may also be instrumental in the research, selection, and grand opening of one or more sites, including negotiation of leasing agreements, design/layout of the restaurant, renovation of the eatery’s interior, and merchandising of the location befitting corporate standards (as in, for example, a TGI Friday’s or a Chili’s).

Factual accomplishments should be illustrated in terms of numbers, such as, “Increased sales volume by 6.5% in a two-month period,” “Reduced labor-related costs by 7.9% through cross-training of personnel,” or “Improved formal customer satisfaction rates by 9%.”  Those employed in fine dining establishments should also reference, if applicable, favorable restaurant reviews that have appeared in print and broadcast media.

Written in a manner that showcases a food service manager’s strengths and achievements, the resume can assist the job candidate in emerging from the ring a winner.