Whether you’re a seasoned professional or were inspired to cook after binging The Bear, these professional service crew resumes can help! Study them to see how seasoned food service employees describe their training, skills and certifications. You’ll also find step-by-step writing advice and inspiration throughout this article.

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Free Service Crew Resume Example

Audrey Costello
San Diego, CA
555-555-5555
audrey.costello@email.com

 

RESUME SUMMARY

Dedicated and customer-focused fast food service crew member with over three years of drive-thru experience. Strong attention to detail and communication skills enable me to quickly and accurately hear customer orders with 97% accuracy. Proven ability to collaborate with team members, meet service goals, and maintain kitchen and dining area cleanliness. Looking to bring strong customer service and cleanliness to The Habit.

SKILLS

  • POS and cash register experience
  • Collaboration
  • Food safety and sanitation
  • Multitask under pressure
  • Time management
  • Menu knowledge

EXPERIENCE

Fast Food Crew Member | Taco Bell
San Diego, CA | March 2023 – present 

  • Greet customers, take orders, and ensure a positive dining experience for up to 600 guests per shift.
  • Prepare food items in compliance with restaurant standards and health safety regulations, ensuring quality control.
  • Resolve customer complaints and concerns with free meals or coupons to ensure customer satisfaction and repeat business. 

Fast Food Crew Member | McDonald’s
San Diego, CA | June 2021 – March 2023

  • Assisted kitchen staff in preparing food items in compliance with safety standards and restaurant policies.
  • Managed cash transactions and balanced the cash register at the end of each shift.
  • Maintained cleanliness of the dining area and kitchen by sanitizing surfaces, sweeping floors, and disposing of waste.

EDUCATION

Degrees
High School Diploma | Garfield High School
San Diego, CA | Graduated: 2021

Certifications/Relevant Training
California Food Handler Card | ServSafe
July 2022

How to Write a Service Crew Resume

A resume format helps outline your skills, experience and certifications in an easy-to-skim layout. We placed helpful writing tips next to this service crew resume to help you get started. Read on for additional writing tips and good versus bad comparisons.

  • Professional header and contact info:

    • Share your name, phone number and professional email address. Avoid emails with unprofessional nicknames or phrases.

  • Compelling summary statement:

    • Write a brief introduction highlighting two or three food service] skills, experiences or accomplishments. Prioritize the skills mentioned in the job description.

  • Highlight your skills:

    • Create a dedicated section to showcase hard and soft skills specific to customer service or food service, like upselling or communication skills.

  • Emphasize your work history:

    • Starting with your most recent job, share your job titles, company names and dates of employment. List key responsibilities and achievements for each role using a bulleted list format.

  • Supporting education section:

    • Detail your educational background, mentioning any relevant degrees, diplomas or certifications obtained.

  • Additional sections:

    • You can create custom sections related to food handling certifications, licenses or language skills. Create these when you want them to stand out on your resume, and you hold two or more examples.

how-to-format-resume
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How to Write a Service Crew Resume Summary

Your resume summary sits at the top of your resume and pitches the best service crew skills, experience and qualifications to match the open job requirements. Here are some tips to help you write an attention-grabbing service crew resume summary:

Be brief but direct:

Keep this introduction to three sentences or less. Use active language, like action verbs, to keep your descriptions engaging.

Be relevant:

Tailor your resume summary to crucial food service skills, especially if those skills appear in the job description. Without reading your entire resume, this can convince hiring managers that you’re qualified for the role — some relevant skills, including food safety regulations, teamwork abilities or fast POS skills.

Highlight accomplishments:

Reel a hiring manager by mentioning significant accomplishments like special recognition, awards or rare skills. For example, average time per order, strong customer feedback or manager commendations.

Good and poor resume examples

wrong check icon

“Dedicated service crew member with 5+ years of experience in fast-paced restaurant environments. Proven track record of delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring a positive dining experience. Skilled in taking orders, accurately processing payments, and maintaining a clean and organized workspace with the ability to work in a team setting.”

Within the first two sentences, this job seeker carefully highlights their customer service skills and experience in fast-paced environments. They also emphasize adaptability and teamwork skills.

wrong check icon

“Food service worker with some experience. Looking for a job in a restaurant or café. Hardworking and friendly.”

Unfortunately, this job seeker focuses on their workplace desires instead of persuading a hiring manager. Although they point out their friendly, hardworking personality, they don’t share any helpful examples.

 

Even if you don’t have food service experience, you can improve this service crew job description resume summary. Highlight customer service skills from volunteering or project and time management skills from school. 

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Add Your Service Crew Work History

Your work history is your resume’s longest, most detailed section. Hiring managers rely on this for short, informative descriptions of your service crew experience, like handling multiple kitchen tasks, working in a fast-paced environment, and delivering exceptional food service. Here are some tips to help you create an effective service crew resume:

Use reverse-chronological order:

Start with your most recent job and work backward. List your job title, employer, dates of employment and location.

Focus on relevant responsibilities and achievements:

Use a bullet list format to describe each job’s key responsibilities and accomplishments. Prioritize food service tasks like taking orders, preparing food, maintaining cleanliness or providing exceptional customer service.

Tailor your work history to the job requirements:

Carefully read the job description to identify job-essential skills and qualifications since hiring managers thought this important to ask for. Skim your experience for related examples to help reassure and impress hiring managers.

Good and poor resume examples

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Service Crew Member | Taco Bell
Austin, TX | January 2022 – October 2024

 

  • Efficiently take customer orders, ensure accuracy, and process payments using a POS system, resulting in a 15% decrease in order errors.
  • Collaborate with kitchen staff to ensure timely and accurate food preparation, minimizing customer wait times and enhancing the overall dining experience.
  • Received multiple customer commendations for providing exceptional service, demonstrating strong interpersonal skills and maintaining a positive attitude in high-pressure situations.

Why this resume example works:

This job seeker wisely uses specific details like decreased order errors and glowing customer feedback.

 

They emphasize how they handle various tasks, collaborate with team members, and consistently deliver exceptional service to help employers quickly calculate their potential value.

green check icon

Service Crew Member | Taco Bell
Austin, TX | January 2022 – October 2024

 

  • Took customer orders and served food.
  • Handled cash transactions.
  • Assisted with food preparation.

How this resume example fails:

Although this job seeker describes their daily responsibilities, this work history must include information that could help the hiring manager.

 

How many hourly customers can this person serve? How quickly do they complete transactions? Are they limited to vegetable or meat prep? Preemptively answering these questions can improve this resume.

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How to Write a Service Crew Education Section

Your education section highlights relevant academics, training or certifications that build up your work history. Most service crew jobs don’t require advanced education, but these tips can help you boost your relevant credentials and job training.

1Share relevant degrees or certifications:

List any degrees or certificates directly related to the food service industry. Relevant degrees include hospitality management, culinary arts, and food and beverage service programs. These programs focus on culinary arts and sciences that can translate to multiple workplaces.

2Highlight specialized training programs:

You can also add specialized training programs or workshops relevant to food service, like certifications in food safety and sanitation, allergen training or barista training.

3Mention relevant coursework or coursework highlights.

You can still demonstrate your knowledge by mentioning relevant coursework or specific highlights from your educational experience if you have limited formal education. This could include coursework in nutrition, menu planning, food preparation techniques, or customer service.

Sample fast food service crew resume entry:

Degree:
Associate Degree in Culinary Arts | Culinary Institute of America,
Hyde Park, NY | Graduated May 2020

 

Relevant food service coursework:
Coursework highlights: Food Safety and Sanitation, Menu Planning and Cost Control, and Hospitality Marketing

 

Food certification examples:
Certified Food Protection Manager, ServSafe
Barista Training Program, Specialty Coffee Association

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Pro tip: Your education section should highlight relevant qualifications for each unique job opening. Do this by demonstrating your commitment to ongoing learning and professional development in the food service industry.

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15 Skills for Your Service Crew Resume

Most resume formats feature a dedicated skills section where you can strategically add up to eight unmentioned skills. Focus on a mix of technical, soft and hard resume skills that help you manage multiple orders, customer lines and fast-paced work environments related to the food service industry. 

Here are some helpful transferable skills that support your daily responsibilities.

soft skills

Soft skills

Adaptability

Communication

Customer service

Problem-solving

Teamwork

soft skills

Hard skills

Cash handling

Food preparation

Knife skills

Menu knowledge

Time management

soft skills

Technical skills

Espresso machine operation

Food safety regulations

Inventory management

Point-of-sale (POS) systems

Third-party software, i.e., Toast

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20 Service Crew Action Verbs

Your resume should reflect the high energy of a kitchen — use expressive power words to reflect your speed and intensity. Pair these action verbs with specific accomplishments or responsibilities to provide context and demonstrate your capabilities in a food service setting. 

These 20 suggested action verbs portray your sense of speed, urgency, and skill.

  • Adapted
  • Assisted
  • Cleaned
  • Collaborated
  • Communicated
  • Delivered
  • Enforced
  • Expedited
  • Implemented
  • Interacted
  • Maintained
  • Managed
  • Organized
  • Operated
  • Prepared
  • Prioritized
  • Resolved
  • Served
  • Trained
  • Upsold

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Additional Resume Sections

Consider adding the following sections to your service crew resume based on your specific circumstances and to enhance your qualifications:

  • Certifications:

    Consider getting transferable certifications in food safety, such as a Certified Professional-Food Safety (CP-FS), Certified Food Manager (CFM) or Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification to help you develop your skills and apply for promotions.

  • Professional development:

    Since entry-level fast food jobs only require high school diplomas or GEDs, you can supplement your education with food-relevant workshops, seminars or classes.

  • Awards and achievements:

    Add a section related to awards if you received managerial or customer recognition for your performance, productivity, or safety record.

  • Volunteer experience:

    If you have less than three years of experience, replace your work history section with a volunteer section. Use this space to demonstrate relevant skills like multitasking, teamwork and interpersonal skills. 

  • Language proficiency:

    Since restaurants and fast food franchises serve diverse populations, your ability to speak more than one language can impress employers and boost your chances.

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Key Takeaways

The guide provides service crew resume examples, matching cover letters, and downloadable templates to help applicants create well-rounded job applications. As you write your service crew resume, remember the following tips.

  • Use persuasive, active word choices to empower your job descriptions, lend energy to your resume, and keep hiring managers interested and engaged with your resume. 
  • Tailor your resume to each open job opening, focusing on the advertised needs of the job. This will reassure hiring managers that you’re the best candidate for the job. 
  • Use specialized certifications, training and multi-lingual skills to help you stand out in an overcrowded job market.

Use a Cover Letter to Express Yourself

A resume is a concise overview of your skills and experience — a cover letter expands on this foundation. Add a cover letter to share one or two examples of how you excelled in similar roles or how your skills match a company’s needs. Use this sample as a guide or visit our helpful resources to boost your application.

Service Crew Resume FAQ

How far back should I go with my work history on a service crew resume?

We only recommend adding the last 10 years of relevant experience, but you can go back only if that experience includes notable strengths and accomplishments like helping a team earn a Michelin star, proposing housekeeping procedures that improved health inspection grades, or suggesting cheaper, high-quality ingredient sources.

Should I include references on my service crew resume?

Most hiring managers don’t look at your references until the end of the hiring process, so you don’t need to include references on your resume. Have a separate document with a list of references ready upon request.

Ensure your references are professional industry contacts who can speak positively about your work ethic, skills and performance in a food service setting.

Can I include non-food service experience on my service crew resume?

You can include non-food service experience if it demonstrates transferable skills relevant to the position. For example, customer service, teamwork or multitasking skills are transferable to a food service environment. Tailor your descriptions to highlight skills that apply to the position.

How can I make my service crew resume stand out from others?

To make your service crew resume stand out:

 

  1. Focus on quantifiable achievements and specific examples highlighting your impact in previous roles.
  2. Use action verbs to convey your skills and experiences effectively.
  3. Tailor your resume to the job description, emphasize your relevant skills and showcase your passion for the industry.

 

These sample answers to the common interview question, “Tell me about yourself,” can help you become comfortable describing your best qualities and skills.

Should I include a cover letter with my service crew resume?

While only sometimes required, a well-formatted cover letter can complement your resume and provide additional insights into your qualifications and motivation. Use the cover letter to express your enthusiasm for the position, explain why you are a great fit, and highlight critical experiences or skills that align with the job requirements.

Always customize your resume to each job application, ensuring you address the employer’s needs and requirements while showcasing your unique qualifications and experiences as a service crew member.