Pastry Chef Resume Examples, Writing Tips and a Comprehensive Guide

An amazing dining experience would feel incomplete without the perfect dessert. Pastry chefs make this possible by using their creativity to combine different flavors and create unique and unforgettable desserts.

While it's essential to showcase your beautiful creations when looking for a job, a great pastry chef resume also significantly boosts your application. Our resume examples and guides will give you some great tips if you need help creating your resume.

A pastry chef job allows you to work in various places, including kitchens of fine dining restaurants, caterers, casinos, or you can open your bakery. This means that you must tailor each resume depending on where you want to work.

In this resume writing guide, you'll get information that will help you how to:

• Write your professional experience in a way that stands out.
• Find the best skills for your resume for a pastry chef.
• Incorporate our tips and use the pastry chef resume example to create your resume.
• Choose the best format for your resume.

Job Market And Salaries For Pastry Chefs

Pastry chefs are included with Chefs and Head Cooks, and according to the U.S Bureau of Statistics, the employment of chefs and head cooks is projected to grow 25 percent from 2020 to 2030.

The industries with the highest levels of employment in Chefs and Head Cooks:

• Restaurants and Other Eating Places
• Special Food Services
• Traveler Accommodation
• Other Amusement and Recreation Industries
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly

The average salary for a pastry chef is $58,000, but the typical range is between $50,000 and $83,000, depending on your education, experience, and skills.

How to Make a Pastry Chef Resume

Your resume is the first interaction with the recruiter, and first impressions are everything. If you want the recruiter to remember you, your resume has to stand out, and your qualifications have to be well-represented to ensure that they don't miss anything.

Working as a pastry chef requires creativity and extensive knowledge of advanced pastry and overall baking techniques. Your resume must showcase this through your previous experience, skills, and education.

It's also essential for your resume to be well-structured and include all the relevant sections. Check out our resume templates to help create your resume without leaving any vital sections.

Pastry Chef Resume Format, Layout, and Structure

The resume format is vital, so think about your best qualifications and choose the format that best represents your top accomplishments.

Here are three common resume formats you can choose from.

• Reverse-chronological format - If you have experience, this is the perfect format for you. It focuses on experience and is also a favorite of most hiring managers.
• Functional resume format - This format focuses on skills and is perfect for candidates with little to no experience like recent graduates and career changers.
• Hybrid/combination resume - This format mixes the best features of the reverse-chronological and functional resume formats. It's perfect for candidates with a good blend of skills and experience.

The layout and design of your resume is other important factor to consider. It should be easy to read and understand because most recruiters will not take their time on a resume they can't read. Use fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Cambria, and Times New Roman that are easy to read and have a font size of 10-12pt.

The structure of your pastry chef resume should have the following sections:

• The header section
• Professional summary/objective
• Work experience
• Education section
• Skill section
• An additional section (Certifications, languages, volunteer work, awards/honors, and interests)

Check out our other resume guides you might be interested in:

• Chef resume
• Restaurant Manager Resume Example
• Food Service Resume Example
• Cook Resume Examples
• Hospitality Resume

Start With The Header Section And Contact Information

This section contains the following information:

• Your full name
• Job title
• Phone number
• Professional email address
• Location
• A link to your LinkedIn profile.

Before sending out your resume, you must proofread this section to ensure your contact details are accurate.

CORRECT

Joanna Camper

Pastry Chef

292-199-263

joannacamper@gmail.com

Beaumont, TX

linkedin.com/in/joannacamper

INCORRECT

Joanna Camper

Pastry Chef

292-199-263

joannacamper@gmail.com

3851 Brookview Drive

House number 002

Beaumont, TX

Date of birth 02/01/1989

linkedin.com/in/joannacamper

Photo Or No Photo

Hiring managers advise against adding a photo to your resume because it increases the chances of discrimination and unconscious bias. However, if a recruiter requires a photo, you should include one but ensure it's professional.

Describe Your Work Experience

Your work experience section is vital when applying for a pastry chef job. The head chef will want to see what you've previously done that makes you the perfect candidate for the job.

Have you worked in a pastry department before, in a small establishment or a high-volume restaurant? Do you have a vast knowledge of dessert items and how to make them? Which baked goods are you good at making?

All these are questions that the recruiter will be looking to find answers to, and the work experience section can give them these answers.

Focus on the relevant experience and leave out any other experience not related to the job. When listing your work history, start with the name of the workplace, your job title, and the period you worked at each place. Add a list of three to five responsibilities and quantify them with figures and facts to show the value you'll bring to the establishment.

Example for an Entry-Level Pastry Chef Resume

Example for Experienced Pastry Chefs

Detail Your Educational Background

Working as a pastry chef doesn't require formal education, but you might need a bachelor's degree in culinary arts if you want to opt for the highest positions.

This section allows you to list the educational qualifications that set you apart from the other applicants. Listing your high school diploma is optional if you have a college degree.

Here are the details you'll include as you list your educational background.

• Name of the degree/diploma awarded
• Name of the school
• Year of completion/Expected graduation date

CORRECT

Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts

Kendall College

July 2015

How To List Your Skills for Pastry Chefs

If you're applying to an established organization, there is a high chance that the recruiter will use software known as applicant tracking systems to scan through resumes. This kind of software filters out resumes that don't have the minimum requirements, and having the right skills in your resume is key to passing the filter.

The job description can help you figure out some of the skills you need in your resume but don't include a skill that you don't have in your resume.

Let's look at the skills you should consider for your resume.

Hard skills

• Pastry preparation
• Safe food handling
• Wine, liquor, and food service
• Baking machinery operation
• Decorating proficiency
• Culinary arts knowledge
• Banquets and catering
• Menu planning

Soft skills

• Organizational skills
• Excellent customer service
• Attention to detail
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Teamwork
• Time management
• Multitasking skills

How To Write Your Pastry Chef Professional Summary

A professional summary introduces your resume and summarizes your top accomplishments, skills, and experience. This section determines whether the recruiter reads your resume or not, so ensure it's catchy and engaging.

If you can quantify your accomplishments with figures, do it! This gets the recruiter's attention and shows them the value you could bring to the company.

What is a Resume Objective?

A professional/resume objective works the same way as a professional summary for candidates who don't have much experience, like graduates and career changers. It summarizes your career goals and shows how they align with the company goals, and expresses your interest in the position.

Example For A Pastry Chef With Experience

CORRECT

Results-oriented Pastry Chef with eight years of experience in high-volume restaurant settings. Passionate about offering the best service to customers and creating menu items that reduce food costs by 25%. Skilled at preparing unique dessert items, wedding cakes, and multiple baked goods without compromising service levels.

The example above highlights the candidate's experience and skills that make them a unique candidate.

Example For A Pastry Chef Without Experience

CORRECT

Driven student in senior year of high school and enrolled in a Culinary Arts program, graduating in July 2017. Keen on building skills learned in internships and developing knowledge of the food and beverage industry in a full-time food-service or catering role.

The example above highlights the candidate's interest in joining the company and the goals they hope to achieve once they get the opportunity.

Now, let's take a look at what not to do.

CORRECT

Hardworking and enthusiastic pastry chef seeking a role with a quality-driven hotel at the heart of a community.

The example above is too vague and doesn't detail the candidate's experience and skills that make them the best person for the job.

Additional Section for Your Pastry Chef Resume

The additional section is a crucial section that you should always have in your resume. If you have other qualifications you didn't mention in the earlier sections, add them here. This section gives you a chance to show the recruiter what makes you unique and why they should give you the job over the competitor.

It's also the perfect opportunity for you to shine a light on the skills you don't want the recruiter to miss.

Let's look at some of the sections you should consider here.

Certifications

While it's okay to add the pastry chef certifications in the education section, it's always better to include them here to ensure the recruiter doesn't miss them. Certifications help you stand out because they show the head chef you have additional training and knowledge. Here are some certifications you can consider for your pastry chef resume:

• Certified Working Pastry Chef
• Certified Executive Pastry Chef
• Certified Master Pastry Chef

Interests

Your interests give the recruiter an idea of who you are outside of work and help them see if you're the right fit for the company. It's always important to do a bit of research and find out the company's culture before adding your interests so that they don't work against you. Interests that build on your skills are always better to have in your resume.

Languages

A bilingual candidate always stands out, so you should add it under this section in your resume if you can speak multiple languages. This ensures that the hiring manager doesn't miss them in your resume. When listing the languages, you'll use the official language reference as follows:

• Goethe Zertifikat or TestDaF for German
• DELF for French
• SIELE for Spanish

Tips for Enhancing Your Pastry Chef Resume

• Check the job ad/description and add the keywords and action verbs to ensure your resume gets past the ATS systems.
• List your job duties and quantify the results with figures or facts.
• Always choose a resume format that best represents your qualifications.
• Avoid using one resume for multiple applications.
• Add the relevant work experience and leave out the experience not related to the job unless you have some transferable skills.
• Check your work for grammatical mistakes and errors before sending it to the recruiter.

And remember:

• The header section contains your name, job title, contact details, and location, and they should be accurate.
• The professional summary is suitable for candidates with experience, while the professional objective is suitable for recent graduates and career changers without much experience.
• The reverse-chronological format focuses on experience and is perfect for candidates who've worked for many years as pastry chefs.
• Other formats you can consider include the functional and combination resume.
• Always choose a layout/design that's easy to read and understand.
• List your professional experiences in the work experience section.
• Add the relevant skills to your pastry chef resume.
• List your educational qualifications in the education section.

Write A Cover Letter To Back up Your resume

Cover letters describe your achievements and skills in more detail and allow you to showcase your personality and writing skills. Your application is incomplete if you send a resume without a cover letter unless the recruiter doesn't require one. Use our cover letter examples to get some tips to help you create your cover letter.