Top 12 Cook Skills to Put on Your Resume

The kitchen moves fast and breaks routine. Your resume needs to show you can dance with the heat, think on the fly, and deliver consistent results with a steady hand. When you spotlight the right culinary skills—technical, creative, operational—you make it easier for hiring managers to picture you on the line, plate after plate, service after service.

Cook Skills

1. Knife Skills
2. Sous-vide
3. Baking
4. Grilling
5. Sautéing
6. Plating
7. Fermentation
8. Butchery
9. Pastry
10. Food Safety
11. Inventory Management
12. Menu Development

1. Knife Skills

Knife skills are the foundation: handling, controlling, and cutting with speed and precision—slicing, dicing, mincing, chiffonade—while keeping all ten fingers intact.

Why It's Important

Good knife work means safer prep, cleaner cuts, faster service, and even cooking. It sets the tone for the entire dish before heat even touches the pan.

How to Improve Knife Skills

1. Choose the right knife: A sharp chef’s knife that fits your hand. Balance matters.
2. Use the pinch grip: Thumb and index finger on the blade, not just the handle.
3. Claw the guide hand: Knuckles forward; fingertips tucked.
4. Keep it sharp: Hone daily, sharpen regularly. Dull blades slip.
5. Cut consistently: Uniform size equals uniform doneness.
6. Stabilize your board: Damp towel underneath; no sliding.
7. Practice daily: Technique first. Speed arrives later like an old friend.

How to Display Knife Skills on Your Resume

2. Sous-vide

Sous-vide cooks vacuum-sealed food in a temperature-controlled water bath for edge-to-edge doneness and repeatable results. No guesswork. Just precision.

Why It's Important

It locks in moisture, heightens flavor, and hits exact temperatures every time—an insurance policy for tenderness and consistency.

How to Improve Sous-vide Skills

1. Seal well: Proper vacuum or displacement sealing prevents floating and uneven cooking.
2. Manage water flow: Use a reliable circulator; don’t overcrowd the bath.
3. Dial in time and temp: Adjust for thickness, protein type, and desired texture.
4. Season smart: Salt lightly; flavors intensify in the bag. Add aromatics sparingly.
5. Pre- and post-sear: Maillard before or after (or both). Dry the surface thoroughly first.
6. Chill safely: If holding, ice-bath chill before refrigerating to keep food out of the danger zone.

How to Display Sous-vide Skills on Your Resume

3. Baking

Baking uses dry, indirect heat—usually an oven—to transform doughs, batters, and mixes through precision and patience.

Why It's Important

It expands the menu—bread, pastries, desserts, roasted specialties—and sharpens accuracy. Baking trains discipline and teaches how ingredients behave under heat.

How to Improve Baking Skills

1. Measure by weight: Scales beat scoops. Consistency starts here.
2. Know your ingredients: Fat shortens; gluten strengthens; leaveners differ. Chemistry counts.
3. Control temperature: Preheat fully. Verify oven accuracy with a thermometer.
4. Master techniques: Creaming, folding, laminating, kneading—each changes structure.
5. Rest when needed: Chill doughs to relax gluten and set shape.
6. Use proper pans: Light vs. dark metal, glass vs. ceramic—heat transfer shifts bake times.

How to Display Baking Skills on Your Resume

4. Grilling

Grilling blasts food with direct heat from below—char, smoke, and quick caramelization in one fiery package.

Why It's Important

It adds unmistakable flavor, offers leaner cooking, and brings versatility from vegetables to steaks to flatbreads.

How to Improve Grilling Skills

1. Preheat hard: Get grates ripping hot to sear and prevent sticking.
2. Clean and oil: Brush grates; light oil on food, not flames.
3. Master heat zones: Direct for sear, indirect to finish. Two-zone setups win.
4. Use a thermometer: Guessing is for gamblers. Temp to doneness, not time.
5. Let it rest: Juices re-distribute; meat relaxes; flavor blooms.
6. Play with rubs and marinades: Salt early for penetration; sugar late to avoid burning.

How to Display Grilling Skills on Your Resume

5. Sautéing

Sautéing cooks small cuts quickly in a thin sheen of fat over lively heat, tossing or stirring for even browning and snap.

Why It's Important

It captures freshness, builds fond for sauces, and keeps textures bright. Fast, flavorful, efficient.

How to Improve Sautéing Skills

1. Preheat the pan: Hot pan, then fat, then food. No steam traps.
2. Choose the right fat: High smoke point for high heat—neutral oils or clarified butter.
3. Don’t crowd: Overfill and you’ll stew. Work in batches.
4. Cut uniformly: Even size, even cook. It shows on the plate.
5. Keep it moving: Toss or stir to color without burning.
6. Finish with finesse: Deglaze, mount with butter, hit with acid or herbs at the end.

How to Display Sautéing Skills on Your Resume

6. Plating

Plating is presentation—arranging components so the eyes taste first. Composition, color, height, texture, space.

Why It's Important

Guests decide with their eyes. Strong plating elevates perceived value and tells a story without a single word.

How to Improve Plating Skills

1. Compose with intention: Use negative space; place focal points off-center for energy.
2. Chase contrast: Color pops, temperature interplay, crunchy meets creamy.
3. Respect garnish: Edible, purposeful, restrained.
4. Control sauces: Spoons, squeeze bottles, swipes—precision over puddles.
5. Build height wisely: Layer textures without toppling; anchor components.

How to Display Plating Skills on Your Resume

7. Fermentation

Fermentation uses microbes to convert sugars into acids, gases, or alcohol—preserving food while deepening flavor. Think kimchi, yogurt, sourdough, pickles.

Why It's Important

It layers complexity, boosts nutrition, and adds pantry flexibility with long-lasting staples.

How to Improve Fermentation Skills

1. Mind the temperature: Most vegetable ferments do well around 68–72°F (20–22°C); warmer speeds, cooler slows.
2. Dial in salt: For vegetables, 2–3% salt by weight of produce is a solid starting point.
3. Keep it clean: Sanitize jars and tools; avoid unwanted microbes.
4. Exclude oxygen as needed: Use weights, airlocks, or tightly packed jars for lacto-ferments.
5. Track pH and taste: Sour develops over days; stop when the flavor hits the target.
6. Protect from light: Store in a cool, dark spot to keep flavors steady.

How to Display Fermentation Skills on Your Resume

8. Butchery

Butchery breaks down primal cuts into usable portions, trims fat, removes sinew, and sets proteins up for the right cooking method.

Why It's Important

It reduces waste, improves yield, and lets you tailor cuts for flavor, tenderness, and margin.

How to Improve Butchery Skills

1. Sharpen relentlessly: Honed blades equal clean seams and safer hands.
2. Learn anatomy: Follow muscle lines, identify seams, work with grain not against it.
3. Standardize cuts: Portion control means even cooking and consistent costs.
4. Practice progressively: Start with poultry, move to pork, then larger primals.
5. Work cold and clean: Chill meat for tidy cuts; sanitize surfaces frequently.

How to Display Butchery Skills on Your Resume

9. Pastry

Pastry is dough plus fat plus liquid, handled with care for flake, tenderness, or snap—pies, tarts, quiches, and beyond.

Why It's Important

It opens a world of sweet and savory offerings and showcases finesse. Precision shines here.

How to Improve Pastry Skills

1. Keep it cold: Chill fat, flour, and even tools to protect flakiness.
2. Don’t overwork: Mix just to combine; too much gluten toughens the result.
3. Rest the dough: Refrigerate before rolling to relax gluten and minimize shrinkage.
4. Control bake temps: Start hot to set structure, then reduce to finish without scorching.
5. Choose quality fat: Higher-fat butters or proper shortening blends change texture dramatically.

How to Display Pastry Skills on Your Resume

10. Food Safety

Food safety covers handling, storing, and preparing ingredients to prevent contamination and keep guests healthy.

Why It's Important

It protects diners, preserves reputation, and keeps operations compliant and stable.

How to Improve Food Safety Skills

1. Wash hands and sanitize surfaces: Before, during, after prep—no shortcuts.
2. Prevent cross-contamination: Separate boards, tools, and storage for raw vs. ready-to-eat.
3. Cook to safe temps: Use a thermometer; verify internal temperatures by protein type.
4. Chill promptly: Cool hot foods quickly; hold cold foods at 40°F/4°C or below.
5. Label and date: FIFO rotation, clear timestamps, allergen alerts.
6. Use safe water and ingredients: Source reliably and check quality on arrival.

How to Display Food Safety Skills on Your Resume

11. Inventory Management

Inventory management tracks ingredients and supplies so production flows, waste drops, and costs behave.

Why It's Important

It keeps the line stocked, protects margins, and ensures freshness—less scramble, more control.

How to Improve Inventory Management Skills

1. Audit routinely: Daily spot checks and weekly full counts reduce surprises.
2. FIFO/FEFO: First in, first out—first expired, first out for perishables.
3. Set par levels: Define minimums and order points by item and season.
4. Tighten ordering: Align deliveries to prep cycles and sales patterns.
5. Track waste: Log trims, spoilage, and overproduction; fix the root cause.
6. Train the team: Clear labeling, storage maps, and receiving standards.

How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume

12. Menu Development

Menu development shapes what you serve—balancing flavor, cost, seasonality, workflow, and brand into a lineup that sells.

Why It's Important

It guides purchasing, controls labor, sparks creativity, and meets guests where their cravings live—profitably.

How to Improve Menu Development Skills

1. Know your guests: Track sales, listen to feedback, consider dietary needs.
2. Start with ingredients: Seasonal, local when possible, and consistent in quality.
3. Balance the board: Mix familiar anchors with a few adventurous pulls; vary textures and prep methods.
4. Cost precisely: Standardize recipes, portion tightly, and price for target margins.
5. Design for the line: Build dishes your kitchen can execute at volume—station flow matters.
6. Iterate: Pilot specials, monitor performance, keep what sells, refine what lags.
7. Label allergens clearly: Transparency builds trust and prevents incidents.
8. Plan for waste: Cross-utilize components and use trims smartly.

How to Display Menu Development Skills on Your Resume