Top 12 Sandwich Artist Skills to Put on Your Resume

Crafting the perfect sandwich takes more than a steady hand. It’s balance, rhythm, instinct. A little flair, a lot of care. In a busy shop, these sandwich artist skills don’t just make food—they shape the whole experience for the person on the other side of the counter.

Sandwich Artist Skills

1. Food Safety
2. Customer Service
3. POS Systems
4. Inventory Management
5. Time Management
6. Cross-Training
7. Sanitation Protocols
8. Order Accuracy
9. Cash Handling
10. Team Collaboration
11. Menu Knowledge
12. Food Preparation

1. Food Safety

Food safety means guarding every step—storage, handling, prep—so ingredients stay safe and appetizing. Clean tools, clean hands, clean stations. Zero shortcuts.

Why It's Important

It prevents foodborne illness, protects guests, and keeps the shop’s reputation intact. Done right, it’s invisible. Done wrong, you feel it fast.

How to Improve Food Safety Skills

Lock in the basics and repeat them without fail:

1. Personal Hygiene: Wash hands thoroughly and often. Before starting, after interruptions, after handling raw items—no guesswork.

2. Temperature Control: Keep cold foods at 41°F or below and hot foods at 135°F or above. Verify with a calibrated thermometer, not by feel.

3. Prevent Cross-Contamination: Separate boards and utensils for raw proteins and ready-to-eat items. Color-code if possible. Change gloves when switching tasks.

4. Proper Storage: Raw below ready-to-eat, sealed and labeled. Date everything. Don’t crowd cold-holding units—air must circulate.

5. Regular Training: Refresh on procedures, temperature logs, and incident response. New menu, new risks—update habits accordingly.

6. Sanitation: Clean, then sanitize. Use food-contact-safe sanitizers at correct concentrations. Test strips are your friend.

7. Allergen Awareness: Know the major allergens, prevent cross-contact, and use dedicated tools or surfaces when required.

Consistency wins. Quiet, relentless consistency.

How to Display Food Safety Skills on Your Resume

2. Customer Service

Warm greeting, sharp listening, quick hands. You build what they want, how they want it, and make them feel looked after while you do it.

Why It's Important

Happy guests come back. They tell friends. They keep a line at the door and the shop humming.

How to Improve Customer Service Skills

Small shifts create big lift:

1. Active Listening: Let customers finish, confirm their order back, note preferences. No assumptions.

2. Personalization: Recognize regulars and remember favorites. A tiny detail makes a huge impression.

3. Efficiency: Move with purpose. Faster service without sloppy execution.

4. Cleanliness and Hygiene: Spotless counters calm nerves. Guests notice.

5. Feedback: Ask how it was. Adjust fast when trends or issues pop up.

6. Ongoing Training: New items, new techniques, new ways to delight. Keep sharpened.

How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume

3. POS Systems

A POS system is your command center—orders, payments, inventory clues, and useful reports bundled into one busy screen.

Why It's Important

It trims transaction time, cuts mistakes, helps you stock smart, and keeps lines moving when the rush hits.

How to Improve POS Systems Skills

Make the tech work for you, not the other way around:

1. Menu Customization: Build clear modifiers and shortcuts for common tweaks.

2. Flexible Payments: Accept contactless, chip, tap, and mobile wallets to speed checkout.

3. Inventory Tie-Ins: Use real-time counts for high-use items to reduce outages and waste.

4. Clean Interface: Organize buttons logically. Fewer taps, fewer errors.

5. Loyalty Integration: Reward repeat guests without slowing the line.

6. Useful Analytics: Review top sellers, dayparts, and voids. Adjust prep and ordering.

7. Reliable Support: Know how to troubleshoot quickly and who to call when the system hiccups.

How to Display POS Systems Skills on Your Resume

4. Inventory Management

Know what you have, what’s fresh, and what’s moving. Waste less, serve more, spend smarter.

Why It's Important

You can’t make great sandwiches without ingredients ready to go. Good control avoids stockouts, spoilage, and budget pain.

How to Improve Inventory Management Skills

Simple systems, rigorously kept:

1. Regular Counts: Audit actual stock and reconcile gaps. Daily spot checks for fast movers.

2. FIFO: First in, first out. Date labels visible, rotation non-negotiable.

3. Forecasting: Use sales patterns and seasonality to plan orders.

4. Supplier Communication: Align on lead times, backups, and acceptable substitutions.

5. Digital Tools: Track par levels and set alerts for critical items.

6. Team Training: Everyone follows the same labeling, storage, and pull procedures.

How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume

5. Time Management

Prepping early, moving cleanly, switching gears without confusion. When the rush hits, timing is everything.

Why It's Important

Speed with control keeps quality high, lines short, and customers cheerful. It also saves product and labor.

How to Improve Time Management Skills

Build rhythm into the day:

1. Prioritize: Prep staples during slow windows. Batch smart, not sloppy.

2. Set Clear Blocks: Schedule specific windows for restock, prep, cleaning, and service.

3. Organize the Station: Everything in reach, nothing extra. Reset between orders.

4. Time Blocking: Focus on one task at a time. Less multitasking, fewer mistakes.

5. Continuous Tweaks: Review what dragged. Adjust tomorrow’s plan so it doesn’t drag again.

How to Display Time Management Skills on Your Resume

6. Cross-Training

Learn the line, the register, the prep table, the close. More skills, fewer bottlenecks.

Why It's Important

When someone’s out or the line explodes, cross-trained staff keep service smooth and spirits steady.

How to Improve Cross-Training Skills

Make it structured, not guesswork:

1. Map Skills: List every station and the tasks within it.

2. Rotation Schedule: Cycle people through stations for genuine practice.

3. Checklists and Playbooks: Clear, concise guides with photos or steps that anyone can follow.

4. Mentors: Pair new staff with pros for live reps and quick feedback.

5. Recognize Progress: Track proficiency and celebrate milestones.

6. Short Team Huddles: Swap tips, call out snags, keep learning visible.

7. Mixed-Format Training: Use brief videos, quick quizzes, and hands-on demos.

How to Display Cross-Training Skills on Your Resume

7. Sanitation Protocols

Clean isn’t optional. It’s the baseline. From hands and tools to boards and bins, sanitize on schedule and on sight.

Why It's Important

It protects guests, passes inspections, and signals professionalism. One slip can ripple.

How to Improve Sanitation Protocols Skills

Build a routine that won’t crack under pressure:

1. Handwashing: Twenty seconds, warm water, proper drying. Do it often and visibly.

2. Glove Use: Change between tasks. Gloves are not a license to skip handwashing.

3. Surface Care: Clean, then sanitize with food-safe solutions at correct concentrations. Log it.

4. Storage Discipline: Label, date, and separate raw from ready-to-eat. Mind cold-holding temps.

5. Team Training: Onboard well, refresh regularly, correct gently but quickly.

6. Guest-Facing Touchpoints: Wipe payment keypads, sneeze guards, and handles frequently.

7. Internal Audits: Use checklists and surprise spot checks. Fix gaps immediately.

How to Display Sanitation Protocols Skills on Your Resume

8. Order Accuracy

Right bread, right toppings, right sauce, right heat. No surprises—unless they asked for them.

Why It's Important

Accurate orders cut waste, earn trust, and keep guests smiling. Fewer remakes, faster lines.

How to Improve Order Accuracy Skills

Tighten the loop from request to handoff:

1. Active Confirmation: Repeat orders back, especially custom builds.
2. Visual Check: Use screens or printed tickets as a single source of truth.
3. Ingredient Mastery: Know the builds and portion sizes cold.
4. Consistent Training: Refresh when recipes change and when seasonal items arrive.
5. Quick Checklist: Before wrapping, scan core components—bread, protein, key add-ons.
6. Feedback Loop: Track common errors and fix the root cause.

Industry associations and internal quality guides can further reinforce these practices—use them to standardize.

How to Display Order Accuracy Skills on Your Resume

9. Cash Handling

Clean counts, clear change, tight records. Fast, honest, exact.

Why It's Important

It sustains trust and protects the shop’s bottom line. Sloppy handling invites headaches.

How to Improve Cash Handling Skills

Keep it crisp:

1. Accuracy: Count twice before handing back change. Focus on one transaction at a time.

2. Organization: Bills and coins sorted, large bills tucked promptly.

3. Security: Use drop safes and limit till amounts during rushes.

4. Training: Regular refreshers on procedures, comps, voids, and reconciliation.

5. Transparency: Count change aloud so the guest can follow the math.

How to Display Cash Handling Skills on Your Resume

10. Team Collaboration

Talk early, hand off cleanly, support each other when the line swells. The flow matters.

Why It's Important

When the team moves as one, errors drop and service feels effortless to the guest.

How to Improve Team Collaboration Skills

Build clarity and trust:

1. Direct Communication: Short, specific callouts—“Need more tomatoes,” “Allergy order”—no mumbling.
2. Shared Boards: Use visible task lists and station charts so priorities stay aligned.
3. Feedback Loops: Quick post-rush debriefs and anonymous suggestions to surface friction points.

How to Display Team Collaboration Skills on Your Resume

11. Menu Knowledge

Ingredients, builds, portions, pricing, swaps, and dietary notes. Know it cold, guide with confidence.

Why It's Important

It speeds service, prevents errors, and helps you recommend options that fit taste and needs.

How to Improve Menu Knowledge Skills

Turn the menu into muscle memory:

1. Study: Learn every component—breads, proteins, cheeses, veg, sauces, portions.

2. Repetition: Make each core sandwich repeatedly until steps feel automatic.

3. Customization Rules: Understand substitutions and what pairs well.

4. Training Modules: Complete your company’s official training and updates.

5. Ask and Observe: Gather guest and teammate feedback on favorites and common tweaks.

6. Food Safety Basics: Tie knowledge to safe handling—especially for allergens and high-risk items.

How to Display Menu Knowledge Skills on Your Resume

12. Food Preparation

Assembly with intention. Crisp lettuce, warm bread, clean cuts. The details shout, even if you don’t.

Why It's Important

Good prep preserves freshness, protects safety, and delivers a sandwich that looks and tastes the way it should—better, even.

How to Improve Food Preparation Skills

Work smarter on the board:

1. Plan Ahead: Mise en place—ingredients prepped, tools ready, station tidy.
2. Choose Quality: Use fresh, properly stored items. Trim and portion with care.
3. Hygiene First: Wash, sanitize, and separate. Replace boards and gloves when switching tasks.
4. Knife Skills: Practice uniform cuts for texture, speed, and presentation.
5. Innovate Thoughtfully: Offer smart tweaks and respect preferences.
6. Smooth Workflow: Sequence steps to reduce backtracking and mess.
7. Gather Feedback: Ask how it landed and tune the process.

How to Display Food Preparation Skills on Your Resume