Writing a hospitality CV

There is intense competition for many jobs within the hospitality industry. Your CV has just one chance to grab an interview. Your CV needs to provide a compelling case for your expertise and achievements to give confidence to the reader in saying yes to meeting you face-to-face.

Presentation and formatting

Within hospitality presentation is everything and the same is true for your CV. Your CV is likely to be the first contact you have with a new employer. The image you project about yourself at this early stage is important, first impressions count. Make sure your hospitality CV uses consistent formatting throughout. Enable the reader to easily navigate their way around with clearly labelled headings. Use a contemporary typeface like Tahoma or Calibri. Over 50% of CVs contain spelling mistakes. Amazing isn’t it! The answer: get someone else to proof-read it and don’t rely on online spell checks.

Getting through ATS filters

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are used be an increasing number of employers to filter CVs and make the job of shortlisting for interview easier. They work by analysing your CV for key words matched within the job description/person specification. It is estimated ATS filter 70% of CVs before they are ever read by a human. Make sure you send your CV as a Word document and that you don’t use tables or headers/footers as this can confuse ATS. Read the job description and most importantly the person specification and try to mirror these requirements as closely as possible. You need to do this for each role you apply for.

Achievements and outcomes

Once your CV has got through ATS it needs to impress the human reader. This is where giving specific examples of achievements are important. As a chef, how did your new menu impact sales and customer satisfaction? As a restaurant manager, how have you improved staff performance and productivity?  You know what success looks like. To visualise this in a CV you need to give actual examples – don’t rely on generic statements. Use facts and figures to give a sense of concreteness that allow your achievements to have real impact.

This article is written by Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers. Please do connect with me via LinkedIn.

Check out our CV writing service with details of our packages that include LinkedIn profiles, cover letters and more. You can get things started with a Free CV review. I am also a qualified career counsellor and provide Career Counselling services for people looking to change career paths.