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Kitchen Hand CV example

A head chef hiring a kitchen hand wants someone who turns up, keeps the dishes moving on a busy night and can be trusted with basic prep. This kitchen hand CV example shows that plainly, with the volumes and the food safety habits that prove it.

Written for New Zealand, with notes for Australia · Checked

Free. Then compare it with a real Kitchen Hand job ad.

The example

A Kitchen Hand CV, start to finish.

Tevita Fifita is made up, and so are the employers. The layout and the wording are what New Zealand employers expect: no photo or date of birth, the most recent job first, and every bullet showing what was done and what came of it.

Tevita Fifita

Kitchen Hand, dishes and prep

Rotorua · 022 555 0217 · tevita.fifita@email.com

Profile

Kitchen hand with three years in a busy hotel restaurant and a café. Keeps the dish station clear through a full service, does the morning veg and sauce prep, and follows the kitchen's cleaning and temperature checks every shift. Keen to move into a commis chef role.

Skills

Commercial dishwashing · Basic food prep · Cleaning schedules · Food Control Plan checks · Receiving and putting away deliveries · Stock rotation · Safe chemical use · Working fast under pressure

Experience

Kitchen Hand, Te Ahi Kitchen and Bar

Rotorua · 2024 to now

  • Run the dish station on nights of up to 200 covers, keeping plates, pots and utensils coming back to the line without holding up service
  • Prep vegetables, sauces and garnishes for the morning shift, freeing the commis chef for the hot section
  • Complete the daily cleaning schedule and fridge temperature checks for the kitchen's Food Control Plan
  • Check in and put away deliveries, rotating stock so the oldest is used first
  • Trusted to close the kitchen alone three nights a week

Dishwasher and Café Hand, Pōhue Café

Rotorua · 2023 to 2024

  • Washed up for a 50-seat café through weekend brunch, the busiest time of the week
  • Helped make sandwiches and salads for the cabinet each morning
  • Deep-cleaned the kitchen every Sunday afternoon, including the oven and extraction hood filters

Education

NCEA Level 2, Rotorua Boys' High School

2022

Other details

Availability
Nights, weekends and public holidays
Driver's licence
Restricted

Referees

Available on request

Tevita wrote a cover letter to go with it. Read the kitchen hand cover letter

Skills and keywords

What kitchen hand job ads look for.

Use the ad's own words where they're true of you. An ATS, and a recruiter skimming, both look for them.

  • DishwashingSay it was a commercial kitchen and how busy. Covers per night show you can keep up.
  • Food prepName what you prep: veg, sauces, salads. It's what moves a kitchen hand up to commis chef.
  • Cleaning scheduleKitchens run on them. Show you follow one without being chased.
  • Food Control PlanIf you do temperature or cleaning checks, you're keeping its records. Say so.
  • DeliveriesChecking in, putting away and stock rotation all count.
  • ReliableProve it: closing alone, covering shifts, or turning up for every public holiday.

Bullet points

9 strong lines to borrow from.

Each says what was done, how, and what came of it. Swap in your own facts: a line is only strong if it's true.

  1. 1Ran the dish station on nights of up to 200 covers without holding up service
  2. 2Prepped vegetables, sauces and garnishes each morning, freeing the commis chef for the hot section
  3. 3Completed the daily cleaning schedule and fridge temperature checks for the Food Control Plan
  4. 4Checked in and put away deliveries, rotating stock so the oldest was used first
  5. 5Closed the kitchen alone three nights a week
  6. 6Washed up for a 50-seat café through weekend brunch
  7. 7Helped make the café's sandwiches and salads each morning
  8. 8Deep-cleaned the kitchen weekly, including the oven and extraction hood filters
  9. 9Covered extra shifts through the school holidays, the busiest weeks of the year

Common mistakes

What costs kitchen hand CVs interviews.

  • "Hard worker" as the only selling point.

    Show it with the covers you washed up for, the prep you did and what you were trusted to do alone.

  • Leaving out the prep work.

    Any prep you've done is the step towards commis chef. List it, even if it was only a few hours a day.

  • Skipping food safety because it wasn't your job.

    If you did temperature checks or followed a cleaning schedule, you were part of the kitchen's food safety. Say so.

New Zealand and Australia

What changes across the Tasman.

New Zealand

Restaurants and cafés in New Zealand must operate under a Food Control Plan, so if you've done its cleaning or temperature checks, put that on your CV.

New Zealand CV format

Australia

Under Australia's food safety standards, food handlers who handle unpackaged, ready-to-eat food that needs temperature control must have done a food safety course or have equivalent skills and knowledge, so list any food safety training. Australian employers usually say resume rather than CV, and expect about two pages.

Australian CV format

Sources: Ministry for Primary Industries: food control plans, Food Standards Australia New Zealand: food handler training.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Something else on your mind? Email support@smartcvs.ai and a person will reply.

Do I need a CV to be a kitchen hand?

Yes. A short one-page CV gets you the trial shift, and it's what the chef looks at when deciding who to call back.

How do I move up from kitchen hand to cook?

Ask for prep work, learn each section and write it on your CV as you go. A cookery qualification helps, and many chefs started at the dish station.

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