Resume: Chef

Click on the text with ↓ and information will expand where you will see what resources and tools are recommended to help you properly assess the abilities of these candidates.

Role applied for:

  • An Executive Chef in a downtown Vancouver hotel restaurant specializing in innovative Japanese cuisine.

Key considerations:

  • Does the candidate’s English language proficiency support them to meet essential skill requirements, particularly necessary to motivate and provide direction to a team and engage with suppliers?
  • Is the chef Red Seal certified?
  • Is the experience of the candidate appropriate to the cuisine and clientele the restaurant will cater to?

Jun N.

601-### Homer Street Vancouver, BC V6B ###
*****@gmail.com
604.###.### Birthdate:

Summary

Creative, loyal, and highly specialized Japanese cuisine Chef with culinary skills; who uses very accurate leadership principles to motivate his people in order to provide low staff turnover & signature service along with ideal customer experience.

Specialties

Classic/kaiseki japanese cuisine, modern japanese cuisine, classic & modern sushi/sashimi presentations, ikezukuri preparations and fugu handling.

Languages ↓

  • Native language, Japanese.
  • English; TOEIC 850.
  • Chinese (Mandarin); fluent oral communication.

Language Proficiency

Challenge – I am not familiar with TOEIC so I am unable to interpret the score. What should I do?

Solution – The Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, is a leading English test. Use the TOEIC Score Descriptors to assess English fluency using the score.

Other common scores that you may encounter can be found on the Assessing Language Proficiency page.

If a candidate does not indicate an objective measure of his / her language proficiency, you can request one. If you would like suggestions about how to make the request of a candidate, see the Assessing Language Proficiency page, under the challenge heading: A language score is not provided on the New Canadian’s resume, what do I do?

Executive Chef Singapore at Hilton Towers Singapore ↓

January 2011 – Present

In charge of all culinary operations for the hotel including Italian & Chinese Fine Dining restaurants. Responsible for hiring, training and promoting culinary staff for entire hotel. Handle all aspects of special events beginning with menu creation and guest tasting and ending with preparation of all banquet food items. In charge of purchasing, scheduling, and forecasting, along with controlling food and labor costs. Active in all daily food preparation and presentation, including the creation of menu items. Daily interaction with other department heads to assist with coordinating guest services.

International Experience

Challenge – All of the candidate’s experience is overseas. If this candidate made it to the final selection stages, how could I even check his / her references? Should I eliminate the candidate now?

Solution – At the resume review stage, the focus is to see if the candidate meets the requirements to proceed to the next stage of the selection process. Rest assured that if the candidate successfully becomes a finalist in the selection process there are a number of options to support you to speak with the candidate’s references. Ask if there are English speaking references that you can speak with. Use a translator to conduct a call or skype, reference check, or ask for a written reference and have it translated. There are a variety of options. I am not familiar with the organizations listed, let alone their reputations, and the role titles are confusing. Should I screen this person out?

Service Manager / Executive Japanese Chef at St Regis Resort & Spa ↓

January 2008 – January 2011

In charge of re-launching and daily operation at Japanese restaurant. As head chef, I create new menus, promotions, staff training, cost controlling, keeping hygiene standards as required by HACCP/ISO22000 standards, search for our guests needs. And any other operations related to Japanese, such as Japanese food for Banquet operation, advising Japanese food in all day dining , Opening Japanese language and cultural training classes for the hotel employees, Translation in Japanese, Interprets for hotel’s Japanese guests and so on.

International Experience

Challenge – While the role titles, responsibilities, and achievements outlined appear to indicate the right level of experience, there is no Canadian experience indicated. How do I assess if the candidate can work in a Canadian business environment?

Solution – Ultimately, this type of information is difficult to determine from a resume and is best determined through the interview process. That being said, you can examine the resume for clues as to how the candidate approaches diverse work environments, builds cultural connections, etc. This can help you to ask appropriate follow-up questions during the interview.

I am not familiar with the organizations listed, let alone their reputations, and the role titles are confusing. Should I screen this person out?

Service Manager / Japanese Sous Chef at Westin Far Eastern Plaza Hotel

May 2005 – December 2007

Oversee the daily operations at Japanese restaurant “Suntory” and support the Japanese head Chef (also executes translations from English or Chinese to Japanese for them to ensure that our multi-cultural team works efficiently).

Chef de Cuisine at The Ocean Fine Dining Restaurant

October 2004 – April 2005

Experience with managing all shifts. Duties consisted of assisting with purchasing, payroll, scheduling, and promoting employee development for 100 staff members.

Japanese Specialty Chef at Asian fusion restaurant

September 2003 – September 2004

The restaurant (capacity of 50 seats) produces Chinese, Japanese and Asian fusion cuisine. In charge of looking after the Japanese cuisine (menu creation, staff training) and the restaurant’s daily operation (opening and closing everyday

Sushi chef at Sushi Now

April 2001 – August 2003

“Sushi Now” has started its history over 300 years ago in Osaka; It has restaurants in “Palace Hotel, Osaka”, take away shops in Osaka and Tokyo. It has a proud tradition that has lasted generation after generation. Work as one of the sushi chefs in the shop in Kinokuniya, Aoyama.

Sushi chef/assistant service manager at Sushi restaurant

December 2000 – March 2001

The restaurant is owned by my father, and it’s opened 40 years ago. Work as a sushi chef and look after its daily operations. Accounting, buying its ingredients, creates new menus, customer services… etc

Education ↓

Tsuji Culinary School
Diploma, Culinary art, 1998 – 2000

Senshu University, Kanagawa
Bachelor of Commerce, 1992 – 1996

Professional Credentials

Challenge – There are a number of accolades that chefs can attain and I do not see any indicated on the resume. Should I screen this candidate out?

Solution – During the resume review process, your primary concern is ensuring that candidates meet the minimum requirements to move forward in the screening process.

In a situation in which you have multiple qualified candidates, a phone screening interview can give you the opportunity to narrow down the number of candidates. Be sure that all candidates are asked the same questions. A question or questions regarding past achievements may be a good fit for this portion of the screening process. Some candidates may not have recorded their accolades on their resume, as these were not listed as a specific job requirement, etc. Asking questions regarding this can ensure that you compare candidates on the same criteria.

Academic Credentials

Challenge – I am unfamiliar with these academic institutions. How can I assess the credibility of the education?

Solution – First, determine if the educational credential is essential to the role. In the case of regulated professions, the regulating body will only grant licensure if pre-requisite academic credentials are achieved; thus, if the candidate holds the license, you can rest assured that their credentials have already been checked.

If it is and the resume appears to be that of an otherwise qualified candidate, ask the individual to have his / her credentials evaluated. There are a variety of services that can be accessed for this purpose, and they are listed on the Assessing Academic Credentials page.

If you would like suggestions about how to make the request of this candidate, see the Assessing Academic Credentials page, under the challenge heading: Can I request that a candidate has his / her academic credentials assessed? Who pays for a candidate’s academic credential assessment?

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