What A Food Truck Resume Should Say

The food truck resume, the one or two pages of your employment history which you commit to paper, will probably be the first impression you give the next person you want to work for. If it is poorly done, it may also be the last.

In order to make sure that you have an effective food truck resume, you must understand what a resume is.

Food Truck Resume Basics

It is a factual and concise presentation of your experience, your skills and your training.
It’s a selection tool and memory aid for any hiring authority to whom it is presented.
It is a record for the personnel files of the employer who hires you and a future reference and resource for the one who does not.
It’s the advertising of yourself as a desirable addition to a food truck.
It is a laundry list for a series of reference checks.

A good food truck resume is not a form of self-expression. The most successful resumes are not written for their subjects but for the needs of the reader.

If you are seeking employment in a food truck, your information will probably be seen by the owner or perhaps a manager and will be probably be discussed informally. Hiring by large restaurant chains usually involves pre-screening by human resource professionals along set guidelines, then decision by one or more other departments.

Consider The Reader

While the HR representative may enjoy reading a great deal of descriptive verbiage, most food truck owners don’t. Sorting through candidates for a position in a popular food truck need to see quickly and clearly whose background meets their requirements and whose does not. The first review of candidates may take less than thirty seconds each.

Anyone who reads your food truck resume will be a busy person, and anything you do to make their job easier will help them decide to hire you. The first rule for good presentation is consideration of the recipient’s time and interests.

Consideration of a prospective employer’s needs means understanding his time limitations. It also entails deciding what he would like to know about you first. This usually means not what you think you are – creative, a good communicator, an asset to any organization – but what you have done, where and how long.

They need to know if you have dealt with food cost, labor cost, projections and menus. They may be interested in the size, volume, and rating of your previous places of employment. Also, the product, special skills, catering experience, marketing background (including in social media), product knowledge, language skills, and ethnic culinary experience.

The Bottom Line

The challenge to you is to select those points a prospective employer will want to know about you. Then present the information concisely and clearly. Time tested adage for any resume is KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Just remember, there is no set form for food truck resumes.

Have you written a food truck resume for yourself? Have you found any additional tips to help our readers? If so, we’d love to hear them. Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Twitter | Facebook