What does a Food Service Manager do?

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages. Day to day that includes work like keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies and Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.

What skills should a Food Service Manager put on a resume?

O*NET rates Service Orientation, Active Listening, Management of Personnel Resources, Monitoring, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Food Service Manager list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Aestiva Employee Time Clock, Apache Groovy, Army Food Management Information System, Aurora FoodPro, and ChefDesk Chef's Calculators. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Food Service Manager work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Food and Beverage Manager, Food Service Director, Restaurant Manager, and Banquet Manager. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Food Service Manager need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 55% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Food Service Manager role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Food Service Manager resume example

A resume for a Food Service Manager needs to show the work itself: plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages. Day to day that means work like this: keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies; investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Food and Beverage Manager
Food Service Director
Restaurant Manager
Banquet Manager
Catering Manager
Food and Beverage Director
Food Service Supervisor
Kitchen Manager
Restaurant General Manager
Banquet Director
Boarding House Manager
Cafe Operator
Cafeteria Director
Cafeteria Manager
Cafeteria Operator
Catering Coordinator
Catering Director
Chef Manager

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies.
Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.
Maintain food and equipment inventories, and keep inventory records.
Monitor food preparation methods, portion sizes, and garnishing and presentation of food to ensure that food is prepared and presented in an acceptable manner.
Schedule and receive food and beverage deliveries, checking delivery contents to verify product quality and quantity.
Coordinate assignments of cooking personnel to ensure economical use of food and timely preparation.
Monitor compliance with health and fire regulations regarding food preparation and serving, and building maintenance in lodging and dining facilities.
Count money and make bank deposits.
Establish standards for personnel performance and customer service.
Perform some food preparation or service tasks, such as cooking, clearing tables, and serving food and drinks when necessary.
Greet guests, escort them to their seats, and present them with menus and wine lists.
Test cooked food by tasting and smelling it to ensure palatability and flavor conformity.

26 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Maintain food and equipment inventories, and keep inventory records, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Monitor food preparation methods, portion sizes, and garnishing and presentation of food to ensure that food is prepared and presented in an acceptable manner, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Aestiva Employee Time Clock
Apache Groovy
Army Food Management Information System
Aurora FoodPro
ChefDesk Chef's Calculators
ClubSoft Food & Beverage Point of Sale
Culinary Software Services ChefTec
Database software
DataTeam Lunch Express
Delphi Technology
Dinerware Intuitive Restaurant
espSoftware Employee Schedule Partner
Evernote
Facebook

39 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computerized cash registers
Laser printers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Personal digital assistants PDA

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Service Orientation
02Active Listening
03Management of Personnel Resources
04Monitoring
05Speaking
06Coordination
07Critical Thinking
08Reading Comprehension
09Social Perceptiveness
10Time Management

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
Administration and Management
English Language
Personnel and Human Resources
Education and Training
Food Production
Production and Processing
Mathematics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

55%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
18%Some College Courses
15%Less than a High School Diploma

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Food Service Manager do?: Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages. Day to day that includes work like keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies and Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.
What skills should a Food Service Manager put on a resume?: O*NET rates Service Orientation, Active Listening, Management of Personnel Resources, Monitoring, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Food Service Manager list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Aestiva Employee Time Clock, Apache Groovy, Army Food Management Information System, Aurora FoodPro, and ChefDesk Chef's Calculators. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Food Service Manager work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Food and Beverage Manager, Food Service Director, Restaurant Manager, and Banquet Manager. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Food Service Manager need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 55% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Food Service Manager role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.