Chef Cover Letter Writing Guide (+Examples)

Do you love good food? Do you love to cook?

If you want to be a chef, it is important to know the responsibilities. A chef not only cooks for the customers, but also manages the food inventory and purchases, develops and maintains the menu, and manages the kitchen.

There are countless restaurants and also countless chefs out there hoping to get the position. A good application letter for the chef position may grant you the opportunity to have an interview with the employer or the opportunity to show your talent in person.

Let’s go through this guide by starting with two chef cover letter examples:

Chef cover letter sample

When writing a chef cover letter, you should mention your diversified skills and experience in a kitchen. Showcasing your skills can be very helpful because a chef’s job is a hands-on job.

Cook cover letter no experience

It may be a little hard to write a chef cover letter when having no work experience but you can emphasize the skills that you have to show the employer that you are a valuable asset to employ.

After reading the chef cover letter examples, it is time to know the steps to write a chef cover letter.

Create a tailored chef cover letter header.

The first step to writing a great chef cover letter is to use the correct format. Information like your name, your contact information, date of writing, and the receiver’s information and address is needed in the chef cover letter header. It is a short information list for employers to know about you and get in touch with you if they need to.

Start by introducing yourself and your purpose for writing.

The first paragraph is a place where you introduce yourself to the employer/reader. You should give an intro to who you are and why you are writing the letter. Usually, 2 to 3 sentences are more than enough for a brief introduction.

Explain your qualifications for the position.

Although you may have listed your qualifications in the resume, restating them in the chef cover letter can help strengthen the hiring manager’s memory of your capabilities. You should also explain those qualifications to make them relevant and believable.

Elaborate your previous experiences.

Being a chef is a long way to go and you might have some important experiences that improved your skills or inspired you to continue creating. Therefore, you should elaborate on your experiences to help employers understand you while convincing them that you are the right person.

Close your chef cover letter by thanking the recruiter and mentioning your attachments.

In the last paragraph, you don’t need to mention more information regarding your qualifications and experiences. However, you should thank the recruiter and mention your attached resume. It works like a reminder.

Sign off your chef cover letter professionally.

After thanking the employer, you should sign off the chef cover letter with your full name. You can also include your email address below if you had not included it at the beginning of the letter.

Here’s a simple template for you to start your chef cover letter:

Writing a cover letter for a chef job is not easy when you know how to write it. Take a look at these tips that will help you when writing:

💡 Emphasize your chef skills.

Since a chef’s responsibilities are mostly hands-on work, you should emphasize your chef skills in the cook cover letter to help employers evaluate if you are the perfect fit for the position.

💡 Research information about the company/business.

Researching the business before you start writing the chef cover letter is very helpful to your writing. This is because you might find out their goals and specific information that you can use as a great element in the letter to show that you tailored the letter to the business. 

💡 Avoid grammar & spelling mistakes.

Make sure your cook cover letter has zero grammatical errors and spelling mistakes by double-checking the letter. An employer takes these little mistakes seriously when reading the letter and you would not want it to ruin your impression.

💡 Show your passion for the role.

A cover letter is where you can write using your tone. It is not like a resume that has a format where you only fill in the important information. Hence, you should show your passion for the role to the employer to let him/her know that you want the position.

💡 Mention your specialties.

When writing for a chef position, you may mention your specialties in the middle paragraph to showcase many culinary skills to the employer. It is an easier approach instead of listing the skills in bullet points.

— Originally written by Ryan Goh —