Hospitality CV Example (UK): A Complete, Annotated CV and How to Write Yours

Most “hospitality CV examples” online are written by general CV sites, for every industry at once. You can tell. They skip the things a hospitality manager actually checks, such as your food safety training, whether you can work weekends and whether you hold a personal licence. Then they fill the gap with made-up percentages. Below is a complete UK hospitality CV, annotated section by section, followed by how to write each part of your own.

The full hospitality CV example

This is a complete CV for Jordan, a front of house team leader moving up to supervisor. Jordan has worked in a gastropub, a cocktail bar and a hotel, which covers the three places most hospitality careers pass through. When it scrolls into view, it plays through in the order a manager tends to read it: header, statement, most recent job, then everything else. Tap any number to read what that section is doing.

Look at what is not there. There are no percentages Jordan could not explain, and no “excellent communication skills”. There is no photo and no date of birth. Everything on the page is something a manager could check on a trial shift or with one phone call. If you want the same thing for one specific job, there are ten role-by-role versions further down.

What is a hospitality CV?

A hospitality CV is a CV written for jobs in restaurants, bars, pubs, cafés, hotels, kitchens and events. The difference from a general CV is emphasis. It leads with things that only matter in hospitality: the kind and size of venue you have worked in, the shifts you can cover, how you look after guests, and the certificates that let you handle food and serve alcohol.

It matters because hospitality is a big employer, with around 3.6 million people working in the UK sector according to UKHospitality. The people reading these CVs are often a general manager or head chef reading between services, not a recruitment team. Write for that reader. Keep it short, specific and easy to scan.

How should a hospitality CV be structured?

Use reverse-chronological order: a header, a personal statement, then work experience with your newest job first, followed by skills, certificates and education. If you are new to hospitality or changing career, move skills and certificates above experience so the reader sees your strongest evidence first. The sections do not change. Only their order does.

Length, layout and file

• Length: two pages at most. One page is fine for a first job. If you have ten years in kitchens, you do not need every role from the beginning. Summarise early jobs in a single line.
• Layout: a single column with clear headings. Use a readable font at 10.5 to 12 point and normal section names (“Experience”, “Skills”), so both people and software can find things. Our CV templates are built this way.
• File: whatever the advert asks for. If it says nothing, send a PDF named with your name and the role.

How do you write a hospitality personal statement?

Write three sentences. The first says who you are and where you have worked. The second says what you actually do on a shift. The third names the job you want next. Skip adjectives nobody can check (“passionate”, “hard-working”, “team player”) and use the space for facts instead.

For 24 more, covering every area of hospitality from first jobs to general managers, see our hospitality personal statement examples.

How do you describe hospitality experience on a CV?

Describe each job with three to five bullets. Each bullet should start with a verb and say what you did, how big or busy it was, and which tools or standards you worked to. Describe the venue by type and size (“90-cover gastropub”, “120-room hotel”) so a manager can picture the pace. Watch what changes in these rewrites:

Notice that none of the stronger lines is a result like “increased sales by 30%”. Most hospitality results depend on the whole team and the whole business. A manager who cannot verify a figure will doubt the lines around it too. Use a number when it describes your own work, like covers, seats, team size or rooms, and when you could explain it in an interview.

What skills should you put on a hospitality CV?

Choose six to ten skills a manager could watch you use, and match them to the area you are applying for. Here is where to start, and how to show each skill in your experience bullets:

Languages count as a hard skill in hospitality, especially at a hotel front desk or anywhere with tourists. Give the level honestly (native, fluent, conversational). If you use a specific booking, till or hotel system, name it. If an advert names one you have used, make sure it is on your CV with the same spelling.

Which certificates do UK hospitality employers look for?

The certificates that come up most in UK hospitality adverts are food hygiene, the personal licence qualification, allergen awareness and first aid. List each one with its level and year, because employers check them. Here is what each one actually is:

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own alcohol licensing systems. If you are applying there, name the licence you actually hold rather than the England and Wales one.

Should you mention right to work and availability?

Yes. One line in your header, such as “Full right to work in the UK · Available evenings, weekends and bank holidays”, answers the two practical questions a hospitality manager has before anything else. Every employer has to check right to work before you start. If you have a Home Office share code, GOV.UK explains how to use it. British and Irish citizens cannot get one and show a passport instead. You do not need to state your nationality. The National Careers Service advises leaving it off, along with your age and marital status.

Only state the availability you can really keep. Rotas are built around it, and a manager will remember if a CV said “fully flexible” but the first rota request says otherwise.

How do you tailor a hospitality CV to a job advert?

Read the advert, list what it asks for, and check that each thing appears on your CV in the advert’s own words, where it is true for you. Reordering and rewording what you already have is legitimate. Adding things you have not done is not, and it tends to come out on the trial shift.

There is a step-by-step version of this, with more before-and-after examples, in our guide on how to tailor your CV to a job advert.

Sending your CV by email or through a job app? Our hospitality cover letter example shows what to write alongside it, with templates for every role.

How do you write a hospitality CV with no experience?

Lead with skills and training, then show experience from anywhere that involved people, money or pressure. That can be volunteering, school events, sport, a family business, retail, or caring for someone at home. Those count. A kitchen porter or waiter with no paid history can still show reliability, stamina and the ability to take instruction, and those are what the first job needs.

• Do a short food hygiene course before applying. It shows you are serious, and many employers ask for it.
• Be generous and exact with availability. For a first job, being able to work Friday nights and Sundays can matter more than anything else on the page.
• Offer a trial shift in your cover note, and treat it as the real interview.

For more, read our full guide to getting a hospitality job with no experience, or see the kitchen porter CV example, which is written for someone with no work history at all.

What are the most common hospitality CV mistakes?

Chefs have a few mistakes of their own, like listing every cuisine or leaving out section and brigade size. Those are covered in 5 CV mistakes every chef makes.

A final checklist before you send it

Hospitality CV examples by role

The example above is a general hospitality CV. If you are applying for one specific job, start from the worked example for that role instead. Each one is a complete fictional CV with notes on every section and versions for a first job, a step up and a career change.