Food Service Cover Letter Examples & Templates

To write a food service cover letter:

• Use a business letter format with a header, salutation and closing.
• Use action verbs to empower your qualifications and keywords from the description to demonstrate your attention to detail.
• The first paragraph is a compelling introduction, including your interest in the role.
• In the body paragraphs show how you’ve used your hard and soft skills with examples
• Finish by thanking the reader and presenting a call to action, i.e. “Thanks for your time; I look forward to your reply.”

Once you’re done writing, use these tips for a complete application: 

• Send the food service cover letter as directed in the application description. For example, as a PDF attachment, as the body of an email, or whichever option they provide.
• Build your letter in our Cover Letter Generator, which automatically formats your layouts and provides editable content suggestions according to your industry and career stage.

Follow our guide on how to write a cover letter to create a document that highlights your strengths.

Add value to your food service cover letter by including quantifiable achievements. This means including numbers, like:

• Amount of employees managed or supervised
• Events served in a month, week or day
• Sales and revenue numbers
• Cost reduction achieved through your initiative

Use storytelling to narrate how you’ve reached your achievements and show your personality. If you’re not comfortable writing, our Cover Letter Generator can help you. It provides editable content suggestions to aid your storytelling. You can choose and edit it to sound like you.

A cover letter format uses a business letter format. Follow these tips for easy formatting:

• Use 1-inch margins and a professional font.
• Include a header. You can use the same one from your resume. 
• Use the name of the hiring manager as a salutation. 
• Simple sign off: “Best regards,” “Regards,” “Respectfully,” or “Sincerely.” 
• Use a cover letter generator, which automatically formats your letter.

Food service job seekers need a balance between hard skills, which are the abilities to perform your job; soft skills, those habits that determine how you perform and interpersonal skills, which is how you relate to others. 

Hard skills:

• Food safety and sanitation
• Inventory
• Point of sale (POS)
• Food presentation
• Menu development
• Knife skills

Soft skills

• Time management
• Attention to detail
• Decision making
• Customer service

Interpersonal skills:

• Collaboration
• Active listening
• Teamwork
• Relationship building

These are a few certifications that work great for workers and managers in the food service industry:

• ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification
• Certified Foodservice Manager (CFM)
• Certified Professional in Food Safety (CP-FS)
• Certified Food Protection Professional (CFPP)
• Food Allergen Certified Training (FACT)
• Certified Dietary Manager (CDM)

These are the median salaries for occupations in food service, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 

• Bartenders: $31,510 per year
• Cooks: $34,320 per year
• Food preparation workers: $32,420 per year
• Food service managers: $63,060 per year
• Chefs and head cooks: $58,920 per year
• Wait staff: $31,940 per year

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects no change in the food service management and 2% growth for food and beverage servers. Even with this minimal change, BLS projects 1,026,200 openings each year for this decade.