A cover letter is needed for almost any kind of job you’re seeking on formal grounds. This letter not only forms a crucial part of your job application, it’s also a document which boosts your employment chances. The cover letter supplements your resume, because it gives you the chance to employ your writing skills in convincing prospective employers about the quality of your resume as well as your ability to fit into the job you’re seeking.

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To land the restaurant job of your choice, you’ll most likely need a well-written cover letter through which you may demonstrate that you possess the required skills –teamwork, customer service, interpersonal communication, etc. –for excelling at the job. If well written, your cover letter for a restaurant job could be the major stimulation for a hiring manager to consider you fit for the role of a chef, restaurant manager, chef manager, etc.

Clever Tips for Writing a Cover Letter for a Restaurant Job

Do a Background Check about the Restaurant

In writing a cover letter for a particular job, it’s crucial to keep specifics in mind. This means you should zero in on specific details about the company you’re seeking employment from.

When particularly writing a cover letter for a restaurant job, endeavor to give attention to specifics about the restaurant. Such specifics may include the current state of the restaurant and how the restaurant has been faring alongside competitors. Armed with information about these specifics, you’ll be able to envision how you can contribute to the progress of the restaurant, and then clearly state this in your cover letter.

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Relate Your Cover Letter to the Title of the Restaurant Job

It’s very important for your restaurant job cover letter to relate to the actual role you’re seeking with the letter. To relate your cover letter to the restaurant job for which you’re writing the letter, you should identify the keywords in the restaurant job ad, and then ensure the keywords reflect somewhere in the cover letter.

If you’re able to relate your cover letter to the title of the restaurant job sought, this should give the impression that you have a clear idea of what you’re applying for. Also, the hiring managers may be convinced that you’re worth being shortlisted for an interview. It is, therefore, presumable that relating your cover letter to the title of your desired restaurant job gives you an advantage over many other applicants.

For example, if you’re applying for a restaurant job where the role is to serve as a chef, it’s important for a part of your cover letter to relate the letter to this role. One effective way to do this is to incorporate some keywords (found in the restaurant job ad) into your letter.

Keep the Cover Letter Professional

Sometimes, recruiters –including the hiring managers at restaurants –have to review the cover letters of many applicants. Because they’re constrained by time, these recruiters will want to see only relevant elements in the cover letters of applicants.

While the cover letter for a restaurant job –and even most other positions –is expected to reveal the ability of an applicant in one way or the other, the letter shouldn’t present such ability in a cumbersome manner.  This is why experts advise that your cover letter, irrespective of the position you’re seeking with the letter, should feel professional in terms of tone, wording, style, and length.

When writing a cover letter for a restaurant job, you should spell out what you’re up to (i.e. your ability) and probably why you believe you’re the right fit for the restaurant job.

Odds are that your potential recruiters will be stimulated to read your cover letter all through provided the letter feels professional. You should, therefore, ensure your cover letter is free from irrelevant narration of your ability or experience with respect to the position you’re seeking. A relatively brief statement of your ability and/or experience is what the letter should incorporate instead. Frankly, a cover letter is considered professional if it presents all the relevant details in a formal style.

Format and Fine-tune the Letter

Appropriate formatting of your restaurant job cover letter is one of the ways you can project seriousness about your cover letter. Meanwhile, there’s an appropriate way to format a cover letter, and this goes down to using the right font, margins, and spacing for the letter. While Calibri, Arial and Times New Roman constitute the usable font types, a font size of 12 points is considered ideal.

In terms of length, experts recommend a maximum of one page for a cover letter. While the stated length would be ideal for your restaurant job cover letter, the font you’re considering for the letter should be legible and the amount of spacing employed should allow for readability.

As for fine-tuning your restaurant job cover letter, you should devote ample time to the editing and proofreading of the letter before submission. In assessing your cover letter for grammatical or spelling accuracy, it’s advisable that you not only assess the letter by yourself but also get somebody to do that for you.

Template for Restaurant Job Cover Letter

Here is a template you’ll find useful for writing a cover letter for a restaurant job:

[Full Name]

[Phone number] [Email address]

[City] [Postal code]

[Date]

[Company name]

Dear [Mr./Mrs./Ms.] [Surname of hiring manager]

Intro: It is in this paragraph that you’re expected to introduce yourself. While this opening paragraph must be clearly written, you should use it to introduce yourself as well as express delight about the restaurant position sought and the company. Then briefly state why you’re applying for the restaurant job, along with a precise description of the job. Proceed to revealing how you came across the restaurant job ad. You should be able to state whether you found it online or somebody referred you to the job. If your referral is a reputable employee in the company, it’s advisable that you mention their name.

Body: It’s essential for the body of your cover letter to list out your accomplishments, state your years of experience, present your (relevant) skills or mention your ability in a way that should convince the hiring manager(s) that you’re the right fit for a job. If you’ve spent five years working in a relevant position, you should state this while revealing your years of experience. Particularly, you should use the body of your restaurant job cover letter to relate your ability, skills or work experience to the job title. If you have prior work experience as a bartender, chef, waiter, etc., ensure you mention it as well as relate how such experience would make you excel in the current restaurant position you’re seeking. If you think your skills would help fill an employment gap within the company, endeavor to state this in the body of your letter. To specifically relate the body of your restaurant job cover letter to the job sought, you’ll have to find out the keywords in the restaurant job ad as well as equip yourself with background knowledge of what the company does. You’ll then incorporate such keywords in the body of your cover letter, and briefly state how you can contribute to the growth of the company with respect to what the company does.

Closing: The concluding paragraph of your restaurant job cover letter is where you should re-affirm that you’re interested in the restaurant job. You can add a sort of call to action to this interest re-affirmation. Here is an example: “I hope that after reviewing my resume, you can now confirm that I am the right candidate for the position of a chef manager in your company. While I’m deeply interested in working with your company, I sincerely look forward to an interview for the stated job. Please reach me on phone (your phone number) or by email (your email address).”

[Complimentary close]

[Signature]

[Your full name]