No real restaurant or hotel experience yet — how do I write the CV?

List the roles you learned and practised, plus work from internships, vocational courses or serving jobs with customer contact, with workplace, dates and main task. Do not present it as commercial reception or housekeeping work — recruiters check before rostering.

I can do both reception and waiting — how do I write the CV?

Pick your single strongest role for the role line, and list the other as separate one-line tasks. Do not write “can do everything” — recruiters need a specific role and the work attached to it to roster you.

How long should a restaurant and hotel CV be?

One to two pages is enough. Recruiters read the role, the things-you-can-do, the language and the shift sections closely; pages three and four of a CV for a common role are usually skipped.

Should I put my expected salary in the CV?

No. The CV states what you can do, the role and the shifts you can cover; salary is negotiated directly after the recruiter contacts you. A salary figure in the CV can cost you the role if it does not yet match your role and real work.

I cannot work night shifts and public holidays — should I still apply?

Yes — state the shifts you can work right in the CV. Recruiters need to see exactly which shifts you can cover to assign a role; hiding a shift you cannot work and being found out at rostering is the real weakness.

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Job seekers8 min read

CV for receptionists, restaurant waiters and hotel housekeeping staff: write it so recruiters call you

Keep it to 1–2 pages: one line with the role plus the workplace and shift pattern, the roles and shifts you can cover, 3–5 things you did written as concrete action verbs, workplaces in order, your foreign-language level, and your working hours plus start date. Skip vague lines like “quick, handles pressure well” with no role, work or shift attached.

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How restaurant and hotel recruiters read a CV

Unlike sales CVs, a restaurant and hotel CV is read closely in exactly two places: the role you can cover in a shift and the rota you can work. Recruiters look for four answers: do you meet the requirements for the role, which roles and tasks can you handle, can you work rotating shifts, weekends and public holidays, and when can you start. Missing any one of the four usually puts the CV behind others, even if you can do the job. So put the role right after the role line, then the things you can do, then the places you worked, with language and shifts at the end of the main part. The faster you answer the four questions, the more likely you get the call.

One role line: role + workplace + shift pattern

Open the CV with exactly one line: the role you want, the workplace, and the shift pattern. Examples: “Hotel receptionist, check-in and check-out by hotel process, working the hotel's rotating shifts.” For waiting staff: “Restaurant waiter, serving tables and supporting banquets by shift, working weekends and public holidays.” For housekeeping: “Hotel housekeeper, cleaning and checking rooms to hotel standard, working day shifts.” One such line tells the recruiter at once whether you fit the opening, instead of reading the whole CV only to learn you can wait tables but not cover night reception, or cannot work the hotel's rotating shifts. The most common mistake is writing it too generally (“applying for hospitality”) or naming the role without the shift pattern — both force the recruiter to ask, and when hiring urgently, people who need asking are usually skipped first.

Roles and shift tasks: be specific

This section is mandatory for restaurant and hotel CVs. State your main role (one line per role, with what you used it for: receiving guests, serving tables, cleaning rooms), supporting tools and processes if any (for example a booking system, the room-check process before handover, the banquet service process), and short courses completed with the year (for example reception skills, housekeeping skills, food safety). If a course certificate is still pending, write “pending” with the expected date — never write it as if you already have it. Recruiters check the role before rostering; claiming a role you cannot do gets you rejected at the practical interview or on the first working day, however well the CV is written.

List what you can do, one task per line

The most important part is the list of things you can do, one line each, written with concrete action verbs. For reception: receive guests and handle check-in and check-out by hotel process; record guests' special requests and pass them to the right department; summarise vacant rooms and hand over the shift. For restaurant waiting: take orders and pass them to the kitchen or bar in table order; serve dishes and clear tables by the restaurant's process; support banquets for large parties as the manager assigns. For housekeeping: clean guest rooms from the list to hotel standard; check rooms after cleaning and report faulty rooms to the team in charge; restock room supplies before guests check in. Claiming a task you never did to “make the CV look good” shows up at the practical interview or on the first working day — and costs you the opportunity.

Workplaces: workplace + dates + main task, no long descriptions

For each workplace, three facts are enough: the restaurant, hotel or venue name (no detailed address), the dates (month/year from–to), and one or two main tasks there. No long venue description, no list of every small task. Recruiters care whether you really did the work — one line stating the main task answers that. If you worked many short stints, do not hide them: list them all, one main task per workplace. Short stints are not automatically a weakness when the work is clear; hiding them and being found out is.

Language, shifts and figures: only real, checkable numbers

Language is what sets this CV apart — state the foreign language you can speak and at what level (for example basic conversation with guests, understanding simple requests), never just “knows a foreign language” with no level. If you only speak Vietnamese, say so — recruiters need to place you in a role with little foreign-guest contact. State the shifts you can work (day, evening, night, rotating, weekends, public holidays) and the ones you cannot, so the recruiter does not learn the mismatch only when rostering. Figures only where real and checkable: rooms cleaned in a shift, tables served in a session, guests received in a shift. Never invent figures, and never present the whole team's numbers as your own — recruiters check before rostering, and an invented figure costs you the opportunity. If you have no figures yet because you are new or the work was internal, write the work instead of a number: “served tables on the restaurant's shifts and handed over to the next shift” — honest still beats a good-looking number that cannot be checked.

Contact details and next step

At the end, only three things are needed: full name, phone number, and the area you live in. No detailed home address, no hobbies, no elaborate portrait photo. Recruiters in this group mostly call or message — the phone number must be one you actually use and answer during office hours. Next, create an account and upload your CV so recruiters can find it: register as a candidate on timviecde.vn (/register). Note: with an unverified email you cannot upload a CV or receive selection emails — verify your email right after registering, before uploading.

Do this next

One role line: the role you want + the workplace + shift pattern.
Roles and shifts you can cover stated; 3–5 things you did, written as concrete action verbs.
Foreign language stated with its level; shifts you can work and start date stated.

Common questions

No real restaurant or hotel experience yet — how do I write the CV?: List the roles you learned and practised, plus work from internships, vocational courses or serving jobs with customer contact, with workplace, dates and main task. Do not present it as commercial reception or housekeeping work — recruiters check before rostering.
I can do both reception and waiting — how do I write the CV?: Pick your single strongest role for the role line, and list the other as separate one-line tasks. Do not write “can do everything” — recruiters need a specific role and the work attached to it to roster you.
How long should a restaurant and hotel CV be?: One to two pages is enough. Recruiters read the role, the things-you-can-do, the language and the shift sections closely; pages three and four of a CV for a common role are usually skipped.
Should I put my expected salary in the CV?: No. The CV states what you can do, the role and the shifts you can cover; salary is negotiated directly after the recruiter contacts you. A salary figure in the CV can cost you the role if it does not yet match your role and real work.
I cannot work night shifts and public holidays — should I still apply?: Yes — state the shifts you can work right in the CV. Recruiters need to see exactly which shifts you can cover to assign a role; hiding a shift you cannot work and being found out at rostering is the real weakness.

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