Top 12 Crew Member Skills to Put on Your Resume
Crafting a sharp resume matters for any crew member chasing a spot on a fast-moving team. Blend practical, on-the-floor know-how with people skills that keep service humming. Show you can handle the rush, solve small fires, and do it with a steady tone customers trust.
Crew Member Skills
- Customer Service
- POS Systems
- Time Management
- Teamwork
- Cash Handling
- Inventory Management
- Food Safety
- Bilingual Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Microsoft Office
- Cleaning Protocols
- Scheduling Software
1. Customer Service
Customer service, for a Crew Member, means answering questions, solving issues fast, guiding guests, and shaping a smooth, positive experience from start to finish.
Why It's Important
Great service drives repeat visits, steadies reviews, builds trust, and keeps lines moving. It’s the heartbeat of the operation.
How to Improve Customer Service Skills
Active listening: Let customers finish, confirm what you heard, then act. Fewer missteps, faster fixes.
Clear, upbeat communication: Short sentences. Plain words. Friendly tone. Avoid jargon.
Know your menu/products: Ingredients, options, wait times, promos. Confidence shortens the queue.
Problem-solving: Offer two solutions when you can. Be decisive. Escalate when needed.
Personalize: Use names when appropriate. Remember preferences. Small touches stick.
Follow up: After a fix, check in. “All set?” seals the recovery.
Consistency beats grand gestures. Stack small wins all shift long.
How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume
2. POS Systems
A POS (Point of Sale) system is the hub for entering orders, processing payments, issuing refunds, managing discounts, and tracking tickets in real time.
Why It's Important
Speed and accuracy at the register cut wait times, reduce errors, and keep customers calm during rushes.
How to Improve POS Systems Skills
Master the workflow: Practice common orders, modifiers, add-ons, and split checks until it’s muscle memory.
Use shortcuts: Learn hotkeys, quick buttons, and favorites to shave seconds off every transaction.
Handle exceptions: Refunds, voids, comps, price overrides, loyalty, gift cards—practice end to end.
Cash and card security: Verify card handling rules, ID checks when policy requires, and receipt procedures.
Closeout accuracy: Reconcile drawers, print reports, and document discrepancies immediately.
Troubleshoot fast: Know how to reprint, re-open a check, clear simple errors, and who to call for tech support.
How to Display POS Systems Skills on Your Resume
3. Time Management
Time management means sequencing tasks so the shift flows: prep, serve, clean, restock, and reset without bottlenecks.
Why It's Important
Good timing trims waste, lowers stress, and keeps customers from waiting. Everyone wins.
How to Improve Time Management Skills
Prioritize: Handle urgent, guest-facing tasks first; batch back-of-house tasks between rushes.
Set micro-goals: “Restock cups before 11,” “Sanitize handles at top of hour.” Small clocks, big gains.
Prep ahead: Refill stations and label items before peak times. Future-you will thank you.
Communicate early: Call out low stock, delays, or risks before they snowball.
Use intervals: Work in focused sprints with short resets. The rhythm keeps you sharp.
How to Display Time Management Skills on Your Resume
4. Teamwork
Teamwork is the art of staying synced—clear handoffs, shared standards, and steady communication under pressure.
Why It's Important
It cuts mistakes, lifts morale, and gets guests served faster. Safety and consistency follow.
How to Improve Teamwork Skills
Pre-shift huddles: Align on specials, 86’d items, roles, and signals. Start together.
Closed-loop communication: Confirm instructions out loud. “On it.” “Order up.” No guesswork.
Defined roles: One person owns the task; others backfill with intent. Fewer collisions.
Respect the relay: Clean handoffs at stations and during breaks. Leave things ready, not messy.
Feedback culture: Short, specific notes after rushes. Improve one thing tomorrow.
Have each other’s back: Step in, then step out. Support without overstepping.
How to Display Teamwork Skills on Your Resume
5. Cash Handling
Cash handling covers taking payments, giving exact change, securing the till, and following loss-prevention rules.
Why It's Important
Accuracy protects revenue. Good controls build customer trust and reduce shrink.
How to Improve Cash Handling Skills
Organize the drawer: Bills sorted by denomination, all facing the same way. Coins neat. No personal items inside.
Count out loud: Verify change before handing it over. Slow is smooth; smooth is fast.
Spot fakes: Check texture, watermarks, color-shifting ink. Use pens or lights if provided by policy.
Limit exposure: Drop large bills and excess cash to the safe as required. Never leave the drawer open.
Follow procedures: No shared tills. No off-the-books IOUs. Document every correction.
End-of-shift reconciliation: Count with a witness when required, record over/shorts immediately, and report patterns.
How to Display Cash Handling Skills on Your Resume
6. Inventory Management
Inventory management means keeping the right stock at the right time, rotating it properly, and logging it accurately.
Why It's Important
Prevents outages, curbs waste, and protects margins. Fewer surprises in the middle of a rush.
How to Improve Inventory Management Skills
Know par levels: Understand minimums, reorder points, and safety stock for your station.
FIFO/FEFO: First In, First Out. For perishables, often First Expired, First Out. Date labels or it didn’t happen.
Cycle counts: Small, regular counts beat rare, giant ones. Reconcile differences same day.
Waste logging: Track spoilage, misfires, and returns. Use the data to adjust pars.
Tight storage: Clear labels, sealed containers, separate raw and ready-to-eat. Easy to find, hard to contaminate.
Communicate shortages: Flag low items early and suggest substitutions that keep quality intact.
How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume
7. Food Safety
Food safety covers clean handling, proper cooking and holding, smart storage, and preventing cross-contamination.
Why It's Important
It protects guests from illness and keeps your workplace compliant. Nonnegotiable.
How to Improve Food Safety Skills
Hand hygiene: Wash thoroughly and often—before prep, after raw contact, after breaks, after cleaning.
Separate raw and ready-to-eat: Color-code boards and knives. Dedicated zones reduce risk.
Temperature control: Keep cold foods at or below 41°F (5°C). Hot foods at or above 135°F (57°C). Use calibrated thermometers.
Cook and cool correctly: Hit safe internal temps. Cool in shallow pans, label times, and follow rapid-cooling steps.
Sanitize right: Clean, then sanitize. Respect contact times. Swap sanitizer buckets when weak or dirty.
Stay home if ill: Report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or fever with sore throat. Protect the team and guests.
How to Display Food Safety Skills on Your Resume
8. Bilingual Communication
Bilingual communication means serving customers and collaborating with coworkers effectively in two languages.
Why It's Important
It expands who you can help, cuts misunderstandings, and smooths service in diverse workplaces.
How to Improve Bilingual Communication Skills
Daily practice: Short, frequent conversations beat long, rare sessions. Use real workplace phrases.
Learn the job’s vocabulary: Ingredients, safety terms, payment phrases, allergy questions.
Check for understanding: Ask open questions, paraphrase back, confirm orders and special requests.
Use visuals: Point to menu items, signs, or labels. Simple, clear gestures help.
Stay culturally aware: Tone, spacing, and politeness vary. Adjust without overthinking it.
How to Display Bilingual Communication Skills on Your Resume
9. Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the ability to surface issues, hear both sides, and land on a workable agreement quickly.
Why It's Important
Unresolved tension slows service and sours morale. Calm solutions keep operations steady.
How to Improve Conflict Resolution Skills
Listen first: Let each person explain without interruption. Clarify facts, not assumptions.
Keep emotions in check: Breathe, drop the volume, and focus on the behavior or process, not the person.
State needs clearly: Use direct, respectful language. “I need orders called out as plated.”
Find common ground: Identify the shared goal—fast service, safe food, happy guests—then work backward.
Agree on next steps: Who does what, by when. Follow up after the rush to confirm it stuck.
How to Display Conflict Resolution Skills on Your Resume
10. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook—handy for schedules, reports, trackers, and training materials.
Why It's Important
It helps you build neat docs, analyze simple data, and communicate clearly with your team.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Pick one task to master: Maybe Excel counts and filters, or Word templates. Depth beats dabbling.
Use templates: Start with a prebuilt layout, then tweak. Faster and cleaner.
Learn shortcuts: Copy, paste, navigate cells, add filters—cut clicks, save time.
Practice on real tasks: Build a weekly inventory sheet or cleaning checklist and iterate.
Ask for feedback: Share your file, improve formatting and clarity, repeat.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
11. Cleaning Protocols
Cleaning protocols are step-by-step instructions for what to clean, how often, with which products, and with what safety gear.
Why It's Important
They reduce germs, extend equipment life, and present a space customers trust.
How to Improve Cleaning Protocols Skills
Standardize: Use checklists by zone and shift. High-touch items get frequent passes.
Right product, right method: Respect dilution ratios and dwell times. Clean first, then disinfect.
Color-code tools: Separate restroom, kitchen, and front-of-house gear to avoid cross-contamination.
Protect yourself: Wear required PPE and store chemicals safely. Know labels and safety data sheets.
Log it: Record tasks completed and issues found. Trends reveal fixes.
Audit regularly: Quick spot checks keep standards real, not theoretical.
How to Display Cleaning Protocols Skills on Your Resume
12. Scheduling Software
Scheduling software helps you view shifts, swap when allowed, request time off, clock in/out, and get alerts.
Why It's Important
It prevents mix-ups, supports coverage, and protects your work-life rhythm.
How to Improve Scheduling Software Skills
Keep availability current: Update changes immediately. Old data equals missed shifts.
Use notifications: Turn on alerts for new shifts, swaps, and manager messages so nothing slips.
Know the rules: Understand swap policies, cutoff times, overtime triggers, and break requirements.
Plan ahead: Request time off early and confirm approvals. Screenshot key updates.
Be prompt: Accept or decline open shifts quickly. Reliability gets remembered.
Check-in habit: Review the schedule at the same time daily. Fewer surprises.
How to Display Scheduling Software Skills on Your Resume
