How to write a sommelier resume: what to include, with a template

The short answer: keep it to one page (two for a long career). Put your certificates near the top, written exactly as awarded. Under each job, give two to four results, not a list of duties. Use the words from the job advert. Then get ready to taste and serve at the interview, because many sommelier interviews include both.

What the reader looks for in 30 seconds

• Your level: which certificates you hold, and from whom.
• Where you've worked: the style of venue matters as much as the name. Fine dining, a hotel, a wine bar, a ship.
• What you did with wine: a list you built, a cellar you ran, a team you trained.
• Languages, and the right to work where the job is.

The structure

• Header: name, city, phone, email, LinkedIn.
• Profile: two or three lines on who you are and what you want next.
• Certifications: your wine qualifications, newest first.
• Experience: each job, newest first, with results.
• Skills: the specific ones the job asks for.
• Languages and other education.

List certificates exactly as awarded

Write the title, the awarding body and the year. Here is how mine reads:

• Advanced Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers, 2019
• Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers, 2014
• WSET Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits, Pass with Merit, 2013
• Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), Society of Wine Educators, 2012
• Introductory Sommelier Certificate, Court of Master Sommeliers, 2012

• Don't round up. Passing the Introductory earns the Introductory Sommelier Certificate, not the title Certified Sommelier. If you're studying for the next level, write “in progress” and the exam date.
• Never use “Master Sommelier” or “MS” unless you've passed. The Court of Master Sommeliers says both are legally protected and trademarked.
• Include other credentials that show depth: WSET, the CSW, the French Wine Scholar, spirits or sake courses.

Turn duties into results

Use your own real numbers, and only ones you could explain in the interview. A result you can't back up does more harm than no number at all.

Keywords that match the job

Many employers scan CVs with software before a person reads them, so use the advert's own words where they are true for you:

• Wine list development; by-the-glass programme; wine pairing menus
• Cellar management; inventory and cost control; ordering and supplier relations
• Wine service; sparkling and decanting service; guest recommendations
• Staff training; wine tastings and events
• Spirits, cocktails, sake and beer, if the role covers them
• The inventory or point-of-sale software you have actually used

A template you can copy

• [Name] · [City] · [Phone] · [Email] · [LinkedIn]
• Profile: [Certified Sommelier] with [number] years in [fine dining / hotels / cruise ships]. Known for [one strength, such as building by-the-glass lists or training teams]. Looking for a [role] in [city].
• Certifications: [Title], [Awarding body], [Year] · [Title], [Awarding body], [Year]
• [Job title], [Venue], [City], [Years]: [Result one] · [Result two] · [Result three]
• [Job title], [Venue], [City], [Years]: [Result one] · [Result two]
• Skills: [Five to eight skills from the advert that are true for you]
• Languages: [Language, level]

No sommelier job yet?

Everyone starts somewhere. My own first wine job was in the largest wine store in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2012: retail teaches labels, regions and how to sell. List the work that touched wine (server, bartender, wine shop, harvest, tastings you helped run) and your first certificate, such as the Court's Introductory or WSET Level 2. The sommelier levels explain the jobs you can aim for next.

Before you send it

• Proofread out loud, then ask a colleague to read it. Check every producer, grape and region name: a misspelling on a sommelier CV is noticed.
• Send a PDF, named clearly, for example Firstname-Lastname-Sommelier-CV.pdf.
• Tailor the cover note: name the restaurant and something you like on its list.

The interview: taste, serve, talk

• Read their wine list before you go: the producers, the regions, the prices by the glass.
• Expect a blind tasting or a service task. Practise opening sparkling wine and decanting.
• Prepare two stories: a difficult guest you turned around, and a wine you sold well and why.
• Dress as you would for service, and bring your wine key.

Before the interview, read what sommeliers earn and, if ships appeal, life as a cruise ship sommelier.

Questions people ask