How to hire cooks, restaurant

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods.
• Coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff.
• Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
• Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
• Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
• Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
• Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
• Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: No formal educational credential]
• Strong critical thinking, monitoring and speaking skills
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $17.98 an hour ($37,390 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for cooks, restaurant

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
6. How do you keep track of your own work quality during a busy shift or week? Give an example of catching a problem early.
7. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What cooks, restaurant do

• Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods.
• Coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff.
• Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
• Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
• Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
• Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
• Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
• Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.

Skills that matter most

Critical ThinkingMonitoringSpeaking

Education, experience and outlook for cooks, restaurant

• Typical education to start: No formal educational credential (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 3 to 6 months (O*NET)
• Experience usually needed to start: Less than 5 years (BLS)
• Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +12.1% over ten years, much faster than average · about 218,600 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay cooks, restaurant

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See cooks, restaurant pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Cooks, Short Order
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
• Food Preparation Workers
• Bakers
• Cooks, Fast Food
• Butchers and Meat Cutters
• Cooks, Private Household
• Chefs and Head Cooks
• Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
• Food Batchmakers

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.