What does a baker do?
Bakers arrange quality ingredients to mix and craft specific recipes to make all kinds of pastries and baked goods such as cookies, brownies, muffins, bread, tortillas, and cakes. They prepare doughs, batters, icings, or fillings and use several types of equipment like scales or graduated containers to weigh or quantify ingredients. Baking is a science that requires precise measurement and temperature conditions, so bakers should have keen attention to detail, great accuracy, and good organizational skills. This career may not sound as glamorous as it could be, but this is a very physical and demanding type of job.
Baker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real baker resumes:
- Manage inventory of ingredients and culinary supplies.
- Prepare foods for cafeteria and patients, operate cash register in cafeteria, sanitize food preparation and service areas.
- Operate industrial ovens and stoves.
- Help selling merchandise and run the store.
- Gain valuable experience in servicing VIP requests.
- Assist customers, run register, stock goods.
- Utilize metric, as well as, standard math.
- Operate slicers, fryers, ovens in the department.
- Used excellent math skills need for precise measurements while baking.
- Weigh and measure ingredients, using measuring cups and spoons.
- Personalize cakes using pastry bags, stencils and icing tubes.
- Bake desserts for three 5-Star restaurants.gain valuable experience in servicing VIP requests.
- Operate baking equipment, such as toasters, ovens, and gas stoves.
- Store food according to guidelines if HACCP and the food code of Georgia.
- Prepare pastries and bake goods daily for hospital patients, staff and affiliate catering services.
Baker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 38% of Bakers are proficient in Excellent Organizational, Cleanliness, and Food Preparation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Math skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Bakers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Excellent Organizational, 38%
Required excellent organizational skills to determine the amounts of stocks and supplies to ensure uninterrupted menu service for customers.
- Cleanliness, 8%
Bake bread daily Decorate cakes as needed Restock bakery merchandise Maintain cleanliness of bakery area Provide quality customer service
- Food Preparation, 5%
Maintained a safe and healthy food preparation environment by enforcing food preparation standards and procedures complying with sanitation and legal regulations.
- Quality Standards, 4%
Ensured baked goods passed quality standards
- Food Handling, 4%
Follow food handling procedures and recommendations to maintain a safe sanitary and organized kitchen.
- Safety Regulations, 4%
Monitored bakery for health and safety regulations and performed basic maintenance and deep cleaning as necessary.
"excellent organizational," "cleanliness," and "food preparation" are among the most common skills that bakers use at work. You can find even more baker responsibilities below, including:
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a baker to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what bakers do because "bakers must follow recipes and instructions precisely." Additionally, a baker resume shows how bakers use detail oriented: "focused on attention to detail and cleanliness. "
Math skills. Many baker duties rely on math skills. "bakers need basic math skills, especially knowledge of fractions, in order to mix recipes, weigh ingredients, or adjust mixes.," so a baker will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways baker responsibilities rely on math skills: "clean workstation, and keep everything organized skills used culinary, math, sanitation"
Communication skills. bakers are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to baker responsibilities, because "bakers must be able to convey information effectively to other workers or to customers." A baker resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "developed great communication skills and customer service skills, and established a personal relationship with each customer. "
Physical strength. For certain baker responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical strength." The day-to-day duties of a baker rely on this skill, as "bakers should be able to move heavy items, such as bulk-sized bags of flour, from storage to a work area." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what bakers do: "bake all goods for busy panera cafe; excellent time management and physical endurance. "
The three companies that hire the most bakers are:
- Panera Bread1,405 bakers jobs
- Texas Roadhouse413 bakers jobs
- Ingles Markets311 bakers jobs
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Compare different bakers
Baker vs. Pastry decorator
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a baker are more likely to require skills like "excellent organizational," "cleanliness," "food preparation," and "quality standards." On the other hand, a job as a pastry decorator requires skills like "custom orders," "specialty cakes," "safety standards," and "bakery products." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Pastry decorators tend to reach similar levels of education than bakers. In fact, pastry decorators are 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Baker vs. Pastry finisher
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that baker responsibilities requires skills like "excellent organizational," "cleanliness," "food preparation," and "quality standards." But a pastry finisher might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "computer programs," "measure ingredients," "customer support position," and "food service."
Pastry finishers earn similar levels of education than bakers in general. They're 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Baker vs. Deli/bakery associate
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from baker resumes include skills like "excellent organizational," "cleanliness," "quality standards," and "basic math," whereas a deli/bakery associate is more likely to list skills in "quality customer service," "customer satisfaction," "sanitation procedures," and "steamers. "
Deli/bakery associates earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $29,204. Bakers earn the highest pay from the retail industry, with an average salary of $32,174.deli/bakery associates typically earn similar educational levels compared to bakers. Specifically, they're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Baker vs. Baker/cake decorator
Types of baker
Updated January 8, 2025
