How to hire a butcher

How to hire a butcher, step by step

Here's a step-by-step butcher hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a butcher job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new butcher
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a butcher do?

Post a butcher job for free, promote it for a fee

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the butcher you need to hire. Certain butcher roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A butcher's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, butchers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of butcher salaries for various roles:

   Type of Butcher	Description	Hourly rate
   Butcher	Butchers cut, trim, and package meat for retail sale.	$12-19
   Meat Cutter Apprentice	Meat cutter apprentices perform their duties under the supervision of more advanced meat cutters. Besides ensuring meat quality, meat cutter apprentices also rotate, prepare, keep, and receive meat products... Show more	$10-19
   Meat Wrapper	Typically working at meat and butcher shops, a meat wrapper specializes in preparing, cutting, processing, and wrapping meats for selling. To carry out their duties, they must inspect the meat's quality, utilize saws and grinders, weigh and wrap portions, and display it on shelves while adhering to the health protocols and standards... Show more	$11-19

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Food Safety
   • Culinary
   • Safety Standards
   • Food Preparation
   • Sanitation Standards
   • Food Products
   • Slicers
   • Fine Dining
   • Individual Servings
   • Inventory Control
   • Ground Beef
   • Retail Establishments
   • Pallet Jack
   • Fresh Meat

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Coordinate in processing beef and fish to prepare meat in cooking form.
   • Carve bone-in or boneless cuts of meat with the use of knives, slicers, power cutters and band saws.
   • Handle cutting meats such as chicken, steak, pork, etc.
   • Maintain smokers for sausage, bacon and jerky.
   • Perform daily tasks of helping customers with their groceries.
   • Maintain USDA regulations require for the proper handling and sanitary conditions.

   More butcher duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the butcher job description is a good way to get more applicants. A butcher salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a butcher in Indiana may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level butcher. Additionally, a butcher with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average butcher salary

   $15.41hourly

   $32,047 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level butcher salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average butcher salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$40,566	$20
   2	Florida	$38,050	$18
   3	Colorado	$37,161	$18
   4	Maryland	$36,586	$18
   5	Virginia	$36,261	$17
   6	New Jersey	$34,396	$17
   7	Illinois	$34,257	$16
   8	Pennsylvania	$34,064	$16
   9	California	$33,719	$16
   10	Georgia	$31,574	$15
   11	Arizona	$31,175	$15
   12	Nevada	$29,942	$14
   13	District of Columbia	$28,999	$14
   14	Alabama	$28,766	$14
   15	New Mexico	$28,493	$14
   16	Delaware	$28,429	$14
   17	New York	$26,722	$13
   18	Indiana	$26,708	$13
   19	Texas	$25,684	$12
   20	North Carolina	$25,487	$12

   Average butcher salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Omaha Steaks	$37,415	$17.99
   2	Schaller Group	$34,856	$16.76
   3	Hyatt Hotels	$34,704	$16.68
   4	Whole Foods Market	$33,341	$16.03	50
   5	Compass Group USA	$33,162	$15.94	6
   6	BJ's Wholesale Club	$32,779	$15.76	57
   7	Carnival Cruise Line	$32,752	$15.75
   8	Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City	$32,708	$15.72
   9	Montage Hotels & Resorts	$32,602	$15.67	1
   10	Albertsons	$32,525	$15.64	113
   11	In-N-Out Burger	$32,330	$15.54
   12	US Foods	$32,283	$15.52	9
   13	cozmo	$31,565	$15.18
   14	Marriott International	$31,421	$15.11	2
   15	Sage Hospitality Group	$31,248	$15.02
   16	Dickey's Barbecue Pit	$31,130	$14.97
   17	Elwood Staffing	$30,786	$14.80
   18	Stew Leonard's	$30,743	$14.78	4
   19	Citarella, Inc	$30,601	$14.71	2
   20	Hopdoddy Burger Bar	$30,598	$14.71

4. Writing a butcher job description

   A butcher job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a butcher job description:

   Butcher job description example

   Fogo de Chão is a leading Brazilian steakhouse, or Churrascaria, which has specialized for nearly 40 years in fire-roasting high-quality meats utilizing the centuries-old Southern Brazilian cooking technique of churrasco. Here at Fogo, we complement our extraordinary service with extraordinary people.
   It's fun to work in a company where people truly BELIEVE in what they're doing!
   
   We're committed to bringing a passion and customer focus to the business.
   
   Now Hiring / Immediately Hiring:
   Butcher
   
   In this role you will: Ensure that all kitchen equipment is in proper working condition, cleaned and organized. Maintain safety and sanitation standards to provide the team members and guests a safe environment. Maintain proper inventory levels and stock storage room on a daily basis. Understand knife safety, use and sanitation of all kitchen equipment. Butcher, trim and skewer meat items by selecting, portioning and properly seasoning meats. Supervise the grill, overseeing the cooking time and temperature of meats and ensure meats are at Fogo standards and guest demand as communicated by Gauchos(as) and management. Observe cleanliness of kitchen floor at all times by mopping and sweeping area. Perform all reasonable tasks assigned by management team. Requirements: Must be able to transport objects up to 50 lbs, stand for long periods of time, and work at a quick pace. Must be able to work weekends and holidays. Medical, Dental and Vision insurance is available for full-time, hourly employees on the first of the month following 60 days of employment.
   
   Fogo de Chão is an Equal Opportunity & E Verify Employer Company DescriptionThe culture of Fogo de Chão (fo-go dèe shoun) is at the heart of our success. We offer a high end dining experience like no other! Our restaurants captivate guests with a truly unique Churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse) atmosphere from where it all started, the mountainous countryside of Rio Grande do Sul in Southern Brazil.
   
   We feature meats seasoned to perfection and slow-roasted over an open flame and carved tableside by our authentic Gaúcho chefs. Each of our distinctive restaurants also contain an extensive, Wine Spectator award-winning wine list, traditional Brazilian beverages, and a variety of decadent desserts in addition to our signature meats. With over thirty years of history and 50 thriving locations around the world, we are maintaining solid sales growth and will continue to expand this exciting concept into new and diverse markets.
   
   Our success begins with our People who share a heart of hospitality and passion for preserving the gaucho tradition of Teamwork, Integrity & Excellence.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find butchers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your butcher job on Zippia to find and recruit butcher candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting butchers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new butcher

   Once you've decided on a perfect butcher candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a butcher?