How to hire a deli cook

How to hire a deli cook, step by step

Here's a step-by-step deli cook hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The deli cook hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A deli cook's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, deli cooks 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of deli cooks and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Deli Cook	Description	Hourly rate
   Deli Cook	Cooks prepare, season, and cook a wide range of foods, which may include soups, salads, entrees, and desserts.	$11-20
   Cook/Dishwasher	Cooks/dishwashers must develop kitchen skills to excel in this line of job. Each cook or dishwasher must learn to develop skills in food preparation, sanitation, and customer service... Show more	$11-19
   Cook/Server	Cooks/servers are employees who take on the dual role of being a cook and a server in the restaurant. They are usually trained cooks who are in charge of preparing meals for the guests... Show more	$11-17

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Food Handling
   • Basic Math
   • Cleanliness
   • Kitchen Equipment
   • Slicers
   • Customer Service
   • Safety Standards
   • Dishwashers
   • Culinary
   • Fifo
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Food Products
   • Groceries
   • Cold Food

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
   • Clean, operate cash register, dismantle and clean equipment, slicers, fryers, rotisserie ovens and reassemble.
   • Maintain department cleanliness, and provide customer service.
   • Slice meats & cheeses with rotary blade slicers, size the slices, weigh and wrap foods according to customers satisfaction.
   • Package meats; grind beef, frozen hamburger patties, chicken fryers, cut up meats, and conduct food inventory.
   • Maintain cleanliness and preparedness of deli.

   More deli cook duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your deli cook job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A deli cook salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, deli cooks' average salary in mississippi is 43% less than in oregon.
   • Seniority. Entry-level deli cooks earn 43% less than senior-level deli cooks.
   • Certifications. A deli cook with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a deli cook's salary.

   Average deli cook salary

   $15.41hourly

   $32,062 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level deli cook salary

   $24,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average deli cook salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Oregon	$38,296	$18
   2	Washington	$35,934	$17
   3	Colorado	$35,202	$17
   4	Massachusetts	$32,257	$16
   5	New York	$32,126	$15
   6	Arizona	$31,760	$15
   7	Minnesota	$31,638	$15
   8	North Dakota	$31,413	$15
   9	New Hampshire	$30,639	$15
   10	Missouri	$30,103	$14
   11	Wisconsin	$29,566	$14
   12	Maryland	$28,069	$13
   13	Florida	$27,964	$13
   14	Indiana	$27,611	$13
   15	Texas	$24,295	$12

   Average deli cook salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Kohler Co.	$38,175	$18.35	6
   2	TooJay's	$36,096	$17.35	26
   3	Compass Group USA	$34,281	$16.48	4,184
   4	Bristol Farms	$33,459	$16.09	2
   5	Rochester Institute of Technology	$33,059	$15.89	3
   6	NexDine	$32,901	$15.82	26
   7	SAGE Dining Services	$32,833	$15.79	49
   8	del Lago Resort & Casino	$32,761	$15.75
   9	ISS A/S	$32,631	$15.69
   10	Remote	$32,581	$15.66
   11	Graul's Market	$32,537	$15.64
   12	Lunds & Byerlys	$32,343	$15.55	11
   13	Green Zebra Grocery	$32,288	$15.52
   14	PCC Community Markets	$32,181	$15.47	1
   15	Sodexo Management, Inc.	$32,100	$15.43	538
   16	H-E-B	$31,988	$15.38	17
   17	Sandia Resort & Casino	$31,772	$15.28
   18	Penn National Gaming	$31,730	$15.25
   19	Buy For Less	$31,028	$14.92
   20	Jerry's Enterprises	$30,687	$14.75	8

4. Writing a deli cook job description

   A deli cook 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a deli cook job description:

   Deli cook job description example

   At Coborn's, Inc. we go all out to "Be Remarkable". Our culture celebrates employee ideas and encourages creative innovations. We're growing, learning, and overflowing with energy. In a dynamic atmosphere that welcomes diversity, we are investing in our employees, along with the growth of our company. Join our grocery teams and connect with guests in a fast-paced retail position with advancement opportunities where you are encouraged to shine as you use your guest service skills. If you're friendly and dependable and you like to work with terrific guests, we'd love to talk about an opportunity on our team.
   About the Deli Cook:
   
   As the Deli Cook, you will assist the Deli Department Manager in the successful operation of the kitchen. The Deli Cook is responsible for ensuring continuous delivery of exceptional guest service, ensuring superior quality and freshness of all products produced, preparing products to be used in recipes, maintaining appropriate product assortment and product levels in the hot case, promoting an in-store selling culture, creating a variety of appealing product displays to attract guests, creating innovative meal solution options for guests, and understand all health, safety, and sanitation regulations.
   
   What we have to offer our team:
   
   * Vacation Pay, Holidays and Sunday Premium Pay
   
   * Employee Discount & Company-Sponsored Stock (ESOP) (Employee Stock Ownership Plan)
   
   * Employee Growth & Development Opportunities
   
   * 401(k) plans with Company Match
   
   * Voluntary Benefits - Including Vision Insurance
   
   * Full-Time Employees are eligible for: Medical & Dental Insurance and Tuition Reimbursement
   
   Coborn's, Inc. is a fast-growing employee-owned grocery retailer located in the Midwest. Our grocery store formats include Coborn's, Cash Wise, Marketplace Foods, Hornbacher's, and we offer unique online grocery home delivery services through our CobornsDelivers and Cash Wise Delivers locations. Coborn's, Inc. also owns and operates liquor stores under the Coborn's Liquor, Cash Wise Liquor, Andy's Liquor and Captain Jack's brands. Additionally, our fuel and convenience division, pharmacy, in-house grocery warehouse and distribution center, in-house Central Bakery, and Tops Cleaners are significant assets to our operations. We also have a handful of other retail entities in the markets where the fit is right: Little Dukes, Holiday Stationstores, Ace Hardware, Country Floral Gifts & Greenhouse, Caribou Coffee, Dunn Bros Coffee, Subway and Erbert and Gerbert's.
   
   Our remarkable employees strive to inspire happiness, healthy living and simplicity one guest at a time. With a vibrant and fun work environment, ongoing opportunities for career growth, and generous benefit packages, Coborn's offers a bright future for all employee owners.
   
   In addition to the perks mentioned above:
   
   We know everyone needs a coffee break to recharge from time to time, employees who work in a store with a coffee shop receive a discount on their purchase!
   
   We also offer flexible scheduling. We understand that many of our employees are trying to juggle school, practice, family time, errands and personal hobbies, all with only about 16 hours of awake time in a day.
   
   We celebrate a culture of recognition, encouraging employees to recognize and thank one another for remarkable behavior. We even have an app for that!
   
   We're always looking for motivated, high-potential employees who want to be part of our next generation of leaders! There are opportunities to grow within our company to positions you may not yet even know exist. Coborn's, Inc. offers a variety of development programs for employees who want to grow their careers with us.
   
   Finally, we believe that building a team of people with different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences and perspectives inspires fresh thinking and opens us up to new possibilities. We are an EEO/AA Employer - All qualified individuals, including minorities, females, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
   
   Part-time PT part time full-time FT full time grocery retail career new job local

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right deli cook for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting deli cooks 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 deli cook

   Once you've decided on a perfect deli cook 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.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new deli cook first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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