How to hire a fast food cook

How to hire a fast food cook, step by step

Here's a step-by-step fast food 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 fast food cook job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new fast food cook
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a fast food cook do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your fast food cook job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a fast food cook for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect fast food cook also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of fast food cooks.

   Type of Fast Food Cook	Description	Hourly rate
   Fast Food Cook	Cooks prepare, season, and cook a wide range of foods, which may include soups, salads, entrees, and desserts.	$9-16
   Pizza Maker	As the name entails, pizza makers are the individuals who prepare pizza at restaurants and stores that include pizza in their menus. Besides preparing pizza, they also help with other kitchen operations such as packaging food items, cooking different menus, and maintaining the kitchen and kitchen equipment... Show more	$10-17
   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

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Food Handling
   • Safety Standards
   • Customer Service
   • Grills
   • Kitchen Equipment
   • Culinary
   • Deep Fat Fryers
   • Workstations
   • Food Service
   • Customer Complaints
   • Restock Workstations
   • Drink Orders
   • Deep-Fat Fryers
   • Cooking Surfaces

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
   • Execute daily operations of filtering of the fryers.
   • Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.
   • Can make and food at mcdonalds.

   More fast food cook duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your fast food cook job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A fast food cook can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, fast food cooks' average salary in mississippi is 42% less than in massachusetts.
   • Seniority. Entry-level fast food cooks 44% less than senior-level fast food cooks.
   • Certifications. A fast food cook with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a fast food cook's salary.

   Average fast food cook salary

   $12.54hourly

   $26,093 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level fast food cook salary

   $19,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average fast food cook salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$34,998	$17
   2	New Jersey	$33,443	$16
   3	New York	$31,045	$15
   4	Minnesota	$29,921	$14
   5	California	$29,908	$14
   6	Wisconsin	$28,713	$14
   7	Georgia	$27,662	$13
   8	Colorado	$27,581	$13
   9	Alaska	$26,599	$13
   10	Florida	$26,577	$13
   11	Pennsylvania	$25,864	$12
   12	Arizona	$25,649	$12
   13	Virginia	$23,808	$11
   14	Louisiana	$23,448	$11
   15	New Mexico	$23,180	$11
   16	Iowa	$22,886	$11
   17	Tennessee	$22,275	$11
   18	Texas	$21,140	$10

   Average fast food cook salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Dell	$62,712	$30.15
   2	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$37,712	$18.13
   3	Sutter Health	$33,828	$16.26	8
   4	Hy-Vee	$32,365	$15.56	77
   5	Hudson Group	$32,009	$15.39
   6	Compass Group USA	$31,958	$15.36	8,051
   7	Planit	$31,912	$15.34
   8	H-E-B	$31,661	$15.22	33
   9	Memorial Healthcare System	$29,492	$14.18	2
   10	Providence Health & Services	$29,281	$14.08	9
   11	CovenantHealth	$28,743	$13.82	11
   12	Sam	$28,616	$13.76	1
   13	Hayden & Associates Inc.	$28,227	$13.57	1
   14	Raising Cane's	$27,946	$13.44	618
   15	Sodexo Management, Inc.	$27,231	$13.09	1,281
   16	Virtual Employee	$27,089	$13.02	5
   17	Aramark	$27,083	$13.02	3,953
   18	M R Co	$26,680	$12.83	15
   19	Fountains Country Club	$24,689	$11.87
   20	Country Springs Hotel	$24,258	$11.66	1

4. Writing a fast food cook job description

   A job description for a fast food cook role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a fast food cook job description:

   Fast food cook job description example

   • Must be at least 16 years of age

   • Speaks clearly and understandably

   • Reads, writes, counts and measures

   • Physical dexterity and the ability to move up to 50 lbs. from one area to another • Must be a team player with a strong work ethic and commitment to customer satisfaction

   • Attendance and punctuality a must

   Benefits:

   • Flexible Hours

   • Paid Vacation (Full-time)

   • Medical Insurance (Full-time)

   • Meal Discounts

   • Training & Advancement Opportunities

   • Team Members perform a variety of functions, including serving great food and providing excellent customer service. No experience required.

   Company Introduction

   We are a family owned company that has been a Long John Silver’s franchisee since 1972. In 2001, we started the process of co-branding A&W restaurants into some of our existing Long John Silver’s restaurants. We operate stores located in Iowa, Illinois and Arizona.
   At our stores, we strive to provide you with the freshest food possible. It’s so important to us that you get hot, fresh food, that outside of our busy times, we don’t make the food until you order it. During the meal times, the longest we will hold our quality fish, chicken, shrimp and fries in a warming bin is 5 minutes. Many of our competitors have no problems holding their food for 20 minutes or even more, YUCK!
   We believe if we provide you with great food, served by friendly employees in a clean restaurant, you will have a great experience and come back to see us more often. Our way of doing things does slow us down a little compared to the “fast food” guys, but we hope that you find our food to be worth the wait.
   Through our commitment to hot, fresh food, served by friendly employees in a clean setting we hope you will think we’re creating a better fish story at Long John Silver’s.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right fast food cook for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with fast food cooks they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit fast food cooks who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with fast food cook candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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 fast food cook

   Once you've selected the best fast food cook candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new fast food cook. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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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