How to hire a kitchen crew

How to hire a kitchen crew, step by step

Here's a step-by-step kitchen crew hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a kitchen crew, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or 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 kitchen crew 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 presents kitchen crew salaries for various positions.

   Type of Kitchen Crew	Description	Hourly rate
   Kitchen Crew	Food and beverage serving and related workers perform a variety of customer service, food preparation, and cleaning duties in restaurants, cafeterias, and other eating and drinking establishments.	$11-17
   Food Preparer	A food preparer or food preparation worker is the person who executes routine tasks under the supervision of chefs, food service managers, and cooks. Food preparation workers slice meat, cut vegetables, and prepare cold foods... Show more	$9-17
   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
   • Safety Standards
   • Cleanliness
   • Culinary
   • Food Quality
   • Food Products
   • Food Orders
   • Fryers
   • Customer Service
   • Kitchen Equipment
   • Dishwashers
   • Food Service
   • Food Preparation
   • Food Safety Procedures

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage facility/workers, close drive-thru, enter information into computer, make hamburgers.
   • Employ to cook product in the kitchen (on the grill and deep fryers) and clean kitchen equipment when necessary.
   • Wait on customers, run drive-thru, clean bathrooms, clean lobby, and close front line after closing.
   • Provide total operational oversight, customer service, and business management through proven leadership and management experience.
   • use chemical substance to clean stoves.
   • Process orders by punching them into the POS database and handle cash or credit cards transactions.

   More kitchen crew duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, kitchen crews' average salary in louisiana is 42% less than in new hampshire.
   • Seniority. Entry-level kitchen crews 35% less than senior-level kitchen crews.
   • Certifications. A kitchen crew 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 kitchen crew's salary.

   Average kitchen crew salary

   $14.36hourly

   $29,874 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level kitchen crew salary

   $24,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 11, 2025

   Average kitchen crew salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$37,965	$18
   2	Utah	$35,871	$17
   3	Oregon	$35,738	$17
   4	Colorado	$33,581	$16
   5	California	$33,371	$16
   6	Arizona	$30,226	$15
   7	Nevada	$29,567	$14
   8	Ohio	$29,460	$14
   9	Texas	$27,082	$13
   10	Virginia	$26,975	$13
   11	Nebraska	$26,864	$13
   12	Illinois	$26,736	$13
   13	Georgia	$24,691	$12
   14	Mississippi	$24,603	$12

   Average kitchen crew salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	McCalls Catering & Events	$38,605	$18.56	2
   2	Il Fornaio	$34,605	$16.64
   3	The Habit Burger Grill	$34,354	$16.52	23
   4	Reef	$33,566	$16.14	2
   5	DIGS.com	$31,762	$15.27	6
   6	T-4 Products	$31,487	$15.14
   7	Kelly Services	$30,780	$14.80	45
   8	TPI	$30,754	$14.79	2
   9	RF	$30,607	$14.71
   10	Northbridge Communities	$30,584	$14.70	2
   11	Meritage Hospitality Group	$30,558	$14.69
   12	Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza	$30,497	$14.66	2
   13	ESP Systems	$30,458	$14.64
   14	Pepperoni's	$30,322	$14.58	3
   15	Raising Cane's	$29,737	$14.30	454
   16	Tokyo Joe's	$29,720	$14.29	20
   17	Aramark	$29,618	$14.24	1,658
   18	Xanterra	$29,392	$14.13	16
   19	Chicken Salad Chick	$28,849	$13.87	69
   20	Panda Express	$28,274	$13.59	1,492

4. Writing a kitchen crew job description

   A good kitchen crew job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a kitchen crew job description:

   Kitchen crew job description example

   Being a Kitchen Crew at Bojangles gives you the opportunity to meet interesting people, treat our customers to a great dining experience and to start an exciting career in the food-service industry. As a Kitchen Crew at Bojangles, you must be comfortable serving and interacting with our customers. If you are energetic, outgoing, friendly and passionate about serving high-quality food and excellent customer service, you’ll have great success working for Bojangles.
   
   If you’re seeking a career in food service, Bojangles offers opportunities to advance. If you like flexible hours and good pay, then this is the job for you!
   
   Job Type:
   
   Full time or Part time - includes Cashiers ,Kitchen Leader, Biscuit Makers, Grill, Packers, and Drive-thru positions.
   Experience: relevant: 1 year (Preferred)
   Work authorization: United States (Required)
   Work Location: One location
   Benefits: We offer Medical, Flexible schedules and more to full-time employees. Vacation pay is available for full time employees. We are closed on Christmas Day.
   Company Introduction Founded in 1977 in Charlotte, N.C., Bojangles , Inc. is a highly differentiated and growing restaurant operator and franchisor dedicated to serving customers high-quality, craveable food made from Southern recipes. Bojangles prepares all of its proprietary menu items from scratch and there are no microwaves in its restaurants. A special blend of seasonings gives the food its unique Bojangles flavor. The restaurants core menu features Bojangles famous chicken, made-from-scratch buttermilk biscuits, flavorful fixins and Legendary Iced Tea® steeped the old-fashioned way. Bojangles broad breakfast menu is served fresh all day, every day and features biscuit sandwiches such as Cajun Filet, steak and country ham. Bojangles menu also features unique fixins such as Dirty Rice, Cajun Pintos and Green Beans. First franchised in 1978, Bojangles has more than 690 locations throughout the southeast U.S. For more information, visit www.Bojangles.com.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right kitchen crew 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 kitchen crew job on Zippia to find and recruit kitchen crew candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit kitchen crews, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 kitchen crew

   Once you've decided on a perfect kitchen crew 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 kitchen crew 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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