How To Become A Kitchen Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a kitchen worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a kitchen worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.81 an hour? That's $28,720 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 17,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreKitchen WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $28,720

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.94%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 10.90%

Hispanic or Latino 16.30%

Unknown 4.82%

White 60.03%

Gender

female 39.04%

male 60.96%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a kitchen worker

Explore kitchen worker education requirements

Most common kitchen worker degrees

High School Diploma

43.8 %

Bachelor's

26.7 %

Associate

14.7 %

Start to develop specific kitchen worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Cleanliness	16.88%
Food Handling	13.17%
Kitchen Equipment	11.91%
Food Service	10.40%
Customer Service	8.16%

Complete relevant kitchen worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New kitchen workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a kitchen worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real kitchen worker resumes.

Research kitchen worker duties and responsibilities

Ensure cleanliness of surroundings and sterilization/sanitation of kitchen prep area and food trays.
Clean floors, dishes, stoves and pots.
Prepare for opening the next morning by cleaning and shutting down fryers and broiler.
Work well with other employees-Maintain cleanliness of areas assigned-perform a variety of services-follow property policies and procedures-oversee own responsibilities

Prepare your kitchen worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your kitchen worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a kitchen worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable kitchen worker resume templates

Build a professional kitchen worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your kitchen worker resume.