Line cooks assist in the work of a kitchen by preparing food and ingredients. They focus on one specific phase of the work that goes into creating a meal.
A good line cook is diligent, neat, and carries out orders without delay. They stick to a list of instructions created by the chef. They measure, clean, and chop ingredients, organize, stock, and maintain the cleanliness of the working area.
Working in the service industry is always extremely demanding physically. You endure long hours in a sometimes hot and always stressful environment, where getting burned, cut, bruised, and strained is part of the deal. That being said, cooking is a profession people tend to be absolutely passionate about, and line cooks are no different.
Line Cook, Prep Cook Overview
Working as a Line Cook, Prep Cook
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a line cook, prep cook. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.58 an hour? That's $28,238 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 282,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Line Cook, Prep Cook Do
There are certain skills that many line cooks, prep cook have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed dexterity, physical stamina and sense of taste and smell.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a line cook, prep cook, we found that a lot of resumes listed 25.0% of line cooks, prep cook included kitchen equipment, while 10.3% of resumes included high quality, and 9.9% of resumes included customer service. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the line cook, prep cook job title. But what industry to start with? Most line cooks, prep cook actually find jobs in the hospitality and retail industries.
How To Become a Line Cook, Prep Cook
If you're interested in becoming a line cook, prep cook, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 13.5% of line cooks, prep cook have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.7% of line cooks, prep cook have master's degrees. Even though some line cooks, prep cook have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a line cook, prep cook. When we researched the most common majors for a line cook, prep cook, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on line cook, prep cook resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a line cook, prep cook. In fact, many line cook, prep cook jobs require experience in a role such as line cook. Meanwhile, many line cooks, prep cook also have previous career experience in roles such as cashier or prep cook.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Line Cook, Prep Cook Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a line cook, prep cook can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as line cook, progress to a title such as sous chef and then eventually end up with the title general manager.
Line Cook, Prep Cook
General Manager
6 Years
Food Service Director
9 Years
Chef Manager
6 Years
Assistant General Manager
5 Years
Food And Beverage Manager
5 Years
Restaurant General Manager
5 Years
Show More
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Line Cook, Prep Cook
Line Cooks, Prep Cook in America make an average salary of $28,238 per year or $14 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $33,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $23,000 per year.
Average Salary
$28,238
Best Paying Cities
City
Average Salary
$16k
$40k
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Flanigan's Line Cooks , Prep Cooks, Servers, All Positions Line Cooks , Prep Cooks, Servers, All Positions | Flanigan's Flanigan's | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $31,30501/31/2021 $31,305 |
Thomas Management LLC Line/Prep Cook Line/Prep Cook | Thomas Management LLC Thomas Management LLC | 01/21/2021 01/21/2021 | $35,47901/21/2021 $35,479 |
Sage Dining Prep Cook/Line Server ~ Great Schedule! Prep Cook/Line Server ~ Great Schedule! | Sage Dining Sage Dining | 01/21/2021 01/21/2021 | $27,13101/21/2021 $27,131 |
Sage Dining Prep Cook/Line Server ~ ST. Petersburg Area! Prep Cook/Line Server ~ ST. Petersburg Area! | Sage Dining Sage Dining | 01/12/2021 01/12/2021 | $27,13101/12/2021 $27,131 |
Headway Corporate Resources Line Cook/Prep Cook Line Cook/Prep Cook | Headway Corporate Resources Headway Corporate Resources | 01/10/2021 01/10/2021 | $25,04401/10/2021 $25,044 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Line Cook, Prep Cook Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Line Cook, Prep Cook. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Line Cook, Prep Cook Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Line Cook, Prep Cook resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationJob type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary
Top Skills For a Line Cook, Prep Cook
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 25.0% of line cooks, prep cook listed kitchen equipment on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and physical stamina are important as well.
- Kitchen Equipment, 25.0%
- High Quality, 10.3%
- Customer Service, 9.9%
- Food Safety, 8.7%
- High Volume, 8.3%
- Other Skills, 37.8% See All Line Cook, Prep Cook Skills
Best States For a Line Cook, Prep Cook
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a line cook, prep cook. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Line cooks, prep cook make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $34,980. Whereas in Massachusetts and Vermont, they would average $32,763 and $32,432, respectively. While line cooks, prep cook would only make an average of $32,272 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Hawaii
Total Line Cook, Prep Cook Jobs:
153
Highest 10% Earn:
$46,000
Location Quotient:
1.46
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$34,981
Avg. Salary
2. Nevada
Total Line Cook, Prep Cook Jobs:
416
Highest 10% Earn:
$38,000
Location Quotient:
1.5
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$28,946
Avg. Salary
3. Vermont
Total Line Cook, Prep Cook Jobs:
90
Highest 10% Earn:
$38,000
Location Quotient:
0.97
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$32,432
Avg. Salary
How Do Line Cook, Prep Cook Rate Their Jobs?
4.0
Prep cook • January +0000
4.0
Prep cook • January +0000What do you like the most about working as Line Cook, Prep Cook?
I love to cook make arts everyday from cooking most especially making salads Show MoreTop Line Cook, Prep Cook Employers
Line Cook, Prep Cook Videos
Line cooking!