What does a meat clerk do?
A meat clerk's role is to provide conveniently cut and packed meat to consumers in a retail store or similar setting. One of their primary responsibilities is to greet customers, respond to their requests and inquiries, manage the display by removing expired meat products, label goods according to their prices and specifications, manage storage, and follow all health standards and protocols. Furthermore, a meat clerk must maintain the store's sanitation, ensuring to abide by all safety policies.
Meat clerk responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real meat clerk resumes:
- Placed/Fil orders, maintain inventory, and manage department cleanliness.
- Man a cash register, handling customer groceries in a timely and organize fashion while providing quality customer service.
- Clean meat slicers and mop floors, as well rotate and stock product in coolers.
- Well organize, detail orientate, good with math, love interacting with customers, and strong time management skills.
- Use all equipment in meat department such as the refrigerators, freezers, slicers, and ovens according to company guidelines.
- Count inventory for ordering and rotation purposes and comparatively set prices of seafood.
- Take green perishables off shelf at end of the night and bring back to produce cooler.
- Maintain a neat and sanitary work environment by keeping all product cases, floors and fryers clean.
- Prepare hot foods safe and proper operation of fryers, ovens, and other equipment, and prepare party trays.
- Collaborate with management to help maintain inventory levels.
Meat clerk skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Meat Clerks are proficient in Grinders, Basic Math, and Math. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Dexterity, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Meat Clerks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Grinders, 15%
Operated and cleaned a meat packaging and labeling machine, commercial grinders and band saws.
- Basic Math, 9%
Handled cash with knowledge of basic mathematics and functions on the cash register.
- Math, 9%
Well organized, detail orientated, good with math, love interacting with customers, and strong time management skills.
- Pallet Jack, 9%
Stock and rotate items accordingly or unload incoming stock, use transport equipment from electric pallet jacks to manual hand-jack.
- Expiration Dates, 7%
Wrapped freshly cut meat, Stocked freezers, Checked expiration dates on products, Assisted customers' with their purchasing needs.
- Product Knowledge, 5%
Developed excellent product knowledge and offered customers advice on purchases to support sales efforts.
Common skills that a meat clerk uses to do their job include "grinders," "basic math," and "math." You can find details on the most important meat clerk responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a meat clerk to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what meat clerks do because "butchers who work in retail stores should be courteous, be able to answer customers’ questions, and fill orders to customers’ satisfaction." Additionally, a meat clerk resume shows how meat clerks use customer-service skills: "put out fresh product assist customers open seafood cut meat and seafood follow food safety guidelines"
Dexterity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling meat clerk duties is dexterity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "butchers use sharp knives and meatcutting equipment as part of their duties." According to a meat clerk resume, here's how meat clerks can utilize dexterity in their job responsibilities: "used pallet, power jacks and jack lifts. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of meat clerks is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday meat clerk duties, as "butchers should be able to lift and carry heavy boxes of meat, which may weigh more than 50 pounds." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "participated in physical inventory and assisted with inventory control. "
The three companies that hire the most meat clerks are:
- BJ's Wholesale Club178 meat clerks jobs
- Harris Teeter76 meat clerks jobs
- ShopRite Supermarkets Inc.
72 meat clerks jobs
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Compare different meat clerks
Meat clerk vs. Butcher assistant
A butcher is someone responsible for turning whole or large pieces of meat into ready-to-cook or retail-ready portions that can be purchased by customers or restaurants. Butchers know how to cut meat, poultry, and fish properly, so they deal mostly with sharp instruments like knives, grinders, and other cutting equipment. Butchers are knowledgeable in the science of temperature and aging to ensure they are of great quality at all times and adhere to health regulations. They are commonly seen in wet markets, supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops, and slaughterhouses, but some are self-employed or have their own meat shop.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a meat clerk are more likely to require skills like "grinders," "basic math," "math," and "pallet jack." On the other hand, a job as a butcher assistant requires skills like "ran," "sausage," "fda," and "powerpoint." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Butcher assistants tend to reach similar levels of education than meat clerks. In fact, butcher assistants are 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Meat clerk vs. Butcher
A meat department associate is responsible for addressing customer needs and offering product suggestions based on the customer's preference. Meat department associates ensure the safe storage of the products, carefully loading and unloading the items from the distribution trucks to the appropriate area. They also assist with product packaging, price labeling, inspecting quality, and eliminating products that do not pass quality standards. A meat department associate may also perform administrative and clerical duties as needed, such as taking orders, processing payments, and updating sales reports.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that meat clerk responsibilities requires skills like "grinders," "basic math," "math," and "expiration dates." But a butcher might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "food safety," "culinary," "safety standards," and "food preparation."
On average, butchers earn a higher salary than meat clerks. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, butchers earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $37,705. Whereas meat clerks have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $32,182.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Butchers tend to reach similar levels of education than meat clerks. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Meat clerk vs. Meat department associate
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, meat clerks are more likely to have skills like "basic math," "math," "customer satisfaction," and "cleanliness." But a meat department associate is more likely to have skills like "food safety," "quality customer service," "frozen meat," and "due diligence."
Meat department associates earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $30,510. Comparatively, meat clerks have the highest earning potential in the retail industry, with an average salary of $32,182.When it comes to education, meat department associates tend to earn similar degree levels compared to meat clerks. In fact, they're 2.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 5.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Meat clerk vs. Meat market manager
Even though a few skill sets overlap between meat clerks and meat market managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a meat clerk might have more use for skills like "grinders," "basic math," "math," and "pallet jack." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of meat market managers require skills like "excellent interpersonal," "food safety," "customer relations," and "control inventory. "
The average resume of meat market managers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to meat clerks. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of meat clerk
Updated January 8, 2025
