How To Become A Meat Department Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a meat department associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Meat Department Associate is the one who has to note buyer's preferences and offer product suggestions accordingly. These department associates address their needs to improve their service and ensure that customers are getting fresh and juicy produce, as per their demand. They are usually found working at various meat and butcher shops.

They are responsible for the careful loading and unloading of meaty goods from trucks to the right location. Assistance in eliminating poor quality products, goods packaging, checking quality, and labeling costs are also some of their multiple duties. You may also find them doing several clerical and administrative tasks, like updating sales reports, ordering, and working on payments.

Working as an expert, you can make $20.29 per hour. It would help if you were a master of ensuring the freshness of meats and data control. You will be corresponding with a crew, so good communication skills and the ability to be a team player are a must.

ScoreMeat Department AssociateUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $26,955

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.8

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.15%

Asian 7.74%

Black or African American 8.35%

Hispanic or Latino 14.93%

Unknown 3.76%

White 64.07%

Gender

female 34.66%

male 65.34%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

8.8

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.5

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a meat department associate

Explore meat department associate education requirements

Most common meat department associate degrees

Bachelor's

32.9 %

High School Diploma

30.5 %

Associate

17.7 %

Start to develop specific meat department associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Handling	19.93%
Customer Service	11.09%
Grinders	9.86%
Fresh Product	8.17%
Food Safety	6.97%

Complete relevant meat department associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New meat department associates 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 meat department associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real meat department associate resumes.

Research meat department associate duties and responsibilities

Placed/Fil orders, maintain inventory, and manage department cleanliness.
Stock meat counter, dairy and frozen foods as well as general groceries.
Maintain, clean and sterilize, tables, deli slicers, and cutting equipment daily.
Clear shopping carts from lot, bag groceries for customers and help customers load groceries into vehicle.

Prepare your meat department associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your meat department associate 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 meat department associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable meat department associate resume templates

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