How to hire a pizza chef

How to hire a pizza chef, step by step

Here's a step-by-step pizza chef hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The pizza chef hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

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   A pizza chef's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, pizza chefs from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of pizza chefs and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Pizza Chef	Description	Hourly rate
   Pizza Chef	Chefs and head cooks oversee the daily food preparation at restaurants and other places where food is served. They direct kitchen staff and handle any food-related concerns.	$11-20
   Cook	Cooks are responsible for preparing meals for guests or employers. They must be knowledgeable about the different recipes and ingredients needed... Show more	$12-19
   Fry Cook	Generally, a fry cook works in a kitchen specializing in fried foods and operating the deep fryer. Fry cooks or chefs cook food by submerging in boiling oil... Show more	$11-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Food Handling
   • Food Products
   • Food Safety
   • Dishes
   • Customer Service
   • Food Service
   • Food Preparation
   • Customer Orders
   • RAN
   • Pizza Station
   • POS
   • Quality Food
   • Product Quality
   • Cooking Surfaces

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
   • Place order, host, run cash register creative ideas for new menu items.
   • Create and prepare international cuisine for executive clientele by using ingenuity, organization, efficiency in production and attention to detail
   • Train replacement dishwasher employee upon being promote!

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, pizza chefs' average salary in idaho is 49% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level pizza chefs 43% less than senior-level pizza chefs.
   • Certifications. A pizza chef 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 pizza chef's salary.

   Average pizza chef salary

   $15.49hourly

   $32,223 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level pizza chef salary

   $24,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a pizza chef job description

   A pizza chef job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a pizza chef job description:

   Pizza chef job description example

   Working at Northstar Cafe is much more than just a job. It’s the chance to become an important member of a close-knit team, responsible for shaping the experience at a most-loved restaurant. It’s an opportunity to bring communities together and help them thrive. And it’s a way to play a key part in the bigger picture, supporting food practices that elevate local growers and producers and keep the environment healthy.
   
   It’s also the best place to launch the rest of your working life. Here, you’ll gain the practical skills that will make you an outstanding professional in any industry. You’ll know how to maintain the highest standards and work in an environment of utmost integrity. And, you’ll develop the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career.
   If you’re —
   excited about real, local, organic, and artisanal ingredients passionate about cooking from scratch and meticulous about quality open to learning and growing your skills looking forward to being valued as an integral member of a team
   — then becoming a member of the Northstar Cafe KITCHEN TEAM might be the perfect job for you. Bring your upbeat attitude and gritty work-ethic. We’ll teach you the rest.
   
   We want you to be successful here, and support you with: thorough training in our production bakery and professional kitchen top-notch teammates who’ll become close friends An efficient, productive, upbeat work environment
   
   Here’s what you’d do: Create delicious food alongside a high-energy team with a sincere desire to delight guests Use the finest ingredients, including foods from more than twenty Ohio producers Prepare a broad menu from scratch using classic and modern cooking techniques and a variety of tools and machinery Take pride in being part of the most loved restaurant in the neighborhood
   
   And our team gets great benefits: medical/dental/vision paid vacations, paid sabbaticals healthy lifestyle reimbursement free meal with every shift (pretty much everyone’s favorite benefit) endless opportunities to grow, challenge yourself, and have fun
   
   Our team loves working here, and we strive to make this a place worthy of them. Here’s what some of them had to say: “We source locally whenever we can and always find ingredients of the highest quality. We have good relationships with people who deliver our food. It’s really a community that’s behind all of these amazing meals.” “I’m proud of how clean we keep the restaurant, how we treat each other, and how we treat guests. Our standards are really high, which I love.”
   “Shift meals is one of the best parts about working here! Our food is so wholesome and good.” “The style of communicating, even when something’s wrong, is very kind. It makes people actually want to change. Learning this has helped me be a better communicator in all areas of my life.” “I love being a part of a group of conscientious and intelligent people, and being a part of a company that has high standards of excellence. It’s truly a company that goes above and beyond.”
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5. Post your job

   To find the right pizza chef for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with pizza chefs they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit pizza chefs who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your pizza chef job on Zippia to find and recruit pizza chef candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit pizza chefs, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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 pizza chef

   Once you've found the pizza chef candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new pizza chef. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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