How to hire a ship steward

How to hire a ship steward, step by step

Here's a step-by-step ship steward hiring guide:

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

What does a ship steward do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your ship steward job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a ship steward for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect ship steward also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of ship stewards.

   Type of Ship Steward	Description	Hourly rate
   Ship Steward		$7-29
   Food Prep/Dishwasher	A food prep/dishwasher's role is to perform food preparation and cleaning duties in a kitchen, under the supervision and directives of a chef or manager. One of their primary responsibilities is washing dishes, sanitizing utensils, and preparing ingredients by washing, peeling, and cutting them according to size... Show more	$11-17
   Kitchen Helper	Kitchen helpers perform various kitchen tasks in restaurants, schools, nursing homes, and hospitals. Their duties and responsibilities include assisting cooks in the preparation of meal ingredients, helping other staff with unloading food items from delivery trucks, and washing and drying the utensils, dishes, and cookware... Show more	$9-15

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cleanliness
   • Kitchen Equipment
   • Culinary
   • Customer Service
   • Sanitation Standards
   • Stewards
   • Hot Water
   • Dishwashers
   • Exceptional Guest
   • Food Service
   • Wine
   • Guest Rooms
   • Tilt Skillets
   • Data Quality

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Operate a POS system and manage cash and credit card sales.
   • Collaborate with regional data stewards to identify databases, tables and columns, data quality issues and gaps.
   • Provide dishware for corporate events.
   • Set buffets and handle inventory.
   • Receive deliveries, store perishables properly, and rotate stock.
   • Rotate perishables, dry goods to ensure the highest quality of food.

   More ship steward duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your ship steward job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A ship steward salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, ship stewards' average salary in south carolina is 49% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level ship stewards earn 74% less than senior-level ship stewards.
   • Certifications. A ship steward with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a ship steward's salary.

   Average ship steward salary

   $15.23hourly

   $31,683 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level ship steward salary

   $16,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average ship steward salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Alaska	$41,537	$20
   2	New York	$39,863	$19
   3	Massachusetts	$38,721	$19
   4	Washington	$38,339	$18
   5	California	$37,147	$18
   6	Illinois	$36,572	$18
   7	Tennessee	$36,192	$17
   8	New Jersey	$36,012	$17
   9	Oregon	$34,229	$16
   10	Pennsylvania	$33,731	$16
   11	Kansas	$32,836	$16
   12	Missouri	$32,689	$16
   13	District of Columbia	$31,965	$15
   14	Minnesota	$31,329	$15
   15	Virginia	$30,468	$15
   16	Ohio	$28,938	$14
   17	Colorado	$28,692	$14
   18	Indiana	$28,076	$14
   19	Hawaii	$27,939	$13
   20	Oklahoma	$27,720	$13

   Average ship steward salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Intuitive Surgical	$131,690	$63.31
   2	Citi	$127,767	$61.43
   3	Intel	$124,678	$59.94
   4	Bayer	$121,246	$58.29
   5	Eli Lilly and Company	$120,267	$57.82	1
   6	Merck	$119,202	$57.31
   7	Morgan Stanley	$115,106	$55.34
   8	Santander Bank	$110,753	$53.25
   9	Splunk	$108,633	$52.23
   10	M&T Bank	$103,263	$49.65
   11	Global Partners	$102,513	$49.29	4
   12	BASF	$96,713	$46.50
   13	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution	$91,398	$43.94
   14	Johnson & Johnson	$90,464	$43.49
   15	Edward Jones	$87,680	$42.15
   16	Alteryx	$84,284	$40.52
   17	PPL	$82,465	$39.65
   18	Harvard University	$80,424	$38.67
   19	Western Alliance Bank	$79,721	$38.33
   20	United Service Technologies	$78,925	$37.94	1

4. Writing a ship steward job description

   A ship steward 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. Below, you can find an example of a ship steward job description:

   Ship steward job description example

   Job Title
   Data Steward
   Location(s)
   Shanghai, Singapore - Remote (Home Based)
   
   Imagine a world where you could detect health issues sooner to treat them more effectively. Where food and water are always safe, even in remote corners of the earth. And where scientific and medical research are enhanced to solve the greatest challenges of our times. At PerkinElmer, we imagine this world every day.
   
   PerkinElmer's commitment to scientific innovation is at the heart of everything we do. Our dedicated team of 16,000 employees worldwide pioneers scientific technologies for better detection, imaging, and informatics to help our customers create healthier families, make smarter decisions, earlier diagnoses, more effective treatments and scientific breakthroughs globally.
   
   The Global Commercial Excellence team is hiring one full time data steward, to be responsible for monitoring creation and modification of customer records in accordance with established guidelines within various systems. In this hands-on role, you will be a critical member of our Master Data Management team, responsible for supporting the data quality strategy and accountable for ensuring data integrity through data governance. You will need strong cross-functional skills, as this roll requires communication and partnerships with various internal groups including, but not limited to, Sales, Sales Operations, Customer Care and Global Commercial Excellence.
   
   Key Responsibilities
   Contribute to on-going cleansing and maintenance of customer data by driving data entry standards for formatting, completeness, and accuracy for attributes within the customer and product master.Provide day-to-day support to cross-functional internal and external customers as related to customer accounts which includes legal entities, locations and contacts data elements and attributes.Responsible for ongoing data quality initiatives such as research, match/merging and various aspects of data cleansing to remediate issues identified.Actively participate in team objectives.Contribute to and execute ongoing process improvement initiatives.
   
   Requirements
   Strong attention to detail and ability to think analytically Strong organizational, planning and time management skills Must be able to work in a constantly changing environment and adapt easily Team player with a positive attitude Commitment to quality processes and outcomes Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks Proficient in Microsoft Office 365 (Excel, Word and Outlook) Knowledge of Salesforce CRM and SAP a plus Previous experience in a Master Data Management (MDM) or Data Steward role a plus Must have Chinese & English language skills Japanese and/or Korean language skills are a plus, but not required.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find ship stewards for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting ship stewards requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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 ship steward

   Once you've found the ship steward 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.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new ship steward first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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How much does it cost to hire a ship steward?