How to hire a short order cook

How to hire a short order cook, step by step

Here's a step-by-step short order cook hiring guide:

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

What does a short order cook do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a short order cook, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a short order cook to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a short order cook that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of short order cook salaries for various roles:

   Type of Short Order Cook	Description	Hourly rate
   Short Order Cook	Cooks prepare, season, and cook a wide range of foods, which may include soups, salads, entrees, and desserts.	$11-18
   Cook/Dishwasher	Cooks/dishwashers must develop kitchen skills to excel in this line of job. Each cook or dishwasher must learn to develop skills in food preparation, sanitation, and customer service... Show more	$11-19
   Cook/Server	Cooks/servers are employees who take on the dual role of being a cook and a server in the restaurant. They are usually trained cooks who are in charge of preparing meals for the guests... Show more	$11-17

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Food Handling
   • Customer Service
   • Food Preparation Equipment
   • Kitchen Equipment
   • Food Service
   • Safety Standards
   • Quality Standards
   • Food Products
   • Food Preparation
   • Customer Orders
   • Making Sandwiches
   • Fryers
   • Dishwashers
   • POS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
   • Ensure that ovens and stoves remain at appropriate temperatures.
   • Clean kitchen including wiping down grills, slicers and deep-frying equipment.
   • Develop teamwork skills with cooks, dishwashers and wait staff, through efficient clean up and preparation of food.
   • Prepare guest food orders as they are either transmit via the POS system or orally convey at the counter.
   • Cook foods on the grill station, oven, barbecue grill, deep fryers, and other industrial cooking apparatus.

   More short order cook duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, short order cooks' average salary in mississippi is 43% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level short order cooks earn 37% less than senior-level short order cooks.
   • Certifications. A short order cook 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 short order cook's salary.

   Average short order cook salary

   $14.78hourly

   $30,734 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level short order cook salary

   $24,000 yearly salary

   Updated February 1, 2026

   Average short order cook salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$35,491	$17
   2	Massachusetts	$34,398	$17
   3	New York	$34,176	$16
   4	New Jersey	$32,259	$16
   5	Colorado	$31,147	$15
   6	Minnesota	$31,116	$15
   7	Wyoming	$30,976	$15
   8	Arizona	$29,128	$14
   9	Pennsylvania	$26,890	$13
   10	Texas	$26,563	$13
   11	Illinois	$26,352	$13
   12	Georgia	$25,624	$12
   13	Louisiana	$23,175	$11

   Average short order cook salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Columbia University in the City of New York	$38,730	$18.62	4
   2	Vernon Downs	$34,659	$16.66
   3	University of St. Thomas	$34,600	$16.63	1
   4	Capt. Anderson's Restaurant	$34,322	$16.50
   5	Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation Inc.	$33,032	$15.88	10
   6	ALS, LLC	$33,024	$15.88	3
   7	Osage Casino	$32,895	$15.81	2
   8	Skidmore College	$32,692	$15.72	1
   9	Wequassett Resort and Golf Club	$32,602	$15.67	2
   10	Life Care Solutions	$32,596	$15.67	55
   11	Maidstone Club	$32,319	$15.54
   12	Jacobs Entertainment	$32,043	$15.41
   13	SAGE Dining Services	$31,862	$15.32	81
   14	Life Care Centers of America	$31,655	$15.22	39
   15	Northwell Health	$31,566	$15.18	3
   16	The Bancorp	$31,465	$15.13
   17	Edgartown Yacht Club	$31,087	$14.95
   18	J. The Jewish News of Northern California	$31,080	$14.94
   19	Vail Resorts	$30,966	$14.89	53
   20	MMI Hotel Group	$30,937	$14.87

4. Writing a short order cook job description

   A short order cook 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 short order cook job description:

   Short order cook job description example

   1) Flexible Schedules - Dairy Queen understands that you probably have commitments to your family, friends, school or sports teams. We think that being in other activities and in other parts of the community are important. We will try and work around your schedule to make it easier to achieve your goals. At Triangle Dairy Queen you can receive and change your schedule online through an app on your phone.

   3) Casual Uniforms - Being comfortable is important to being able to do a job well. We provide your company DQ T-shirt and Hat, you wear your favorite jeans!

   4) Get More - Triangle Dairy Queen offers opportunities to achieve raises quickly, we consider our team to be more than just employees.

   5) Opportunities await you -Triangle Dairy Queen will provide you with extensive on the job training to make you a pro. After you master one area, you can learn another.

   6) Referral Bonus - It is important to work on a team you respect and connect. We offer referral bonuses to our existing crew members to invite their friends and family to be there teammates at work!

   Requirements/Responsibilities:

   Grill Team Member - Responsibilities & Requirements

   We are looking for applicants who exhibit the following qualities:

   • Wants to work as part of a Team
   • Reliable and Dependable
   • Has Positive Attitude
   • Puts forth best effort everyday

   Applicants must be able to:

   • Maintain highest level of quality
   • Follow, Company, State, and Federal Food Safety and cleanliness guidelines
   • Multitask and work efficiently
   • Show enthusiasm and be positive
   • Work as a team in effort to best accommodate our Fans!
   • Be accurate and precise when following company recipes and procedures
   • Be able to stand of feet for entire shift
   • Be able to lift heavy objects when necessary

   Prior restaurant experience is preferred, but not necessary.

   *employees that work 30+ hours a week are eligible for benefits

   Company Introduction

   Triangle Dairy Queen has provided local diners with delicious, satisfying treats and foods since 2005. Locations in Raleigh, Cary, Sanford, Morrisville, and Fuquay-Varina.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right short order cook 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 short order cooks they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit short order cooks 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 short order cook job on Zippia to find and recruit short order cook candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit short order cooks, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 short order cook

   Once you've selected the best short order cook candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

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 short order cook?