How To Become A Cafeteria Aide: What It Is and Career Path

What is a cafeteria aide and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a cafeteria aide. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.15 an hour? That's $25,278 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 372,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCafeteria AideUS Average

Salary

2.0

Avg. Salary $25,278

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.2

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.97%

Asian 7.13%

Black or African American 11.00%

Hispanic or Latino 14.43%

Unknown 5.05%

White 61.42%

Gender

female 82.04%

male 17.96%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress Level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a cafeteria aide

Explore cafeteria aide education requirements

Most common cafeteria aide degrees

High School Diploma

44.4 %

Associate

18.9 %

Bachelor's

17.6 %

Start to develop specific cafeteria aide skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	29.32%
Dishes	13.43%
Cleanliness	11.36%
Food Handling	10.50%
Cash Handling	7.44%

Complete relevant cafeteria aide training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New cafeteria aides 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 cafeteria aide based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real cafeteria aide resumes.

Research cafeteria aide duties and responsibilities

Check station before, during, and after shift for proper set-up and cleanliness.
Maintain cleanliness within the facility standards and objectives.
Organize trays, plates, cups, and flatware into dish washing racks and pass them to dishwasher.
Operate a dishwasher; ensures that trays are properly wash and sanitize and return to the serving line.

Prepare your cafeteria aide resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Cafeteria Aide Resume templates

Build a professional Cafeteria Aide resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Cafeteria Aide resume.

Apply for cafeteria aide jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a cafeteria aide job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do cafeteria aides rate their job?

-/5

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Cafeteria Aide reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

It’s an honest day’s work. Lots of lifting and walking around. Pots and pans to scrub, pantries to organize. You won’t be bored for a second, there’s always something to do.

Cons

At the end of the day, you’re body is so tired. From doing this much heavy work you’d expect a decent pay check. You won’t make enough to rent an apartment with this job.

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019