What does a Cafeteria Cook do?
Cafeteria cook responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real cafeteria cook resumes:
- Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
- Prepare and serve nutritional meals to the before and after school kids.
- Inspect equipment for cleanliness in functional operation.
- Supervise the culinary arts participants in juvenile detention facility.
- Maintain cafeteria cleanliness, stock condiments, Pepsi machine syrup replacement.
- Ensure customers convenience are met/exceed by accommodating and notifying customers of ingredients that may trigger food allergies or intolerance.
- Set up work station and operate dishwasher.
- Operate a POS system to ring up students accounts.
- Take orders from customers, input orders into pos and obtain payment and provide change.
- Display leadership abilities and responsibility by training new employees.
Cafeteria cook skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Cafeteria Cooks are proficient in Culinary, Cleanliness, and Kitchen Equipment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Sense of taste and smell, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Cafeteria Cooks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Culinary, 21%
Weekend volunteer work entailing participation in coordinating of activities involving seniors Culinary hands on experience with customers and business employees 1.
- Cleanliness, 18%
Maintained cafeteria cleanliness, stock condiments, Pepsi machine syrup replacement.
- Kitchen Equipment, 14%
Operated kitchen equipment in appropriate and safe manner Prepared meals for 1,500 people daily Assisted in training of Food Service personnel
- Food Service, 12%
Performed function of another position within area of responsibility for the overall coverage of food service.
- Food Handling, 11%
Maintain proper/hygienic food handling techniques and overall sanitation requirements of food service area and the personnel.
- Quality Standards, 7%
Prepare food items in accordance with production requirements and quality standards.
Common skills that a cafeteria cook uses to do their job include "culinary," "cleanliness," and "kitchen equipment." You can find details on the most important cafeteria cook responsibilities below.
Dexterity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a cafeteria cook to have is dexterity. Their role and responsibilities require that "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." Cafeteria cooks often use dexterity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "wash hands, sanitize work area, cook meals according to specified menu.prepare and maintained accurate records of food inventory. "
Sense of taste and smell. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling cafeteria cook duties is sense of taste and smell. The role rewards competence in this skill because "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." According to a cafeteria cook resume, here's how cafeteria cooks can utilize sense of taste and smell in their job responsibilities: "clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation. "
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for cafeteria cooks to perform their duties. For an example of how cafeteria cook responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "cooks spend a lot of time standing in one place, cooking food over hot stoves, and cleaning work areas." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a cafeteria cook: "received deliveries, rotated stock, maintained a physical inventory, and distributed food products to shift managers. ".
The three companies that hire the most cafeteria cooks are:
- Publix14 cafeteria cooks jobs
- Hilton11 cafeteria cooks jobs
- Nationwide Children's Hospital6 cafeteria cooks jobs
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Compare different cafeteria cooks
Cafeteria cook vs. Cook chill technician
A cook/dietary aide is an individual who works along with the dietary managers, cooks, and dieticians. Dietary aides prepare meals, beverages, and snacks. They set up tables or dining areas with proper order and cleanliness. They serve meals and make sure that the hygiene and safety protocols for food are followed all the time. The skills significant for this job include attention to detail, strong communication skills, excellent customer service, and knowledge in food preparation and its safety protocols.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, cafeteria cook responsibilities require skills like "cleanliness," "food service," "food handling," and "quality standards." Meanwhile a typical cook chill technician has skills in areas such as "cooling towers," "chill," "safety issues," and "product quality." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, cook chill technicians reach similar levels of education than cafeteria cooks. Cook chill technicians are 0.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Cafeteria cook vs. Cook/dietary aide
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, cafeteria cook responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "culinary," "cleanliness," "haccp," and "food waste." Meanwhile, a cook/dietary aide has duties that require skills in areas such as "meal service," "patients," "diet orders," and "customer service." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Cook/dietary aides earn a lower average salary than cafeteria cooks. But cook/dietary aides earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,467. Additionally, cafeteria cooks earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $31,167 annually.In general, cook/dietary aides achieve similar levels of education than cafeteria cooks. They're 1.1% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Cafeteria cook vs. Cook/trainer
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from cafeteria cook resumes include skills like "food service," "allergies," "kitchen appliances," and "food waste," whereas a cook/trainer is more likely to list skills in "food safety," "customer service," "cash handling," and "workstations. "
Most cook/trainers achieve a similar degree level compared to cafeteria cooks. For example, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Cafeteria cook vs. Cook/baker
Types of cafeteria cook
Updated January 8, 2025
