How To Become A Station Cook: What It Is and Career Path

What is a station cook 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 station cook. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.34 an hour? That's $33,980 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 419,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreStation CookUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $33,980

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.2

Growth Rate 16%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.32%

Asian 7.45%

Black or African American 9.52%

Hispanic or Latino 18.50%

Unknown 5.06%

White 58.14%

Gender

female 31.94%

male 68.06%

Age - 37

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 - 37

Stress Level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.3

Complexity Level is basic

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.4

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Station Cook in Columbus, OH

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Key steps to become a station cook

Explore station cook education requirements

Most common station cook degrees

High School Diploma

34.6 %

Associate

30.7 %

Bachelor's

23.5 %

Start to develop specific station cook skills

Skills	Percentages
Culinary	53.46%
Cold Station	15.63%
Food Handling	8.43%
Kitchen Equipment	6.12%
Fine Dining	3.00%

Complete relevant station cook training and internships

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

Research station cook duties and responsibilities

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Filter and boil out fryers.
Share responsibilities with culinary supervisors on weekly food orders and assist in completing restaurant temperature charts nightly.
Maintain and follow proper hygiene and sanitation standards.

Prepare your station cook resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Station Cook Resume templates

Build a professional Station Cook 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 Station Cook resume.

Apply for station cook jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a station cook 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 station cooks rate their job?

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Station Cook reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

I love to cook make arts everyday from cooking most especially making salads