Fast Food Cook job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

14

O*NET task statements

O*NET occupation

Cooks, Fast Food

O*NET-SOC 35-2011.00

Preparation

Job Zone 1-2 of 5

very little to some preparation

Typical entry education

No formal educational credential

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$30,890

BLS May 2025

Data Government data groups this job as Cooks, Fast Food (O*NET-SOC 35-2011.00). O*NET 31.0 lists “Fast Food Cook” as a job title for this occupation only (evidence: O*NET's Sample of Reported Titles (titles job holders report), O*NET job-incumbent data, the SOC Index and employer job postings). Figures on this page are for that occupation. TryHired has no separate career page for this title yet.

1. Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions. importance 4.7 of 5
2. Maintain sanitation, health, and safety standards in work areas. importance 4.7 of 5
3. Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils. importance 4.7 of 5
4. Operate large-volume cooking equipment, such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles. importance 4.7 of 5
5. Take food and drink orders and receive payment from customers. importance 4.6 of 5
6. Cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously. importance 4.6 of 5
7. Prepare specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time. importance 4.6 of 5
8. Verify that prepared food meets requirements for quality and quantity. importance 4.6 of 5
9. Serve orders to customers at windows, counters, or tables. importance 4.5 of 5
10. Wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking. importance 4.5 of 5
11. Clean, stock, and restock workstations and display cases. importance 4.5 of 5
12. Cook and package batches of food, such as hamburgers or fried chicken, prepared to order or kept warm until sold. importance 4.3 of 5
13. Measure ingredients required for specific food items. importance 4.3 of 5
14. Pre-cook items, such as bacon, to prepare them for later use. importance 4.1 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings, Getting Information, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events and Making Decisions and Solving Problems.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Prepare and serve beverages, such as coffee or fountain drinks.
• Prepare dough, following recipe.
• Order and take delivery of supplies.
• Schedule activities and equipment use with managers, using information about daily menus to help coordinate cooking times.
• Mix ingredients, such as pancake or waffle batters.

Knowledge areas: Food Production, Customer and Personal Service and English Language.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Aldelo Systems Aldelo for Restaurants Pro, Foodman Home-Delivery, Plexis Software Plexis POS. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists short-term on-the-job training as typical once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 1-2 of 5 (very little to some preparation). Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board.

Most fast food cooks surveyed by O*NET (63%) name less than a high school diploma as the education the job requires.

Job title: Fast Food Cook
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Fast Food Cook to prepare and cook food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions.
- Maintain sanitation, health, and safety standards in work areas.
- Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils.
- Operate large-volume cooking equipment, such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles.
- Take food and drink orders and receive payment from customers.
- Cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously.
- Prepare specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time.
- Verify that prepared food meets requirements for quality and quantity.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists no formal educational credential as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in service orientation, active listening and speaking
- Working knowledge of Food Production and Customer and Personal Service
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Outlook]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

For Cooks, Fast Food, the median annual wage was $30,890 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $14.85. BLS estimates about 641,070 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of Cooks, Fast Food to grow 0.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 86,400 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

• Read a real fast food cook posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only fast food cook work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (service orientation and active listening): a real situation, what you did and what changed.