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How To Write an Assistant Cook Job Description Sample

An Assistant Cook, or Apprentice Cook, provides support to Chefs in restaurants, hotels, hospitals, or educational institutions. An Assistant Cook’s major responsibilities include helping to prepare recipes, maintaining kitchen supplies, and keeping kitchens or workspaces organized.

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What does an Assistant Cook do? 

An Assistant Cook helps a Chef to prepare a variety of meals for diners. They can cook special meals for those with dietary restrictions or make recipe substitutions or changes as required by guests. Assistant Cooks make sure their kitchens remain compliant with provincial or territorial government health and safety regulations. They also help plan meals and new items for the menu, help with the kitchen shopping list, or order food in bulk from suppliers.

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Assistant Cook Job Description Examples:

Assistant Cook duties and responsibilities

Assistant Cooks perform many tasks that help the maintenance and flow of work in a kitchen. Duties and responsibilities of an Assistant Cook may include: 

  • Ensuring the entire team follows the distributed menus and ensuring waitstaff knows about new offerings
  • Keeping a stocked inventory of kitchen equipment, utensils, and food supplies
  • Ensuring cleanliness and hygiene of the kitchen services and appliances, including stovetops, refrigerators, countertops, dishwashers, and the interior and exterior of cupboards
  • Storing all food and utensils properly at the end of each day and the kitchen is clean before closing
  • Receiving shipments of products and ensuring the rotation of goods received
  • Helping to train other staff and kitchen members in the preparation, cooking, and safe handling of food
  • Ensuring all dishes are prepared and served to the highest professional standard
  • Completing daily temperature audits for fridge, freezers, and storerooms and recording findings on audit sheets

Assistant Cook skills and qualifications

A successful Assistant Cook has various prerequisite skills and qualifications required to perform the duties for this job, including: 

  • Ability to prepare large quantities of food in an organized and timely manner
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to plan and organize tasks
  • Ability to follow instructions and be flexible and adaptable in the work environment
  • Ability to work independently and as a team member
  • Knowledge of public health practices and ability to maintain a clean workspace at all times
  • Excellent interpersonal skills

Assistant Cook experience requirements

When reviewing resumes for an Assistant Cook, consider if your organization provides on-the-job training for new hires. This may influence the amount of previous experience a candidate must have to be considered for the position. If your organization doesn’t have a training program, consider candidates with one to three years of experience. Candidates should also be able to complete a variety of kitchen tasks successfully, which they could learn from previous roles, such as a Cook, Kitchen Assistant, Server, Busser, or Dishwasher.

Assistant Cook training and education

Assistant Cook candidates should have a high school diploma or GED. A candidate who has completed a three-year apprenticeship program, college program in cookie or trade certification may be preferable. It may be best to look for a candidate who is a member of a regulatory body such as the Ontario College of Trades or who has the Red Seal endorsement.

Assistant Cook salary expectations

According to Indeed salaries, the average pay for an Assistant Cook in Canada is $40,448 per year. This can vary depending on the employee’s previous experience, restaurant location, and hiring company.

Job description samples for similar positions

If an Assistant Cook is not exactly what you are looking for, other related descriptions include: 

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Assistant Cook job description FAQs

What should you look for in an Assistant Cook resume?

When reviewing resumes for an Assistant Cook, look for someone who has worked in a similar kitchen environment to the role for which you’re hiring. For example, if you’re looking for an Assistant Cook in your hotel kitchen, look for candidates that have worked in a hotel or other similar hospitality establishment. It is also best to hire an Assistant Cook who has experience working with the type of cuisine served by the restaurant. If your restaurant offers specialty dishes, you may prefer a candidate with cuisine-specific or international training.

How do you make your Assistant Cook job description unique?

One way to make an Assistant Cook job description unique from other listings is to be as specific as possible about the expected hours and provide details about the cuisine your restaurant serves. Another way to make your job description different is to include the expected salary of the position. If there are additional benefits that come with the role, such as free meals, include those as well.

What is the difference between an Assistant Cook and a Cook?

While many of the duties of an Assistant Cook and a Cook overlap, there are a few notable differences. An Assistant Cook helps the Cook with meal preparation and is also responsible for ensuring the workspaces remain organized, clean, and tidy. A Cook, by comparison, plans or gives final approval for the food menus and creates the lists of ingredients for meals. A Cook handles training Assistant Cooks to make sure they are adhering to the restaurant’s particular standards.

Job Description Examples

Need help writing a job description for a specific role? Use these job description examples to create your next great job posting. Or if you’re ready to hire, post your job on Indeed.

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