What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called culinary worker, food prep worker, food service worker and FSW.
$35,320
Median pay a year
893,600
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Food Preparation Worker resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Storing kitchen supplies
Cutting foods
Cooking foods
Arranging food for serving
Cleaning equipment
Removing trash
Cleaning tableware
Serving food and beverages
Stocking serving stations
Packaging food or supplies
Preparing foods for cooking
Assessing equipment functioning
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Food Preparation Worker
Summary
Food preparation worker performing tasks like cleaning work areas, preparing cold foods, slicing meat, and assisting kitchen staff with various duties
Experience
Food Preparation Worker
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Cleaned and sanitized work areas, equipment, utensils, and dishes in the kitchen
Assisted cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks and provided needed items
Took and recorded temperature of food and storage areas like refrigerators and freezers
Carried food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas
Removed trash and cleaned kitchen garbage containers to maintain cleanliness
Stored food in designated containers to prevent spoilage and ensure safety
Washed, peeled, and cut various foods like fruits and vegetables for cooking
Skills
Storing kitchen supplies, Cutting foods, Cooking foods, Arranging food for serving, Cleaning equipment, Removing trash, Cleaning tableware, Serving food and beverages, Stocking serving stations, Packaging food or supplies
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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What to put on a Food Preparation Worker resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Cleaned work areas and toolsHelped cooks with tasksTook food temperaturesCarried food supplies and toolsRemoved trash from kitchenStored food to prevent spoilage
becomes
On your resume
Cleaned and sanitized work areas and tools to maintain a safe kitchen environment.
Took and recorded food temperatures to ensure safety and quality standards were met.
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
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A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Add how often you cleaned and sanitized the areas.
The line
Cleaned and sanitized work areas and tools several times each shift to maintain a safe kitchen environment
Add how often you cleaned and sanitized the areas.
Pick one that fits
Several times each shiftDaily before openingAfter each meal service
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what improved once the food temperatures were recorded.
The line
Took and recorded food temperatures to ensure safety and quality standards were met.
Show what improved once the food temperatures were recorded.
Pick one that fits
Food safety was better maintainedLess food waste occurred
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Food Preparation Worker does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.
What it pays
How much does a Food Preparation Worker make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$29,950
Median
$35,320
75th percentile
$38,550
About 893,600 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AK
$34,000
$35,720
$38,610
AL
$22,000
$27,930
$34,490
AR
$25,900
$27,660
$32,390
AZ
$34,220
$36,750
$39,160
CA
$37,010
$39,350
$44,540
CO
$34,690
$38,960
$44,740
CT
$35,340
$36,650
$40,210
DC
$38,070
$39,600
$44,040
DE
$31,860
$35,930
$38,140
FL
$30,420
$35,920
$37,440
GA
$29,610
$35,250
$37,700
HI
$33,310
$38,160
$46,920
IA
$28,260
$30,360
$36,200
ID
$27,530
$31,510
$36,850
IL
$31,200
$34,850
$37,880
IN
$27,550
$29,700
$35,930
KS
$27,700
$30,280
$35,290
KY
$22,790
$26,850
$33,890
LA
$21,480
$23,620
$28,670
MA
$36,060
$38,900
$44,580
MD
$33,020
$35,500
$38,470
ME
$33,760
$36,030
$39,060
MI
$27,690
$31,180
$35,910
MN
$30,550
$34,850
$38,240
MO
$29,220
$31,510
$37,050
MS
$21,430
$26,240
$30,100
MT
$28,710
$33,860
$37,110
NC
$26,610
$30,260
$36,120
ND
$31,510
$36,800
$38,430
NE
$29,870
$35,210
$37,440
NH
$31,000
$36,780
$39,330
NJ
$33,530
$35,540
$38,470
NM
$28,590
$33,370
$35,840
NV
$28,870
$33,460
$40,920
NY
$34,320
$35,610
$40,250
OH
$28,930
$34,530
$38,070
OK
$22,870
$28,540
$33,960
OR
$35,100
$37,450
$42,860
PA
$27,830
$30,840
$36,080
PR
$21,840
$22,400
$23,250
RI
$32,200
$35,470
$42,030
SC
$27,860
$32,180
$36,970
SD
$28,170
$30,430
$34,140
TN
$24,350
$28,700
$35,820
TX
$27,110
$30,650
$37,050
UT
$29,770
$33,540
$38,400
VA
$30,940
$34,900
$37,310
VT
$35,220
$36,550
$42,920
WA
$35,880
$40,910
$47,390
WI
$28,870
$34,070
$37,940
WV
$23,280
$28,360
$31,380
WY
$30,920
$36,110
$39,610
Other names
Other names for this job
culinary worker, food prep worker, food service worker, FSW, kitchen utility worker, kitchen worker, pantry goods worker, pantry worker, restaurant worker, back of house team member, boh team member, cafeteria aide.
More names for this work
carver, caterer, caterer helper, catering assistant, chicken and fish butcher, coffee brewer, coffee maker, cold meat cook, cook, cook aide, crew mess attendant, deli clerk, deli slicer, delicatessen clerk, delicatessen slicer, diet aide, dietary aide, dishwasher, expeditor, expo, food expeditor, food expo, food handler, food order expediter, food order expo, food prep, food prep kitchen aide, food preparation kitchen aide, food preparer, food server, food service aide, food service specialist, food tray assembler, fruit and vegetable parer, kitchen assistant, kitchen clerk, kitchen crew, kitchen crew member, kitchen food assembler, kitchen helper, kitchen runner, kitchen staff, kitchen steward, kitchen team crew member, kitchen team member, kitchen utility associate, line cook, line server.
If you served
Military jobs this work counts as
From the crosswalk the US Department of Labor publishes itself. If one of these was your job, this page is about the civilian work it maps to.
Starting a Food Preparation Worker resume with no experience
Below are the tasks a Food Preparation Worker job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Food Preparation Worker also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
Choose a job below that you would like to target next:
First-Line Supervisor of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
Already yours: Cutting foods, Cleaning equipment
2 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
Median pay
$44,080 a year
What you have not done yet. Managing food service operations, Performing human resources activities, Estimating supplies
This page is about the occupation Food Preparation Workers. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.