Student Cook, The Forge Dining Hall

About the job

University Dining is the largest student employer on campus, and The Forge in Founders Commons is its largest kitchen. Student cooks work beside professional staff on the grill, the global station, and the breakfast line. This is a cooking job, not a serving job: you will be making the food, by recipe, in quantity.

We have six openings and hire continuously, so the posting stays up until we stop needing people. Students who cook at home will find the scale different: the grill station goes through about 900 burger patties on a busy Thursday.

What you’ll do

• Prep and cook from standardized recipes on the grill, global, and breakfast stations.
• Follow allergen procedures exactly; the allergen-friendly pantry station is kept fully separate from the top eight allergens, and student cooks do not improvise there (see dietary accommodations).
• Record cooler and hot-holding temperatures on the station log every two hours.
• Batch-cook ahead of the 11:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. rushes.
• Close down the station: break down, clean, label, and date.

What we’re looking for

• No kitchen experience required; we train knife skills and station setup on paid time.
• Willingness to earn food-handler certification in your first month; University Dining pays for it and you keep it.
• Ability to stand for a four-hour shift and lift 40 pounds.
• Preferred: past line, prep, or restaurant work, which can earn a quicker move to station lead.

Schedule and pay

Shifts run 6:30–10:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m., 4–8 p.m., and weekend brunch 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Most student cooks work 8–12 hours a week; the shift-swap board lets you give away shifts around exams. Shifts of four hours or more include a free meal. Returning cooks can move to trainer and shift lead, with a raise at each step.

Campus jobs are capped at 20 hours a week combined while classes are in session and 40 over breaks (see hour limits); for F-1 students the 20 is firm. Pay is biweekly by direct deposit; log every shift in the payroll system so your supervisor can approve it before the cutoff.

How to apply

Apply in PorterConnect, the student employment portal in MyPorter, under job number SJ-26-1138. No résumé needed: fill in the availability grid and one question about food allergies. You can also ask any manager on duty at The Forge for a ten-minute walk-in interview. See jobs in university dining for the other dining roles.

Apply by Open until filled; applications reviewed every Monday. Questions about the job go to Rhett Amble, Sous Chef, The Forge, at ambler@uwporterfalls.edu or (715) 555–0186. Once hired, you complete an I-9 in person and a W-4 before your first shift; plan on a pay period or two before the first check arrives.