Description
Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.
Interests
- Realistic
- Conventional
- Enterprising
Work Values
- Support
- Relationships
- Independence
Work Styles
- Cooperation
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Stress Tolerance
- Self-Control
Tasks
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
- Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking.
Work Activities
- Getting Information
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
- Handling and Moving Objects
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
Detailed Work Activities
- Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
- Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
- Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
- Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
- Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
- Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
- Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
- Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
Technology Skills
- Spreadsheet software
- Electronic mail software
- Point of sale POS software
- Office suite software
- Word processing software
Abilities
- Near Vision
- Information Ordering
- Manual Dexterity
- Problem Sensitivity
- Speech Recognition
Skills
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
Knowledge
- Food Production
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Production and Processing
Most Common Education Level
The “Most Common Education Level” refers to the level of education held by the majority of workers in a given occupation. For example, if the highest percentage of workers in a role have an Associate’s Degree, that suggests this is the typical educational requirement. Knowing this helps you plan how many years of education you may need to pursue that career.
Certificates
Certificate name
ProChef Level II CertificationCertifying Organization
The Culinary Institute of America
Type
Advanced
Certificate name
Certified Chef de CuisineCertifying Organization
American Culinary Federation, Inc.
Type
Advanced
Certificate name
Certified Working Pastry ChefCertifying Organization
American Culinary Federation, Inc.
Type
Specialty
Certificate name
Certified Kitchen CookCertifying Organization
American Hotel and Lodging Association Educational Institute
Type
Core
Income Percentile
The income percentiles show how earnings are distributed within a profession. The 10th percentile means that 10% of workers earned less than that amount. The median (50th percentile) indicates that half of workers earned more, and half earned less. The 90th percentile reflects what the top 10% of earners in the field make.
| Income Percentile | Annual Income |
|---|---|
| Low (10%) | $30,073 |
| Median (50%) | $34,943 |
| High (90%) | $43,013 |
Income by Experience
This table shows how income typically grows with experience—from entry level (0–2 years), to mid-level (3–5 years), to senior level (6–8 years), to expert level (8+ years).
| Experience | Income |
|---|---|
Entry Level  | $36,001 |
| Mid Level | $40,641 |
| Senior Level | $44,150 |
| Expert Level | $43,807 |
Employability
There are currently 1,434,200 jobs in this career path. Over the next 10 years, that number is expected to increase to 1,678,600 positions, reflecting a projected growth of 17%.
The Projected Job Growth figure refers to the expected increase or decrease in employment within a specific career field over a certain period of time.
Projected Job Growth of 17%
Related Careers
The career information and data on this site incorporates information from O*NET Web Services, Lightcast, CareerOneStop, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For more details regarding the data sources and the specific information sourced, click here.
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