Cook / Chef
Are you a whiz in the kitchen? Do you friends and family always come to you for culinary creations? Learn to do it professionally!
Prepare food in restaurants, cafeterias, and other dining establishments. Follow recipes, manage kitchen stations, and maintain food safety standards.
Salary Range
$28,000 – $55,000
per year (10th–90th percentile)
Median Salary
$28,800
per year
Growth Outlook
2024–2034 projected
Put your creativity and passion to work!, Work independently or as part of a small team, Explore pathways to one day running your own business
Tasks & Responsibilities
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment and work surfaces, or 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.
- Observe and test foods to determine if they have been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing them with utensils.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.
- Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods.
- Wash, peel, cut, and seed fruits and vegetables to prepare them for consumption.
Tools of the Trade
Knowledge Areas
Food Production
Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques. 78/100
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. 72/100
English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. 64/100
Production and Processing
Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. 50/100
Administration and Management
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. 48/100
Education and Training
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects. 48/100
Mathematics
Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. 47/100
Public Safety and Security
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions. 43/100
Personnel and Human Resources
Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems. 35/100
Sales and Marketing
Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems. 35/100
Work Profile
Start your Cooks career today
Classet connects skilled trades workers with employers hiring now. Apply and interview 24/7 with our AI-powered platform.