Chefs and Head Cooks

What Chefs and Head Cooks Do

Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods. May plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts.

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience

5 years or more

On-the-job training

None

Self-employed

6.3%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

• Food Productionimportance 4.1/5
• Production and Processingimportance 4.0/5
• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
• Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 3.7/5
• Administration and Managementimportance 3.7/5
• Mathematicsimportance 3.5/5
• Education and Trainingimportance 3.5/5
• English Languageimportance 3.3/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

• E-Mail4.9/5
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.8/5
• Time Pressure4.8/5
• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.7/5
• Spend Time Standing4.6/5

Related Careers

• Bakers
• Cooks, Restaurant
• Cooks, Private Household
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
• Food Service Managers
• Cooks, Short Order
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
• Food Batchmakers

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

• Food Service Managers97% skill match
• Industrial Production Managers95% skill match
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers95% skill match
• First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives95% skill match
• First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers94% skill match
• First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers94% skill match
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria94% skill match
• Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners94% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

• Coordinationimportance 4.1/5
• Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.9/5
• Time Managementimportance 3.9/5
• Management of Personnel Resourcesimportance 3.9/5
• Service Orientationimportance 3.8/5
• Instructingimportance 3.6/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.6/5
• Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.3/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

• Dependability
• Leadership Orientation
• Attention to Detail
• Stress Tolerance
• Innovation
• Achievement Orientation
• Self-Control

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

• EnterprisingHigh
• RealisticMedium
• ConventionalMedium
• SocialLow
• ArtisticLow
• InvestigativeLow

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where chefs and head cooks make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1. 1Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ4.15× national avg
2. 2Napa, CA3.01× national avg
3. 3Naples-Marco Island, FL2.85× national avg
4. 4Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL2.65× national avg
5. 5Kahului-Wailuku, HI2.63× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

• Food Service ManagersCareer Change
• Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaLateral Move
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersLateral Move
• Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural ManagersCareer Change

See the full career path from Chefs and Head Cooks →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.