Cooks, Restaurant

What Cooks, Restaurant Do

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.

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience

Less than 5 years

On-the-job training

Moderate-term on-the-job training

Self-employed

Not available

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

Key Knowledge Areas

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

• Food Productionimportance 3.4/5
• English Languageimportance 3.1/5
• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 2.6/5
• Production and Processingimportance 2.3/5
• Education and Trainingimportance 2.2/5
• Mathematicsimportance 2.1/5
• Administration and Managementimportance 2.1/5
• Sales and Marketingimportance 1.9/5

Work Environment

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

• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.8/5
• Spend Time Standing4.8/5
• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.7/5
• Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.5/5
• Contact With Others4.1/5
• Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.1/5

Related Careers

• Cooks, Short Order
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
• Food Preparation Workers
• Bakers
• Cooks, Fast Food
• Butchers and Meat Cutters
• Cooks, Private Household
• Chefs and Head Cooks

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.

• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria94% skill match
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers92% skill match
• Transportation Inspectors92% skill match
• Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers92% skill match
• Farm Labor Contractors92% skill match
• Chefs and Head Cooks91% skill match
• Radiologists91% skill match
• Industrial Production Managers91% skill match

Transferable Skills

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

• Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
• Coordinationimportance 2.6/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.6/5
• Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.5/5
• Operations Monitoringimportance 2.5/5
• Service Orientationimportance 2.4/5
• Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.4/5
• Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.4/5

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
• Attention to Detail
• Cooperation
• Stress Tolerance
• Perseverance
• Self-Control
• Adaptability

Career Interests

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

• RealisticHigh
• ConventionalMedium
• EnterprisingMedium
• SocialLow
• ArtisticLow
• InvestigativeLow

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

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

1. 1Kahului-Wailuku, HI2.65× national avg
2. 2Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC2.58× national avg
3. 3Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC2.33× national avg
4. 4Naples-Marco Island, FL2.32× national avg
5. 5Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ2.21× national avg

Possible Career Moves

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

• Cooks, Institution and CafeteriaLateral Move
• Cooks, Short OrderLateral Move
• Chefs and Head CooksAdvancement
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving WorkersLateral Move

See the full career path from Cooks, Restaurant →

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.