Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
What Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders Do
Operate or tend cooking equipment, such as steam cooking vats, deep fry cookers, pressure cookers, kettles, and boilers, to prepare food products.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 6.2%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Production and Processingimportance 4.3/5
- Food Productionimportance 3.8/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.3/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 3.1/5
- Mechanicalimportance 3.1/5
- English Languageimportance 2.8/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 2.6/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 2.6/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.8/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.7/5
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.6/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions4.6/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.6/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.5/5
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.
- Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers97% skill match
- Slaughterers and Meat Packers95% skill match
- Food Batchmakers95% skill match
- Locomotive Engineers95% skill match
- Commercial Pilots95% skill match
- Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers94% skill match
- Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators94% skill match
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders94% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Operations Monitoringimportance 3.5/5
- Operation and Controlimportance 3.1/5
- Coordinationimportance 2.9/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.9/5
- Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.8/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.8/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.6/5
- Time Managementimportance 2.6/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Cautiousness
- Stress Tolerance
- Self-Control
- Integrity
- Perseverance
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- EnterprisingLow
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where food cooking machine operators and tenders make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Florence, SC14.46× national avg
- 2Twin Falls, ID12.84× national avg
- 3Sioux City, IA-NE-SD12.37× national avg
- 4York-Hanover, PA10.01× national avg
- 5Altoona, PA5.94× 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 BatchmakersLateral Move
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and TendersLateral Move
- Tire BuildersLateral Move
- Machine Feeders and OffbearersCareer Change
See the full career path from Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders →