Chefs and Head Cooks

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.

Most important skills

Coordination
Monitoring
Speaking
Social Perceptiveness
Time Management
Management of Personnel Resources
Critical Thinking
Service Orientation

Key knowledge

Food Production
Production and Processing
Customer and Personal Service
Personnel and Human Resources
Administration and Management
Mathematics
Education and Training
English Language

What the work involves

Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met.
Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations.
Check the quantity and quality of received products.
Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation.
Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation.
Inspect supplies, equipment, or work areas to ensure conformance to established standards.
Determine how food should be presented and create decorative food displays.
Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Realistic, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree (54.2% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (37.5%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (45.8%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Chefs and Head Cooks is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 67% of occupations compared	63% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 65% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Teamwork	High	Higher on teamwork than 67% of occupations compared	50% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Very low	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 82% of occupations compared	67% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Very high	Higher on time pressure than 97% of occupations compared	88% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 92% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very high	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 91% of occupations compared	42% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Consequence of error	Moderate	Lower on consequence of error than 50% of occupations compared	29% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: very high
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
Consequence of error: moderate

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions