Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Service Orientation
- Operations Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Food Production
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Production and Processing
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
- Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.
- Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
- Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
- Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment.
- Direct activities of one or more workers who assist in preparing and serving meals.
- Bake breads, rolls, or other pastries.
- Train new employees.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (71.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (25.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (50.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria 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.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 71% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 68% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 83% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | 83% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 52% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 75% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 62% of occupations compared | 27% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0.09%
- Occasional contact with others: 7.42%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.29%
- Contact with others most of the time: 15.13%
- Constant contact with others: 77.07%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 13.57%
- Fairly important: 23.21%
- Important: 23.38%
- Very important: 7.92%
- Extremely important: 31.92%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 4.1%
- Important: 11.67%
- Very important: 16.92%
- Extremely important: 67.3%
n = 48, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 6.52%
- Very little freedom: 8.44%
- Limited freedom: 19.33%
- Some freedom: 44.68%
- A lot of freedom: 21.04%
n = 49, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 14.07%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.22%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.4%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 2.51%
- Every day: 82.8%
n = 48, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 24.76%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.63%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.03%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.23%
- Every day: 9.34%
n = 48, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 16%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.53%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 35.79%
- Every day: 18.04%
n = 47, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 18.98%
- Fairly serious: 17.27%
- Serious: 10.94%
- Very serious: 25.59%
- Extremely serious: 27.22%
n = 48, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 35-2012.00 · SOC 35-2012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8