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Cooks, Restaurant

Prepare, season, and cook soups, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foodstuffs in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.

Median Wage: $22,170
Employed: 914,200
Growth: 8%
Green: No
Classification: Major: Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations
Minor: Cooks and Food Preparation Workers




 Working Conditions?3.2?

Interests: Cooks, Restaurant

95   Realistic People with Realistic interests like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They enjoy dealing with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. They enjoy outside work. Often people with Realistic interests do not like occupations that mainly involve doing paperwork or working closely with others.
51   Enterprising People with Enterprising interests like work activities that have to do with starting up and carrying out projects, especially business ventures. They like persuading and leading people and making decisions. They like taking risks for profit. These people prefer action rather than thought.
39   Conventional People with Conventional interests like work activities that follow set procedures and routines. They prefer working with data and detail rather than with ideas. They prefer work in which there are precise standards rather than work in which you have to judge things by yourself. These people like working where the lines of authority are clear.
39   Artistic People with Artistic interests like work activities that deal with the artistic side of things, such as forms, designs, and patterns. They like self-expression in their work. They prefer settings where work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
23   Social People with Social interests like work activities that assist others and promote learning and personal development. They prefer to communicate more than to work with objects, machines, or data. They like to teach, to give advice, to help, or otherwise be of service to people.
6   Investigative People with Investigative interests like work activities that have to do with ideas and thinking more than with physical activity. They like to search for facts and figure out problems mentally rather than to persuade or lead people.

Styles: Cooks, Restaurant

72   Attention to Detail Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
71   Self Control Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
69   Stress Tolerance Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
66   Cooperation Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
65   Social Orientation Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
62   Dependability Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
62   Initiative Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
62   Achievement/Effort Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
59   Leadership Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
58   Persistence Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
58   Concern for Others Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
52   Adaptability/Flexibility Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
48   Integrity Job requires being honest and ethical.
42   Analytical Thinking Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
42   Innovation Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Values: Cooks, Restaurant


Knowledge: Cooks, Restaurant

39   Production and Processing Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
26   Education and Training Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
12   Mechanical Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
10   Personnel and Human Resources Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
8   Law and Government Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
7   Economics and Accounting Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
5   Therapy and Counseling Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
4   Telecommunications Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
4   Sociology and Anthropology Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
4   History and Archeology Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

Skills: Cooks, Restaurant

33   Active Learning Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
32   Instructing Teaching others how to do something.
31   Learning Strategies Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
31   Equipment Selection Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
31   Speaking Talking to others to convey information effectively.
30   Time Management Managing one's own time and the time of others.
29   Equipment Maintenance Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
28   Reading Comprehension Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
28   Social Perceptiveness Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
27   Coordination Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
23   Service Orientation Actively looking for ways to help people.
22   Management of Personnel Resources Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
21   Troubleshooting Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
20   Quality Control Analysis Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
17   Repairing Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
16   Mathematics Using mathematics to solve problems.
16   Negotiation Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
15   Management of Material Resources Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
14   Monitoring Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
13   Operation and Control Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
12   Persuasion Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
11   Complex Problem Solving Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
10   Writing Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
9   Systems Analysis Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
7   Management of Financial Resources Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
7   Operations Analysis Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
6   Installation Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
5   Technology Design Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
4   Science Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
2   Programming Writing computer programs for various purposes.

Median Wage - The salaries are US national averages as of 2009 (
Green Careers - The 'green' careers are classified using O*NET classification as reported at
Growth - Growth rates are US national 10-year projections as of 2008 (
Zone - Zone refers to 'Job Zone' which is a group of occupations that are similar in the amount of education, experience, and on-the-job training needed, with 1 being lowest and 5 highest (
Employed - Employed refers to the number of people employed in this career in 2008 (

*Note:In cases where individual values are not available, values are estimated using averages across similar careers.

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