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Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

Typical education: High school diplomaModerate pressure

What they do

Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias.

Kinds of work

  • Realistic: Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals, often outdoors.
  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.

Moderate pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $37,450 Median per year · $18.01/hr Most earn $28,480–$49,670

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Bake breads, rolls, or other pastries.
  • Train new employees.
  • Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
  • Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
  • Requisition food supplies, kitchen equipment, and appliances, based on estimates of future needs.
  • Rotate and store food supplies.

Job outlook

United States
3% more jobs by 2035, about as fast as average · about 62,900 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Elementary and secondary schools27.8%
  • Special food services15.4%
  • Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)11.0%
  • Continuing care retirement communities and assisted living facilities for the elderly10.7%
  • General medical and surgical hospitals6.7%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 1 to 3 months

Some people start through an apprenticeship: paid training on the job, often with classes. Search apprenticeships on Apprenticeship.gov (opens in a new tab) ↗

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: High school diplomaExperience before this job: 1 to 3 monthsEntry-level

Cook, Institution and Cafeteria is a good entry-level job: you usually need only a high school diploma, and most people start after about 1 to 3 months of related work experience. Many people reach this job within a few months of starting in food service.

  1. High school diploma

    4 years

    Finish high school, ideally with cooking, nutrition, or food-related classes, since this is the only formal education the job usually asks for.

  2. Food Preparation Workers

    3-6 months

    Start as a food prep worker, learning knife skills, kitchen safety, and how to handle food in a busy kitchen before moving to cooking tasks.

  3. Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

    1-3 months of related experience

    Move into cooking large batches of food for schools, hospitals, or cafeterias, following recipes and food safety rules.

Where it can lead

  1. Lead Cook

    2-4 years of experience first

    Take charge of a shift or kitchen station, train other cooks, and help plan menus and portions, which requires strong organization and reliability.

  2. First-Line Supervisor of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

    6 months to 1 year of experience as a cook or food worker of experience first

    Supervise a team of food workers, schedule shifts, and make sure food quality and service standards are met.

  3. Food Service Manager

    1-2 years of supervisory experience of experience first

    Oversee an entire food service operation, including budgets, staffing, purchasing, and health and safety compliance, usually with a certificate or extra training.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take family and consumer science or culinary classesThese classes teach basic cooking, kitchen safety, and food handling, which are the skills used every day in this job.
  • Get a part-time job in a kitchen or food serviceEven a dishwashing or prep job teaches you how a commercial kitchen runs and builds your work experience.
  • Volunteer to cook for eventsHelping at a church, community meal, or school event gives you experience cooking for large groups.
  • Take a health or biology classUnderstanding how food safety and nutrition work will help you in any kitchen job.

In college

  • Take nutrition and food safety coursesThese classes build knowledge of safe food handling and large-batch meal planning, which institutional kitchens value.
  • Work in a campus dining hallCampus dining is similar to institutional cooking, so this job gives you direct experience in a large-scale kitchen.
  • Earn a food handler or food safety certificateMany kitchens require or prefer this credential, and it is usually quick and inexpensive to get through local programs.
  • Join a food-related student club or volunteer groupClubs and volunteer cooking events help you build teamwork skills and make professional connections.

Tips for getting started

  • Look for part-time or summer work in a school, hospital, or campus dining hall kitchen to get real experience early.
  • Get a food handler card or food safety certification as soon as you can, since many kitchens ask for it and it shows you take food safety seriously.
  • Learn to work well on a team and show up on time; reliability matters a lot in large-scale kitchens.

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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