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Cooks, Restaurant

Typical education: High school diplomaLower pressure Bright Outlook

What they do

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

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.
  • Enterprising: Leading, persuading, selling and starting new projects or businesses.

Lower 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 $37,390 Median per year · $17.98/hr Most earn $28,700–$47,900

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
  • Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
  • Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
  • Estimate expected food consumption, requisition or purchase supplies, or procure food from storage.
  • Consult with supervisory staff to plan menus, taking into consideration factors such as costs and special event needs.
  • Plan and price menu items.

Job outlook

Bright Outlook Rapid Growth; Numerous Job Openings

United States
12% more jobs by 2035, much faster than average · about 218,600 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

  • Full-service restaurants74.9%
  • Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)2.9%

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

Experience before this job: 3 to 6 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: 3 to 6 monthsEntry-level

Restaurant cooking is an entry-level job. You can start with a high school diploma, and most people build the basic skills in about 3 to 6 months on the job.

  1. High school diploma

    4 years

    Finish high school and pick up basic skills like reading recipes, math for measuring, and food safety habits that restaurants look for.

  2. Food Preparation Worker

    3-6 months

    Start in a kitchen doing prep work like chopping, washing, and portioning food while you learn how a restaurant kitchen runs.

  3. Restaurant Cook

    Ongoing

    Move onto the cooking line, where you prepare, season, and cook dishes like soups, meats, vegetables, and desserts for customers.

Where it can lead

  1. Chef

    2-4 years of experience first

    As a chef or head cook, you plan menus, manage other cooks, order supplies, and keep the kitchen's budget and records, so you need strong leadership and planning skills as well as cooking skill.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take family and consumer sciences or culinary classesCooking classes teach knife skills, recipes, and kitchen safety before you ever work in a restaurant.
  • Get a part-time job in a restaurant or food serviceEven a dishwashing or host job lets you see how a kitchen runs and build a work record.
  • Take a food handler course if your school or town offers oneA basic food safety certificate shows employers you understand safe food handling.
  • Cook meals at home and try new recipesPracticing regularly builds confidence with seasoning, timing, and following recipes.
  • Join a cooking, FCCLA, or career club at schoolClubs like these connect you with teachers and local food businesses and can lead to job leads.

In college

  • Take courses in food safety, nutrition, or hospitalityThese classes give you knowledge employers value, especially if you want to move into planning menus or managing a kitchen.
  • Work a part-time job in a restaurant or catering businessRegular shifts build real kitchen speed, teamwork, and reliability, which are key for cooks.
  • Earn a food handler or food safety certificationA recognized certificate is often quick and inexpensive and shows you take food safety seriously.
  • Volunteer for community meal programs or large eventsCooking for groups helps you learn to work under pressure and manage larger batches of food.
  • Join a campus food or hospitality clubClubs give you networking chances and sometimes lead to internships or part-time kitchen work.

Tips for getting started

  • Get any kitchen job you can, even dishwashing or prep work, since hands-on time in a real kitchen is what employers value most at the start.
  • Learn basic food safety and handling early. Many people take a short food handler course, and it helps you stand out when applying.
  • Ask experienced cooks questions and watch how they work. Being reliable, on time, and willing to learn often matters as much as cooking talent when you're starting out.

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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