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35-2012.00 - Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria


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


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
1
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
417,600
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
443,900
Estimate
Change in Employment
+26,300
Estimate
Change in Employment %
+6.3%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • 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.
  • Take inventory of supplies and equipment.
  • Requisition food supplies, kitchen equipment, and appliances, based on estimates of future needs.
  • Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
  • Rotate and store food supplies.
Supplemental
  • Monitor use of government food commodities to ensure that proper procedures are followed.
  • Compile and maintain records of food use and expenditures.
  • Monitor menus and spending to ensure that meals are prepared economically.
  • Plan menus that are varied, nutritionally balanced, and appetizing, taking advantage of foods in season and local availability.
  • Determine meal prices, based on calculations of ingredient prices.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 English Language
  • 72%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Food Production
  • 72%
    Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 71%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Mathematics
  • 71%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Administration and Management
  • 67%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Production and Processing
  • 61%
    Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 60%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Education and Training
  • 58%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 54%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Personnel and Human Resources
  • 51%
    Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
 Clerical
  • 51%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Domestic kitchen tools and utensils
  • Apple corers
  • Cream whippers
  • Kitchen tongs
  • Knife sharpeners
  • Mandolines
  • Meat thermometers
  • Parisian cutters
  • Refrigerator thermometers
  • Sieves
  • Sifters
  • Strainers
 Industrial freezers
  • Blast chillers
 Food preparation equipment
  • Blenders
  • Box graters
  • Bread slicers
  • Commercial coffee grinders
  • Commercial dishwashers
  • Commercial stand mixers
  • Food dicers
  • Food processors
  • Food shredders
  • Food slicers
  • Juice extractors
  • Meat grinders
  • Mixers
  • Pasta machines
  • Portion scales
 Cookware and kitchen tools
  • Bone saws
  • Chefs' knives
  • Kitchen shears
  • Oyster knives
  • Paring knives
  • Serrated blade knives
  • Woks
 Cooking and warming equipment
  • Braziers
  • Broilers
  • Commercial coffeemakers
  • Commercial kitchen convection ovens
  • Commercial kitchen steamers
  • Commercial microwave ovens
  • Commercial use combination ovens
  • Convection ovens
  • Conveyor ovens
  • Electric deep-fat fryers
  • Electric stoves
  • Gas stoves
  • Gas-powered deep-fat fryers
  • Griddles
  • Grills
  • Hot dog cookers
  • Infrared heat lamps
  • Pizza ovens
  • Pressurized steam cookers
  • Rice cookers
  • Rotisserie ovens
  • Salamanders
  • Steam kettles
  • Steam tables
  • Toasters
  • Waffle makers
 Food and beverage dispensing equipment
  • Cappuccino makers
  • Carbonated beverage dispensers
  • Ice shaving or crushing equipment
  • Ice-making machines
  • Juice dispensers
 Calculating machines and accessories
  • Cash registers
 Industrial beverage processing machinery
  • Commercial ice cream machines
 Computers
  • Desktop computers
  • Personal computers
  • Point of sale POS computer terminals
 Domestic kitchen appliances
  • Disposal units
  • Garbage compactors
  • Tilt skillets
 Domestic cookware
  • Double boilers
 Fire fighting equipment
  • Fire suppression blankets
  • Kitchen fire extinguishers
 Computer displays
  • Touch screen monitors
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Data management and query software
  • Data entry softwareHOT
  • Meals Plus
 Industry specific software
  • GNOME Gnutrition
  • PCS Revenue Control Systems FASTRAK School Meal Software
  • Point of sale POS software
 Content authoring and editing software
  • IBM Lotus 1-2-3
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Word processing software
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Specialty
 Advanced
 Core
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Piedmont Virginia Community College
 Programs