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Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
Creates dishes and runs a kitchen.
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Chefs plan menus, cook, order food and lead a kitchen team. They work in restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools and catering, and some open their own businesses. The hours are long, and the work is fast and hands-on.
The guide checks the courses against your plan, with things to try each year. Free account needed.
High school courses that build toward it
- Foods and Culinary · Career and Technical
Builds growing food and raising animals, which this job uses.
- Pre-Algebra · Math
Builds math, which this job uses.
- English 10 · English
Builds reading and writing, which this job uses.
- Physical Education · Health and PE
Builds teaching and training, which this job uses.
- Computer Science Principles · Computer Science
Builds computers and electronics, which this job uses.
- Chemistry · Science
Builds chemistry, which this job uses.
Ranked by how much the job relies on what each course teaches, from O*NET's knowledge ratings. Your school's own courses and the counselor have the final word.
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria on O*NET OnLine · O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections 2025.