How To Become A Chief Cook: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chief cook and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief cook. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.69 an hour? That's $38,867 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 419,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreChief CookUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,867

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.2

Growth Rate 16%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.40%

Asian 9.00%

Black or African American 10.82%

Hispanic or Latino 19.08%

Unknown 5.19%

White 54.51%

Gender

female 21.45%

male 78.55%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress Level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.3

Complexity Level is basic

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.4

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chief cook

Explore chief cook education requirements

Most common chief cook degrees

High School Diploma

31.0 %

Bachelor's

28.4 %

Associate

22.6 %

Start to develop specific chief cook skills

Skills	Percentages
Meal Preparation	21.40%
Kitchen Equipment	16.88%
Cleanliness	12.81%
Food Safety	12.42%
Food Handling	8.12%

Complete relevant chief cook training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief cooks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chief cook based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief cook resumes.

Research chief cook duties and responsibilities

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Demand cleanliness of galley and equipment while assisting in meal planning and inventory management.
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Operate commercial dishwasher and ensure kitchen area are clean and sanitary at all times, catering to following shift crew members.

Prepare your chief cook resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chief cook resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a chief cook resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Chief Cook Resume templates

Build a professional Chief Cook resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Chief Cook resume.