How To Become A Head Chef: What It Is and Career Path

What is a head chef and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Patti Stobaugh

A head chef is an individual cook who deals with directing and controlling food preparations and approval before they are served. Head chefs are generally responsible for everything that goes on in the employer's kitchen or restaurant. As a head chef, not only will you be required to create menu items, you will also need to coordinate and monitor the activities of other cooks. You will be tasked with hiring, training, and firing the kitchen staff. Furthermore, you will be held accountable for any defects or problems concerning the restaurant or food served.

To land a job as a head chef, you need to have proven experience in kitchen management. You must have very good leadership and communication skills and adequate knowledge of the latest kitchen processes and culinary trends. You also need a degree in culinary science or a related field. Head chefs earn an average salary of $44,181 annually or $21.24 every hour.

What general advice would you give to a Head Chef?

Patti Stobaugh

Owner, PattiCakes Bakery and Stoby's Restaurant

Being humble and willing to learn will take you far in your career, not just in the beginning. If you have the desire to open your own food service business, go to work for a business that has a great reputation. That will give you the opportunity to learn so much.

ScoreHead ChefUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,470

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.2

Growth Rate 15%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.79%

Asian 11.16%

Black or African American 9.78%

Hispanic or Latino 16.76%

Unknown 5.44%

White 56.06%

Gender

female 20.17%

male 79.83%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress Level

9.2

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

0.2

Work Life balance is

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a head chef

Explore head chef education requirements

Most common head chef degrees

Associate

42.9 %

Bachelor's

23.7 %

High School Diploma

19.8 %

Start to develop specific head chef skills

Skills	Percentages
Kitchen Operations	26.57%
Culinary	9.22%
Dinner Service	6.27%
Food Service	4.60%
Cuisine	3.35%

Complete relevant head chef training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New head chefs 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 head chef based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real head chef resumes.

Gain additional head chef certifications

Head chef certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific head chef certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for head chefs include ServSafe Alcohol and Certified Food Manager (CFM).

More About Certifications

Research head chef duties and responsibilities

Hire, train, and manage a staff of cooks, also train servers and cross train dishwashers.
Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
Supervise, coordinate and direct all culinary activities within the food service department.
Work manned omelet and brunch stations in dining room.

Prepare your head chef resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your head chef 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 head chef resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Head Chef Resume templates

Build a professional Head Chef 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 Head Chef resume.

Apply for head chef jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a head chef job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do head chefs rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Head Chef reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

Design & creating food making customer happy cooking every area as line, prep, steam, broil, grill, creating comfort food desserts and catering. Ordering and managing a kitchen

Cons

Nothing to complain about love being a chef

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019