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Cooks, Private Household

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Prepare meals in private homes. Includes personal chefs.

Related: Chefs & Head Cooks Cooks, Institution & Cafeteria Cooks, Restaurant Cooks, Short Order Food Preparation Workers

Industries:

Summary
Details

Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries.
Prepare meals in private homes according to employers' recipes or tastes, handling all meals for the family and possibly for other household staff.
Plan menus according to employers' needs and diet restrictions.
Direct the operation and organization of kitchens and all food-related activities, including the presentation and serving of food.
Travel with employers to vacation homes to provide meal preparation at those locations.
Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events.
Create and explore new cuisines.
Travel with employers to vacation homes to provide meal preparation at those locations.
Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries.
Keep records pertaining to menus, finances, and other business-related issues.
Specialize in preparing fancy dishes or food for special diets.
Serve meals and snacks to employing families and their guests.
Cool, package, label, and freeze foods for later consumption and provide instructions for reheating.
Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils.
Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment.
Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events.

Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.

Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Public Safety and Security
- 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
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Customer and Personal Service
- 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.
Administration and Management
- 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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

U.S. Annual Salary

44530/yr

U.S. Hourly Wage

21.41/hr

Currently Employed

1,460

Yearly Projected Openings

250

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Innovation
Integrity
Self-Control
Cooperation

Anti cut gloves
Basters or basting brushes
Commercial use cutlery
Commercial use icing sets or bags
Domestic baking sheets
Domestic can or bottle openers
Domestic convectional ovens
Domestic cutting boards
Domestic dish washers
Domestic food processors
Domestic food scrapers
Domestic forks
Domestic frying pans
Domestic garlic press
Domestic graters
Domestic indoor electric grills
Domestic kitchen or diet scales
Domestic kitchen or food thermometers
Domestic kitchen spatulas
Domestic kitchen timers
Domestic kitchen tongs
Domestic kitchen wire whips
Domestic knife sharpeners
Domestic knives
Domestic mandolin
Domestic measuring cups
Domestic measuring spoons
Domestic melon or butter baller
Domestic microwave ovens
Domestic mixers
Domestic mixing bowls
Domestic muffin pans
Domestic rolling pins
Domestic saucepans
Domestic saute pans
Domestic serving utensils
Domestic spoons
Domestic stock pots
Domestic strainers or colanders
Domestic wooden spoons
Dough knife
Label making machines
Laser printers
Notebook computers
Pen or flash drive
Potato mashers
Rulers
Tablet computers
Vegetable peeler

Accounting software
Calendar and scheduling software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Internet browser software
Inventory management software
Video creation and editing software
Web page creation and editing software

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Cooks, Private Household

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