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Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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

Related: Chefs & Head Cooks Cooks, Private Household Cooks, Restaurant Cooks, Short Order Food Preparation Workers

Industries: Health & Counseling Education Hotel & Food

Summary
Details

Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
Compile and maintain records of food use and expenditures.
Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment.
Rotate and store food supplies.
Monitor use of government food commodities to ensure that proper procedures are followed.
Determine meal prices, based on calculations of ingredient prices.
Train new employees.
Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
Direct activities of one or more workers who assist in preparing and serving meals.
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.
Rotate and store food supplies.
Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
Take inventory of supplies and equipment.
Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.
Requisition food supplies, kitchen equipment, and appliances, based on estimates of future needs.
Rotate and store food supplies.
Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
Bake breads, rolls, or other pastries.

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

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

Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
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.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
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.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
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.
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.
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.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
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.
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.

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

48260/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

23.2/hr

Currently Employed

10,820

Yearly Projected Openings

1820

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
Cooperation

Blast freezers
Cappuccino or espresso machines
Carbonated beverage dispenser
Cash registers
Commercial use barbeque ovens
Commercial use blenders
Commercial use broilers
Commercial use coffee grinders
Commercial use coffee or iced tea makers
Commercial use combination oven
Commercial use convection ovens
Commercial use cutlery
Commercial use deep fryers
Commercial use dishwashers
Commercial use food choppers or cubers or dicers
Commercial use food grinders
Commercial use food processors
Commercial use food slicers
Commercial use food warmers
Commercial use graters
Commercial use griddles
Commercial use grills
Commercial use heat lamps
Commercial use high pressure steamers
Commercial use hot dog grills
Commercial use juicers
Commercial use microwave ovens
Commercial use mixers
Commercial use ovens
Commercial use pasta machines
Commercial use pizza ovens
Commercial use ranges
Commercial use rice cookers
Commercial use rotisseries
Commercial use scales
Commercial use steamers
Commercial use toasters
Commercial use waffle irons
Commercial use woks
Desktop computers
Domestic apple corer
Domestic double boilers
Domestic electric skillets
Domestic garbage disposals
Domestic garnishing tools
Domestic kitchen or food thermometers
Domestic kitchen tongs
Domestic knife sharpeners
Domestic mandolin
Domestic sifter
Domestic strainers or colanders
Domestic trash compactors
Domestic whipped cream maker
Fire blankets
Fire extinguishers
Ice cream machines
Ice dispensers
Ice shaver machines or accessories
Non carbonated beverage dispenser
Personal computers
Point of sale POS terminal
Touch screen monitors

Analytical or scientific software
Data base user interface and query software
Point of sale POS software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

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