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What They Do
About This Career
Prepares and cooks food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu. Duties of these cooks are limited to preparation of a few basic items and normally involve operating large-volume single-purpose cooking equipment.
This career is part of the Hospitality and Tourism cluster Restaurants and Food/Beverage Services pathway.
A person in this career:
- Orders and takes delivery of supplies.
- Cooks the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously.
- Operates large-volume cooking equipment, such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles.
- Prepares specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time.
- Washes, cuts, and prepares foods designated for cooking.
- Prepares and serves beverages, such as coffee or fountain drinks.
- Reads food order slips or receives verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepares and cooks food according to instructions.
- Cleans food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils.
- Serves orders to customers at windows, counters, or tables.
- Cleans, stocks, and restocks workstations and display cases.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
- Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
Working in this career involves (physical activities):
- Seeing clearly up close
- Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
Work Hours and Travel
- Rotating shift work
- Weekend work
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- Cook — Prepares and cooks a wide variety of foods in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and other health care institutions, central food commissaries, educational institutions and other establishments.
- Fry Cook — Prepares hamburgers and other fast food meals.
- Grill Cook
- Line Cook — Holds down one station on a restaurant line and can be expected to perform a range of duties related to the station.
- Pizza Cook
- Pizza Maker
- Deep Fat Fryer Operator
- Fast Food Cook
- Fryer
- Prep Cook (Preparatory Cook)
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts national surveys of wage data by occupation in every state and in all industry divisions. These surveys are conducted through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program.
The statistics collected for one year are published the next fall. For example, 2013 wage information was published in the fall of 2014.
There are over 800 occupations in the surveys, and these occupations cover the entire U.S. labor market. The surveys ask for reports in a scale of ranges for both hourly wages and annual wages.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics for a broad category, be aware that the salary data for a specific career may differ.
For more details about how wage information is collected and calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts a national survey of over 400,000
employers in every state and in all industry divisions. This survey is conducted
through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Every other year the
department publishes outlook information based on these surveys.
Each outlook period covers 10 years. For example, in 2003 the outlook information
was published for 2004-2014. Employers are asked to report the number of employees
in about 770 different occupations that cover the entire U.S. labor market.
From this information, staffing patterns for different industries are established.
Industry growth is projected into the future based on past trends and current economic
conditions. Industry staffing patterns are then applied to the industry projections
to obtain occupational projections.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties
of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational
category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics
for a broad category, be aware that the employment data for a specific field may
differ.
For more details about how employment information is collected and calculated by
the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
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