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What They Do
About This Career
Prepares and cooks to order a variety of foods that require only a short preparation time. May take orders from customers and serve patrons at counters or tables.
This career is part of the Hospitality and Tourism cluster Restaurants and Food/Beverage Services pathway.
A person in this career:
- Cleans food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.
- Performs food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea.
- Restocks kitchen supplies, rotates food, and stamps the time and date on food in coolers.
- Performs general cleaning activities in kitchen and dining areas.
- Grills, cooks, and fries foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes.
- Plans work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.
- Takes orders from customers and cooks foods requiring short preparation times, according to customer requirements.
- Grills and garnishes hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops.
- Completes orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.
- Orders supplies and stocks them on shelves.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
- Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
- Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
- Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time
- Work in this occupation involves walking or running more than one-third of the time
Working in this career involves (physical activities):
- Seeing clearly up close
- Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
- Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
- Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
Work Hours and Travel
- Rotating shift work
- Weekend work
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- Caterer — Provides food for business and social gatherings, such as at weddings, parties, celebrations, picnics, and business meetings.
- 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.
- Deli Cook (Delicatessen Cook)
- 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 Maker
- Prep Cook (Preparation Cook) — Assists in the preparation of meals by chopping vegetables, making salads, and putting together entrees.
- Snack Bar Cook
- Food and Beverage Attendant
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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