Occupation Profile

Cooks, Restaurant

(SOC Code : 35-2014)

in California

Prepare, season, and cook soups, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foodstuffs in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.

Employers usually expect an employee in this occupation to be able to do the job after Long-term on-the-job training (> 12 months) .

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Occupational Wages

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Area	Year	Period	Hourly Mean	Hourly by Percentile
				25th	Median	75th
California	2012	1st Qtr	$12.09	$9.93	$11.37	$13.70

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Occupational Projections of Employment (also called "Outlook" or "Demand")

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Area	Estimated Year-Projected Year	Employment		Employment Change		Annual Avg Openings
Area	Estimated Year-Projected Year	Estimated	Projected	Number	Percent	Annual Avg Openings
California	2010 - 2020	101,900	129,800	27,900	27.4	4,960
California	2008 - 2018	100,500	114,700	14,200	14.1	3,990

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Job Openings from JobCentral National Labor Exchange

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Enter a Zip Code Find a Zip code in California

Within miles of Zip Code.

Industries Employing This Occupation (click on Industry Title to View Employers List)

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Industry Title

Number of Employers in State of California

Percent of Total
Employment for Occupation in State of California

Full-Service Restaurants

30,594

82.7%

Accommodation

11,143

7.8%

Other Amusement & Recreation Industries

11,489

1.9%

Limited-Service Eating Places

29,819

1.8%

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Training Programs (click on title for more information)

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Program Title

Culinary Arts/Chef Training

About Training & Apprenticeships

About This Occupation (from O*NET - The Occupation Information Network)

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Top Tasks (Specific duties and responsibilities of this job.)

Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment and work surfaces, or serving areas to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.

Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.

Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.

Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking.

Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.

Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods.

Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.

Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.

Observe and test foods to determine if they have been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing them with utensils.

Wash, peel, cut, and seed fruits and vegetables to prepare them for consumption.

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Top Skills used in this Job

Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others` actions.

Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others` reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

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Data for Tasks not available.

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Top Work Values (Aspects of this job that create satisfaction.)

Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

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Top Interests (The types of activities someone in this job would like.)

Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

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Alternate Titles

Broiler Cooks; Specialty Cooks; Banquet Cooks, and Dinner Cooks.