Get in touch with the cafeteria manager or director at your school to see if you can be involved somehow or do a job shadow. You can learn about food service and see how a cafeteria works.

See how your school cafeteria works.

Find restaurants near you that are looking for help and apply in person. You'll probably be bussing tables or cleaning at first, but you'll get a look into what working in this industry is like. 

Apply for a restaurant job.

Watch an episode of "Mind of a Chef"—it'll take you behind the scenes with famous chefs as they seek inspiration, create recipes, and find the right ingredients.

Enter the mind of a chef!

Learn about food safety, sanitation, and more through a food handler certification course. Make sure to verify the certification requirements for your specific state!

Find out what it takes to get a food handler certification.

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

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

Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.

Realistic

Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Conventional

Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.

Enterprising

Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

Social

Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.

Artistic

Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.

Investigative

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

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.

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

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.

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

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.

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Cooks

Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations

Cooks and Food Preparation Workers

Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.

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.

Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.

Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.

Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.

Direct activities of one or more workers who assist in preparing and serving meals.

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

Overview

Career

What Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria Do

Other Job Titles Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

Overview

Career

What Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria Do

Other Job Titles Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

Majors Related to Career

Related Careers

Related Leaders