A Head Cook, aka the chef, is responsible for running a kitchen, usually in a high-end establishment. They delegate tasks and oversee the work of everyone involved in food preparation, making sure that the result is nothing but exquisite delicacies. They come up with new recipes, create the menu, and make sure the necessary ingredients are always in stock.
Head cooks are deeply passionate about cooking. They live and die for tasty food and know a lot about other countries' culinary cultures. They consider their profession art, rather than anything else, and just like a poet has a favorite pen, you will recognize an authentic head cook by the fact that he favors one knife over all others.
Not that salaries matter to a real artist; just for your information, head cooks in the U.S. make an average of $48,098 per year.
Head Cook Overview
Head Cook Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a head cook. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.26 an hour? That's $48,373 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 15,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Head Cook Do
There are certain skills that many head cooks have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed business skills, communication skills and creativity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a head cook, we found that a lot of resumes listed 32.3% of head cooks included kitchen equipment, while 15.6% of resumes included menu items, and 11.0% of resumes included meal prep. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the head cook job title. But what industry to start with? Most head cooks actually find jobs in the hospitality and health care industries.
How To Become a Head Cook
If you're interested in becoming a head cook, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 13.1% of head cooks have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.9% of head cooks have master's degrees. Even though some head cooks have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a head cook. When we researched the most common majors for a head cook, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on head cook resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a head cook. In fact, many head cook jobs require experience in a role such as cook. Meanwhile, many head cooks also have previous career experience in roles such as line cook or cashier.
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Head Cook Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a head cook can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as sous chef, progress to a title such as executive chef and then eventually end up with the title director of food and beverage.
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Head Cook
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties Camp Cormorant-Head Cook Camp Cormorant-Head Cook | YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties | 01/24/2021 01/24/2021 | $21,91401/24/2021 $21,914 |
Adams County Government Head Start Cook Head Start Cook | Adams County Government Adams County Government | 01/08/2021 01/08/2021 | $31,80601/08/2021 $31,806 |
Tuacahn Center for The Arts Head Cook at Tuacahn Cafe Head Cook at Tuacahn Cafe | Tuacahn Center for The Arts Tuacahn Center for The Arts | 11/20/2020 11/20/2020 | $37,56611/20/2020 $37,566 |
Adams County Government Head Start Cook-Temporary Head Start Cook-Temporary | Adams County Government Adams County Government | 09/28/2020 09/28/2020 | $30,36609/28/2020 $30,366 |
Moore Public Schools Head Cook Head Cook | Moore Public Schools Moore Public Schools | 09/16/2020 09/16/2020 | $25,04409/16/2020 $25,044 |
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Head Cook Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Head Cook. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Head Cook Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Head Cook resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Head Cooks
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
3. Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
5. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
6. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
7. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
Alfred, NY • Public
8. SUNY College of Technology at Delhi
Delhi, NY • Public
9. University of Charleston
Charleston, WV • Private
10. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
Top Skills For a Head Cook
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 32.3% of head cooks listed kitchen equipment on their resume, but soft skills such as business skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Kitchen Equipment, 32.3%
- Menu Items, 15.6%
- Meal Prep, 11.0%
- Food Preparation, 9.0%
- Food Service, 5.3%
- Other Skills, 26.8% See All Head Cook Skills
Best States For a Head Cook
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a head cook. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Head cooks make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $65,978. Whereas in Delaware and Rhode Island, they would average $62,036 and $61,125, respectively. While head cooks would only make an average of $56,277 in Pennsylvania, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Pennsylvania
$56,277
Avg. Salary
2. Georgia
$55,131
Avg. Salary
3. Kentucky
$48,292
Avg. Salary