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What is a kitchen chef and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted expert
Patti Stobaugh
The average kitchen chef salary is $37,579. The most common degree is a associate degree degree with an culinary arts major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a kitchen chef. Kitchen chefs with a Certified Master Chef (CMC) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 15% and produce 23,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a kitchen chef?

Being humble and willing to learn will take you far in your career, not just in the beginning. If you have the desire to open your own food service business, go to work for a business that has a great reputation. That will give you the opportunity to learn so much.
ScoreKitchen ChefUS Average
Salary
2.9

Avg. Salary $37,579

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
9.2

Growth rate 15%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.9
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.74%

Asian 12.66%

Black or African American 9.58%

Hispanic or Latino 18.39%

Unknown 5.32%

White 53.31%

Gender

female 30.03%

male 69.97%

Age - 41
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41
Stress level
9.2

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
0.2

Work life balance is

6.4 - fair

Kitchen chef career paths

Key steps to become a kitchen chef

  1. Explore kitchen chef education requirements

    Most common kitchen chef degrees

    Associate

    33.9 %

    Bachelor's

    28.3 %

    High School Diploma

    23.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific kitchen chef skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Culinary16.33%
    Food Handling13.40%
    Quality Standards10.62%
    Kitchen Equipment5.65%
    Fine Dining5.33%
  3. Complete relevant kitchen chef training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New kitchen chefs learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a kitchen chef based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real kitchen chef resumes.
  4. Research kitchen chef duties and responsibilities

    • Integrate key culinary leaders into casino and food and beverage operations, achieving positive results and industry awards.
    • Create and prepare international cuisine for executive clientele by using ingenuity, organization, efficiency in production and attention to detail
    • Cook menu items on a grill, broiler, and used a deep fryer, oven, stove, and toaster.
    • Monitor the buffets, organize inventory, purchase orders, record temperatures, make chocolate sculptures, and sugar sculptures.
  5. Prepare your kitchen chef resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your kitchen chef resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a kitchen chef resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable kitchen chef resume templates

    Build a professional kitchen chef resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your kitchen chef resume.
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
    Kitchen Chef Resume
  6. Apply for kitchen chef jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a kitchen chef job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first kitchen chef job

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Are you a kitchen chef?

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Average kitchen chef salary

The average kitchen chef salary in the United States is $37,579 per year or $18 per hour. Kitchen chef salaries range between $24,000 and $57,000 per year.

Average kitchen chef salary
$37,579 Yearly
$18.07 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do kitchen chefs rate their job?

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Kitchen chef reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020
Pros

Design & creating food making customer happy cooking every area as line, prep, steam, broil, grill, creating comfort food desserts and catering. Ordering and managing a kitchen

Cons

Nothing to complain about love being a chef


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019
Cons

My aim is to be a Chef.Because I am a Bsc Hotel Management graduate ,so wood like to prepare the food .I don't like to dishwasher


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A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019
Pros

The responsibility and instant gratification when a customer has a wow monment

Cons

Lazy workers who do not care about the products that they are working with and their teammates


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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