How To Become A Specialty Cook: What It Is and Career Path

What is a specialty cook and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a specialty cook. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.26 an hour? That's $33,829 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 419,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSpecialty CookUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,829

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 16%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.20%

Asian 8.95%

Black or African American 8.25%

Hispanic or Latino 21.53%

Unknown 4.79%

White 55.28%

Gender

female 22.58%

male 77.42%

Age - 37

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 - 37

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.3

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a specialty cook

Explore specialty cook education requirements

Most common specialty cook degrees

Associate

43.7 %

Bachelor's

19.7 %

High School Diploma

14.1 %

Start to develop specific specialty cook skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Handling	22.62%
Culinary	16.25%
Kitchen Equipment	15.81%
Cuisine	12.18%
Food Quality	7.26%

Complete relevant specialty cook training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New specialty cooks 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 specialty cook based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real specialty cook resumes.

Research specialty cook duties and responsibilities

Work grill, saut, & expediter stations.
Complete culinary tasks using various cooking methods and techniques/ very good knife handling skills.
Work all stations, saut, grill, pantry, fryer, breakfast, in upscale American bistro.
Maintain cleanliness and a sanitary environment within kitchen area to meet all health and safety requirements.

Prepare your specialty cook resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your specialty cook 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 specialty cook resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable specialty cook resume templates

Build a professional specialty cook 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 specialty cook resume.