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 $14.18 an hour? That's $29,498 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 282,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many specialty 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 dexterity, physical stamina and sense of taste and smell.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a specialty cook, we found that a lot of resumes listed 21.4% of specialty cooks included sous, while 17.7% of resumes included kitchen equipment, and 13.6% of resumes included cuisine. 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 specialty cook job title. But what industry to start with? Most specialty cooks actually find jobs in the hospitality and retail industries.
If you're interested in becoming a specialty cook, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 19.8% of specialty cooks have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.5% of specialty cooks have master's degrees. Even though some specialty 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 specialty cook. When we researched the most common majors for a specialty cook, we found that they most commonly earn associate degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on specialty cook resumes include high school diploma degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a specialty cook. In fact, many specialty cook jobs require experience in a role such as cook. Meanwhile, many specialty cooks also have previous career experience in roles such as line cook or sous chef.
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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, 21.4% of specialty cooks listed sous on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and physical stamina are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a specialty cook. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Specialty cooks make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $35,958. Whereas in Massachusetts and New Jersey, they would average $35,837 and $35,520, respectively. While specialty cooks would only make an average of $34,855 in Rhode Island, 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. Nevada
$31,756
Avg. Salary
2. Vermont
$34,619
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$34,855
Avg. Salary