What You'll Do

  • Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.
  • Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.
  • Grill, cook, and fry foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes.
  • Take orders from customers and cook foods requiring short preparation times, according to customer requirements.
  • Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops.
  • Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.
  • Order supplies and stock them on shelves.
  • Accept payments, and make change or write charge slips as necessary.
  • Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers.
  • Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea.

Essential Skills

Reading Comprehension 3.12/5
Active Listening 3.12/5
Time Management 3.12/5
Speaking 3.0/5
Coordination 3.0/5
Service Orientation 3.0/5
Critical Thinking 2.88/5
Monitoring 2.88/5
Social Perceptiveness 2.62/5
Complex Problem Solving 2.62/5
Judgment and Decision Making 2.62/5
Active Learning 2.38/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.
  • Leader: Taking charge and moving ideas forward motivates you.

Common styles

Dependability, Stress Tolerance, Attention to Detail, Self-Control, Cooperation

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Comprehension 3.5/5
Near Vision 3.5/5
Trunk Strength 3.25/5
Information Ordering 3.12/5
Manual Dexterity 3.12/5
Problem Sensitivity 3.0/5
Selective Attention 3.0/5
Time Sharing 3.0/5

Technologies & Tools

Aldelo Systems Aldelo for Restaurants Pro Foodman Home-Delivery Inventory control software Plexis Software Plexis POS Point of sale POS software RestaurantPlus PRO

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Dependability (High importance: 4.41/5)
  • Stress Tolerance (High importance: 4.2/5)
  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.07/5)
  • Self-Control (High importance: 3.98/5)
  • Cooperation (High importance: 3.85/5)

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How to Become One

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful but is usually not required. Training is often provided on the job.

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Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Barbecue Cook Bed and Breakfast Cook (B&B Cook) Breakfast Cook Breakfast Line Cook Broiler Cook Chuck Wagon Cook Cook Deli Cook (Delicatessen Cook) Food and Beverage Attendant Food Clerk Griddle Attendant Griddle Cook Grill Associate Grill Attendant Grill Cook Grill Line Cook Grill Person Grill Prep Cook (Grill Preparation Cook) Hash Slinger Hasher Line Cook Pizza Cook Pizza Maker Prep Cook (Preparation Cook) Prepared Foods Clerk Sandwich Artist Short Order Cook Short Order Fry Cook Snack Bar Cook

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.