What Does it Take to Be a Private Cook?

Occupation Description Prepare meals in private homes. Includes personal chefs.

Life As a Private Cook

• Travel with employers to vacation homes to provide meal preparation at those locations.
• Cool, package, label, and freeze foods for later consumption and provide instructions for reheating.
• Keep records pertaining to menus, finances, and other business-related issues.
• Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events.
• Plan menus according to employers' needs and diet restrictions.
• Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils.

What Skills Do You Need to Work as a Private Cook?

Below is a list of the skills most Private Cooks say are important on the job.

Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Management of Material Resources: Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Types of Private Cook Jobs

• Holiday Food Prepper
• Culinary Worker
• Certified Personal Chef (CPC)
• Private Chef
• Cooking Chef

What Kind of Private Cook Job Opportunities Are There?

There were about 25,000 jobs for Private Cook in 2016 (in the United States). New jobs are being produced at a rate of 5.2% which is below the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 1,300 new jobs for Private Cook by 2026. There will be an estimated 3,700 positions for Private Cook per year.

The states with the most job growth for Private Cook are Nevada, Oregon, and Florida. Watch out if you plan on working in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, or North Dakota. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Salary for a Private Cook

The typical yearly salary for Private Cooks is somewhere between $25,610 and $62,600.

Private Cooks who work in California, make the highest salaries.

Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Private Cooks in different U.S. states.

State	Annual Mean Salary
California	$40,080

Tools & Technologies Used by Private Cooks

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Private Cooks may use on a daily basis:

• Web browser software
• Email software
• Intuit QuickBooks
• YouTube
• WordPress
• Work scheduling software

How to Become a Private Cook

Education needed to be a Private Cook:

How many years of work experience do I need?

Where do Private Cooks Work?

The table below shows the approximate number of Private Cooks employed by various industries.

References:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• College Factual
• O*NET Online

Image Credit: U.S. Army Europe Images via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

More about our data sources and methodologies.