What Do Private Cook Do?

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

Life As a Private Cook: What Do They Do?

• Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events.
• Serve meals and snacks to employing families and their guests.
• Keep records pertaining to menus, finances, and other business-related issues.
• Create and explore new cuisines.
• Direct the operation and organization of kitchens and all food-related activities, including the presentation and serving of food.
• Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils.

What a Private Cook Should Know

When polled, Private Cooks say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:

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

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

Job Demand for Private Cooks

In 2016, there was an estimated number of 25,000 jobs in the United States for Private Cook. 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. The BLS estimates 3,700 yearly job openings in this field.

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.

Private Cook Salary

Private Cooks make between $25,610 and $62,600 a year.

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

How much do Private Cooks make in each U.S. state?

State	Annual Mean Salary
California	$40,080

What Tools & Technology do Private Cooks Use?

Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Private Cooks:

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

Becoming a Private Cook

What education is needed to be a Private Cook?

What work experience do I need to become a Private Cook?

Private Cooks Sector

Private Cooks work in the following 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.