Tourism, Food / Beverage
Chef
Overview
A chef is responsible for preparing meals and managing kitchen operations at restaurants, hotels, and other food service establishments. They may create menus, order supplies, manage staff, and ensure that food safety and sanitation standards are met.
To become a chef, one must typically complete formal culinary training, such as a degree or diploma program in culinary arts or a related field. Many chefs also gain experience through apprenticeships or by working their way up through the ranks of a kitchen. Chefs must be able to work in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment and have excellent leadership, communication, and organizational skills. They must also be creative, adaptable, and able to develop new and innovative dishes to keep their menus fresh and exciting.
Common tasks
| Task | Related trait(s) |
|---|---|
| Planning and developing menus taking into account customer preferences and dietary restrictions | Conscientiousness Creativity Achievement striving Teamplayer Respect for rules |
| Ensuring that food quality and presentation meet specific standards | Conscientiousness |
| Monitoring inventory levels and restocking supplies as needed | Conscientiousness |
| Budgeting | Math and science interest |
| Supervising and Training staff | Cautiousness for Health and Safety Fairness and responsibility in leadership |
| Ensure staff complies with rules and regulations, health and safety standards | Teamplayer Respect for rules Assertiveness Amiability |
| Ensure kitchen has all the required equipment | Cautiousness for Health and Safety |
| Ensure equipment operates on specific standards | Cautiousness for Health and Safety |
| Ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations | Written comprehension Cautiousness for Health and Safety |
| Collaborating with front-of-house staff | Fairness and responsibility in leadership |
| Managing staff schedules | Assertiveness Fairness and responsibility in leadership |
| Participating in staff hire | Fairness and responsibility in leadership |
Soft skills measured by TraitForward
| Trait | No of Questions | Cronbach’s alpha (α) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teamplayer Respect for rules | 9 | 0.74 | |
| Do they follow rules? | |||
| Written comprehension | 7 | 0.78 | |
| Do they like reading? | |||
| Conscientiousness | 11 | 0.82 | |
| Do they have a desirable work ethic? | |||
| Activity Level | 6 | 0.68 | |
| Can they multitask? Can they handle demanding workloads? | |||
| Dutifulness | 6 | 0.72 | |
| Can they follow orders? | |||
| Assertiveness | 9 | 0.87 | |
| Can they take charge? | |||
| Achievement striving | 8 | 0.74 | |
| Do they want to make their work stand out? | |||
| Amiability | 6 | 0.81 | |
| Are they calm? Do they respect others? | |||
| Fairness and responsibility in leadership | 7 | 0.68 | |
| Are they fair to others? | |||
| Creativity | 5 | 0.85 | |
| Can they come up with solutions? | |||
| Teamplayer Helping Others | 6 | 0.75 | |
| Do they help others? | |||
| Teamplayer Positive group practices | 11 | 0.78 | |
| Do they like being included in a group? | |||
| Cautiousness for Health and Safety | 6 | 0.70 | |
| Are they cautious? | |||
| Math and science interest | 9 | 0.74 | |
| Are they interested in using algorithms to solve problems? | |||
Did you Know?
Source: US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics
Median wage:
$50,160 / per year
$24 / hour
A relatively low annual wage is $30,910 (10th percentile)
A relatively high salary of the annual wage is $84,570 (90th percentile)
Expected employment growth:
Number of professionals occupied in US in 2021: 153 K
Projected number of professionals occupied in US in 2031: 176.3 K
Employment percent change: 15,4%
Find out the psychometric properties for the Chef Traitforward questionnaire