Chef
What the work is
Plans and organises the preparation and cooking of food in a dining or catering establishment.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Assists in the planning of menus and determining food quantities and costs
- Prepares and cooks food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience
- Monitors food quality and presentation
- Manages and trains Cooks and Kitchenhands in food preparation, cooking techniques and food safety
- Orders and maintains inventory of food and kitchen supplies, ensuring it meets daily production needs
- Collaborates with management to develop new dishes and improve existing recipes
- Coordinates with front-of-house staff to ensure efficient food service
- Ensures compliance with health and safety regulations in the kitchen
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the kitchen of a busy fictional neighbourhood restaurant. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A full Saturday service where the whole kitchen moves like one team
- Someone asks to thank the chef for a dish you created
- Teaching an apprentice something and watching them get it right
Hard days
- On your feet for hours, in the heat, while your friends are out having fun
- A delivery that does not turn up, with the dining room already booked out
- A dish you were proud of comes back, and the next ten orders are waiting
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 321131, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.