Also called: Catering Chef
Plans and cooks food for large events in hotels, convention centers, and catering companies.
You might cook for a 1,200-person conference lunch and a 200-person wedding on the same day. The trick is planning: ordering, prep schedules, and plating teams. Timing has to be perfect so hundreds of plates arrive hot.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Culinary degree or extensive volume cooking experience.
Ways in: 2-year college, Trade school, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Culinary Arts.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years). Grouped with chefs and head cooks.
Low risk for 10 years. Software scales recipes and orders food; cooking for 1,000 guests on time stays a hands-on feat.
Classes: Culinary arts CTE, Math, Business.
Official data: O*NET occupation 35-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.