A cook primarily prepares food at family, fast food or chain restaurants or cafeterias. The primary job description is to quickly and accurately prepare dishes from a limited menu. It is important to be able to handle food safely and to be able to pre-cook certain foods as well as batches of foods, such as hamburgers, pizzas or chicken.
Depending on the restaurant, the cook may have to take orders from customers, serve drinks or even man the cash register. The most important quality of the job holder is the ability to work quickly and accurately to fulfil orders. The ability to balance cooking foods that take longer to prepare and others that have short preparation times is key.
A person in this role will have limited help in the kitchen, so it will also be important to be able to keep the work area clean and sanitary. The position holder may be required to help with the dishes and with washing pots and pans, as well as to generally help clean the kitchen.
The median salary for a cook is around C
$20,000. It is possible to make more money working in the many summer or winter resorts or in upmarket hotels.