Cooks, Private Household

Prepare meals in private homes.

tasks jobzones knowledge skills abilities work_activities work_context work_styles

Tasks

• Travel with employers to vacation homes to provide meal preparation at those locations.

• Serve meals and snacks to employing families and their guests.

• Plan and prepare food for parties, holiday meals, luncheons, special functions, and other social events.

• Create and explore new cuisines.

• Specialize in preparing fancy dishes and/or food for special diets.

• 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.

• Prepare meals in private homes according to employers' recipes or tastes, handling all meals for the family and possibly for other household staff.

• Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries.

• Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment.

Back to top

Job Zone

• Name: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

• Experience: Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

• Education: Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some may require a bachelor's degree.

• Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers.

• Examples: These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include funeral directors, electricians, forest and conservation technicians, legal secretaries, interviewers, and insurance sales agents.

• Svp range: (6.0 to < 7.0)

Back to top

Knowledge

Browse Knowledge

• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

• Sales and Marketing
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

• Clerical
  Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

• Production and Processing
  Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

• Administration and Management
  Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

• Food Production
  Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

• Economics and Accounting
  Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Back to top

Skills

Browse Skills

• Management of Financial Resources
  Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.

• Time Management
  Managing one's own time and the time of others.

• Equipment Selection
  Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.

• 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.

• Active Learning
  Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

• Reading Comprehension
  Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

• Speaking
  Talking to others to convey information effectively.

• Judgment and Decision Making
  Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

• Writing
  Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

• Service Orientation
  Actively looking for ways to help people.

Back to top

Abilities

Browse Abilities

• Oral Comprehension
  The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

• Originality
  The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

• Manual Dexterity
  The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

• Oral Expression
  The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

• Category Flexibility
  The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

• Near Vision
  The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

• Fluency of Ideas
  The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

• Problem Sensitivity
  The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

• Deductive Reasoning
  The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

• Finger Dexterity
  The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

Back to top

Work Activities

Browse Work Activities

• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
  Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

• Handling and Moving Objects
  Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

• Monitoring and Controlling Resources
  Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.

• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
  Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

• Getting Information
  Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

• Performing General Physical Activities
  Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.

• Selling or Influencing Others
  Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.

• Thinking Creatively
  Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
  Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.

• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
  Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Back to top

Work Context

• Freedom to Make Decisions
  How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?

• Spend Time Standing
  How much does this job require standing?

• Structured versus Unstructured Work
  To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals?

• Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls
  How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls?

• Time Pressure
  How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines?

• Telephone
  How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?

• Electronic Mail
  How often do you use electronic mail in this job?

• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
  How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?

• Exposed to Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites, or Stings
  How often does this job require exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings?

• Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions
  How much does this job require making repetitive motions?

Back to top

Work Styles

• Independence
  Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

• Integrity
  Job requires being honest and ethical.

• Dependability
  Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

• Attention to Detail
  Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

• Initiative
  Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.

• Achievement/Effort
  Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

• Innovation
  Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

• Adaptability/Flexibility
  Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.

• Persistence
  Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

• Cooperation
  Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Back to top