Food Preparation and Serving · Holland code RSA

Cooks, Private Household

Prepare meals in private homes. Includes personal chefs.

Also called: Certified Personal Chef (CPC), Personal Chef, Personal Private Chef, Private Chef.

O*NET 35-2013.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $47,940; Middle half earn $40,630 to $55,450. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Secondary Certificate; 38% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Peel, wash, trim, and cook vegetables and meats, and bake breads and pastries.
Cool, package, label, and freeze foods for later consumption and provide instructions for reheating.
Plan menus according to employers' needs and diet restrictions.
Shop for or order food and kitchen supplies and equipment.
Prepare meals in private homes according to employers' recipes or tastes, handling all meals for the family and possibly for other household staff.
Keep records pertaining to menus, finances, and other business-related issues.
Stock, organize, and clean kitchens and cooking utensils.
Direct the operation and organization of kitchens and all food-related activities, including the presentation and serving of food.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Active Listening3.0 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5
Monitoring3.0 / 5
Writing2.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.6 / 5
Food Production4.1 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.7 / 5
Administration and Management3.1 / 5
Production and Processing3.0 / 5
Mathematics3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic66
Investigative7
Artistic46
Social46
Enterprising43
Conventional45

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

chef · DE Chefkoch/Chefköchin · FR chef de cuisine
private chef · DE Privatkoch/Privatköchin · FR chef privé/chef privée
cook · DE Koch/Köchin · FR cuisinier/cuisinière
diet cook · DE Diätkoch/Diätköchin · FR cuisinier diététicien/cuisinière diététicienne

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Chefs (5434)222,700 employed
Cooks (5435)47,500 employed
Catering and bar managers (5436)75,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.79. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (35-2013).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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