Overview
All Cooks
-
$1,068 Weekly Pay
-
Strong Future Growth
-
38,300 workers Employment Size
-
Medium skill Skill level rating
-
48% Full-Time Full-Time Share
-
43 hours Average full-time
-
35 years Average age
-
54% female Gender Share
Cooks prepare, season and cook food in dining and catering establishments.
You can work as a Cook without formal qualifications, however, a certificate III or IV in cooking, catering or kitchen operations may be useful.
Tasks
- examining foodstuffs to ensure quality
- regulating temperatures of ovens, grills and other cooking equipment
- preparing and cooking food
- seasoning food during cooking
- portioning food, placing it on plates, and adding gravies, sauces and garnishes
- storing food in temperature controlled facilities
- preparing food to meet special dietary requirements
- may plan menus and estimate food requirements
- may train other kitchen staff and apprentices
Prospects
The number of people working as Cooks (in their main job) grew strongly over 5 years:
from 35,100 in 2014 to 38,300 in 2019.
Caution: The Australian jobs market is changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These estimates do not take account of the impact of COVID-19. They may not reflect the current jobs market and should be used and interpreted with extreme caution.
- Size: This is a large occupation.
- Location: Cooks work in many regions of Australia.
- Industries: Most work in Accommodation and Food Services; Health Care and Social Assistance; and Retail Trade.
- Earnings: Full-time workers on an adult wage earn around $1,068 per week (below the average of $1,460). Earnings tend to be lower when starting out and higher as experience grows.
- Full-time: Around half work full-time (48%, less than the average of 66%), showing there are many opportunities to work part-time.
- Hours: Full-time workers spend around 43 hours per week at work (compared to the average of 44 hours).
- Age: The average age is 35 years (compared to the average of 40 years). Many workers are under 25 years of age (23%).
- Gender: 54% of workers are female (compared to the average of 48%).
Employment Outlook
Caution: The 2019 employment projections do not take account of any impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and are therefore no longer reflective of current labour market conditions. As such, they should be used, and interpreted, with extreme caution. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, National Skills Commission trend data to May 2019 and projections to 2024.
Weekly Earnings
Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (cat. no. 6306.0), May 2018, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Main Industries
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Industries are based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC 06).
States and Territories
NSW
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
TAS
NT
ACT
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian States and Territories, in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Profile
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Education Level
Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Pathways
You can work as a Cook without formal qualifications, however, a certificate III or IV in cooking, catering or kitchen operations may be useful.
Before starting a course, check it will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need. Visit
- My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
- AAPathways website to explore Tourism, Travel and Hospitality VET training pathways.
Skills & Knowledge
Employers look for Cooks who have good interpersonal skills, who are reliable and are well presented.
Filter Skills & Knowledge
Knowledge
These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.
-
Food production
Planting, growing, and harvesting food (both plant and animal), including storage and handling.
-
Production and processing
Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.
-
Public safety and security
Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.
-
Education and training
Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
-
Mathematics
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.
-
Customer and personal service
Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.
-
Administration and management
Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.
-
English language
English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Chemistry
Chemical composition, structure, and properties. How chemicals are made, used, mixed, and can change.
-
Sales and marketing
Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
-
Mechanical
Machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
-
Personnel and human resources
Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.
-
Communications and media
Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.
-
Transportation
Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.
-
Economics and accounting
Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.
-
Psychology
Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.
-
Law and government
How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.
-
Technical design
Design techniques, tools, and principles used to make detailed technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
-
Computers and electronics
Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
-
Sociology and anthropology
Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
Skills
Skills can be improved through training or experience.
-
Coordination with others
Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.
-
Monitoring
Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.
-
Critical thinking
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
-
Active learning
Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.
-
Time management
Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.
-
Active listening
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
-
Quality control analysis
Doing tests and checking products, services, or processes to make sure they are working properly.
-
Speaking
Talking to others.
-
Instructing
Teaching people how to do something.
-
Judgment and decision making
Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.
-
Social perceptiveness
Understanding why people react the way they do.
-
Writing
Writing things for co-workers or customers.
-
Operation monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
-
Complex problem solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
-
Management of personnel resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.
-
Reading comprehension
Reading work related information.
-
Serving others
Looking for ways to help people.
-
Management of material resources
Providing the right equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do work.
-
Mathematics
Using maths to solve problems.
-
Operation and control
Controlling equipment or systems.
Abilities
Workers use these physical and mental abilities.
-
Oral expression
Communicate by speaking.
-
Colour discrimination
Notice differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.
-
Near vision
See details that are up-close (within a few feet).
-
Oral comprehension
Listen to and understand what people say.
-
Manual dexterity
Quickly move your hand to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
-
Sorting or ordering
Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
-
Problem spotting
Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.
-
Arm-hand steadiness
Keep your hand or arm steady.
-
Perceptual speed
Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
-
Categorising
Come up with different ways of grouping things.
-
Deductive reasoning
Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.
-
Visualization
Imagine how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
-
Multilimb coordination
Use your arms and/or legs at the same time while sitting, standing, or lying down.
-
Selective attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted.
-
Speech recognition
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
-
Trunk strength
Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.
-
Control precision
Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
-
Finger dexterity
Put together small parts with your fingers.
-
Inductive reasoning
Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.
-
Speech clarity
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
Activities
These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.
-
Handling and moving objects
Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, moving and manipulating objects.
-
Building good relationships
Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.
-
Looking for changes over time
Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.
-
Doing physically active work
Use your arms, legs and whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling objects.
-
Training and teaching others
Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.
-
Managing payments and orders
Monitoring and controlling resources and the spending of money.
-
Communicating within a team
Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Planning and prioritising work
Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.
-
Coordinating the work of a team
Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.
-
Making decisions and solving problems
Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.
-
Assessing and evaluating things
Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.
-
Controlling equipment or machines
Operating machines or processes either directly or using controls (not including computers or vehicles).
-
Monitoring people, processes and things
Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.
-
Coaching and developing others
Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.
-
Thinking creatively
Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.
-
Researching and investigating
Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.
-
Checking compliance with standards
Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
-
Estimating amounts, costs and resources
Working out sizes, distances, amounts, time, costs, resources, or materials needed for a task.
-
Checking for errors or defects
Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials for errors, problems or defects.
-
Collecting and organising information
Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 35-2014.00 - Cooks, Restaurant.
Work Environment
Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.
Filter Work Environment
Demands
The physical and social demands workers face most often are shown below.
-
Spend time standing
Spend time standing at work.
-
Face-to-face discussions
Talk with people face-to-face.
-
Using your hands to handle, control, or feel
Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.
-
Contact with people
Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.
-
Minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings
Be exposed to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings.
-
Teamwork
Work with people in a group or team.
-
Physically close to people
Work physically close to other people.
-
Very hot or cold temperatures
Work in very hot or cold temperatures.
-
Indoors, heat controlled
Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.
-
Time pressure
Work to strict deadlines.
-
Making repetitive motions
Spend time making repetitive motions.
-
Frequent decision making
Frequently make decisions that impact other people.
-
Being exact or accurate
Be very exact or highly accurate.
-
Walking and running
Spend time walking and running.
-
Unstructured work
Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.
-
Health and safety of others
Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.
-
Impact of decisions
Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.
-
Wear common protective or safety equipment
Wear equipment like safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets.
-
Exposure to contaminants
Be exposed to pollutants, gases, dust or odours.
-
Responsible for outcomes
Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.
Values
Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
-
Support
Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.
-
Relationships
Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
-
Independence
Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.
-
Achievement
Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.
-
Working conditions
Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.
-
Recognition
Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.
Interests
Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.
-
Practical
Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.
-
Enterprising
Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.
-
Administrative
Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.
-
Creative
Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.
-
Helping
Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.
-
Analytical
Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 35-2014.00 - Cooks, Restaurant.
All Cooks
-
$1,068 Weekly Pay
-
Strong Future Growth
-
38,300 workers Employment Size
-
Medium skill Skill level rating
-
48% Full-Time Full-Time Share
-
43 hours Average full-time
-
35 years Average age
-
54% female Gender Share
Cooks prepare, season and cook food in dining and catering establishments.
You can work as a Cook without formal qualifications, however, a certificate III or IV in cooking, catering or kitchen operations may be useful.
Tasks
- examining foodstuffs to ensure quality
- regulating temperatures of ovens, grills and other cooking equipment
- preparing and cooking food
- seasoning food during cooking
- portioning food, placing it on plates, and adding gravies, sauces and garnishes
- storing food in temperature controlled facilities
- preparing food to meet special dietary requirements
- may plan menus and estimate food requirements
- may train other kitchen staff and apprentices
The number of people working as Cooks (in their main job) grew strongly over 5 years:
from 35,100 in 2014 to 38,300 in 2019.
Caution: The Australian jobs market is changing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These estimates do not take account of the impact of COVID-19. They may not reflect the current jobs market and should be used and interpreted with extreme caution.
- Size: This is a large occupation.
- Location: Cooks work in many regions of Australia.
- Industries: Most work in Accommodation and Food Services; Health Care and Social Assistance; and Retail Trade.
- Earnings: Full-time workers on an adult wage earn around $1,068 per week (below the average of $1,460). Earnings tend to be lower when starting out and higher as experience grows.
- Full-time: Around half work full-time (48%, less than the average of 66%), showing there are many opportunities to work part-time.
- Hours: Full-time workers spend around 43 hours per week at work (compared to the average of 44 hours).
- Age: The average age is 35 years (compared to the average of 40 years). Many workers are under 25 years of age (23%).
- Gender: 54% of workers are female (compared to the average of 48%).
Employment Outlook
Caution: The 2019 employment projections do not take account of any impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and are therefore no longer reflective of current labour market conditions. As such, they should be used, and interpreted, with extreme caution. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey, National Skills Commission trend data to May 2019 and projections to 2024.
Weekly Earnings
Source: Based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (cat. no. 6306.0), May 2018, Customised Report. Median weekly total cash earnings for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate. Earnings are before tax and include amounts salary sacrificed. Earnings can vary greatly depending on the skills and experience of the worker and the demands of the role. These figures should be used as a guide only, not to determine a wage rate.
Main Industries
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Industries are based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC 06).
States and Territories
NSW
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
TAS
NT
ACT
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian States and Territories, in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Profile
Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Education Level
Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
You can work as a Cook without formal qualifications, however, a certificate III or IV in cooking, catering or kitchen operations may be useful.
Before starting a course, check it will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need. Visit
- My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
- AAPathways website to explore Tourism, Travel and Hospitality VET training pathways.
Employers look for Cooks who have good interpersonal skills, who are reliable and are well presented.
Filter Skills & Knowledge
Knowledge
These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.
-
Food production
Planting, growing, and harvesting food (both plant and animal), including storage and handling.
-
Production and processing
Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.
-
Public safety and security
Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.
-
Education and training
Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
-
Mathematics
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.
-
Customer and personal service
Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.
-
Administration and management
Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.
-
English language
English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Chemistry
Chemical composition, structure, and properties. How chemicals are made, used, mixed, and can change.
-
Sales and marketing
Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
-
Mechanical
Machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
-
Personnel and human resources
Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.
-
Communications and media
Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.
-
Transportation
Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.
-
Economics and accounting
Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.
-
Psychology
Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.
-
Law and government
How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.
-
Technical design
Design techniques, tools, and principles used to make detailed technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
-
Computers and electronics
Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
-
Sociology and anthropology
Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
Skills
Skills can be improved through training or experience.
-
Coordination with others
Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.
-
Monitoring
Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.
-
Critical thinking
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
-
Active learning
Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.
-
Time management
Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.
-
Active listening
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
-
Quality control analysis
Doing tests and checking products, services, or processes to make sure they are working properly.
-
Speaking
Talking to others.
-
Instructing
Teaching people how to do something.
-
Judgment and decision making
Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.
-
Social perceptiveness
Understanding why people react the way they do.
-
Writing
Writing things for co-workers or customers.
-
Operation monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
-
Complex problem solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
-
Management of personnel resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.
-
Reading comprehension
Reading work related information.
-
Serving others
Looking for ways to help people.
-
Management of material resources
Providing the right equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do work.
-
Mathematics
Using maths to solve problems.
-
Operation and control
Controlling equipment or systems.
Abilities
Workers use these physical and mental abilities.
-
Oral expression
Communicate by speaking.
-
Colour discrimination
Notice differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.
-
Near vision
See details that are up-close (within a few feet).
-
Oral comprehension
Listen to and understand what people say.
-
Manual dexterity
Quickly move your hand to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
-
Sorting or ordering
Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
-
Problem spotting
Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.
-
Arm-hand steadiness
Keep your hand or arm steady.
-
Perceptual speed
Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
-
Categorising
Come up with different ways of grouping things.
-
Deductive reasoning
Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.
-
Visualization
Imagine how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
-
Multilimb coordination
Use your arms and/or legs at the same time while sitting, standing, or lying down.
-
Selective attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted.
-
Speech recognition
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
-
Trunk strength
Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.
-
Control precision
Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
-
Finger dexterity
Put together small parts with your fingers.
-
Inductive reasoning
Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.
-
Speech clarity
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
Activities
These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.
-
Handling and moving objects
Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, moving and manipulating objects.
-
Building good relationships
Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.
-
Looking for changes over time
Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.
-
Doing physically active work
Use your arms, legs and whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling objects.
-
Training and teaching others
Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.
-
Managing payments and orders
Monitoring and controlling resources and the spending of money.
-
Communicating within a team
Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Planning and prioritising work
Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.
-
Coordinating the work of a team
Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.
-
Making decisions and solving problems
Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.
-
Assessing and evaluating things
Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.
-
Controlling equipment or machines
Operating machines or processes either directly or using controls (not including computers or vehicles).
-
Monitoring people, processes and things
Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.
-
Coaching and developing others
Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.
-
Thinking creatively
Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.
-
Researching and investigating
Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.
-
Checking compliance with standards
Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
-
Estimating amounts, costs and resources
Working out sizes, distances, amounts, time, costs, resources, or materials needed for a task.
-
Checking for errors or defects
Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials for errors, problems or defects.
-
Collecting and organising information
Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 35-2014.00 - Cooks, Restaurant.
Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.
Filter Work Environment
Demands
The physical and social demands workers face most often are shown below.
-
Spend time standing
Spend time standing at work.
-
Face-to-face discussions
Talk with people face-to-face.
-
Using your hands to handle, control, or feel
Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.
-
Contact with people
Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.
-
Minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings
Be exposed to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings.
-
Teamwork
Work with people in a group or team.
-
Physically close to people
Work physically close to other people.
-
Very hot or cold temperatures
Work in very hot or cold temperatures.
-
Indoors, heat controlled
Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.
-
Time pressure
Work to strict deadlines.
-
Making repetitive motions
Spend time making repetitive motions.
-
Frequent decision making
Frequently make decisions that impact other people.
-
Being exact or accurate
Be very exact or highly accurate.
-
Walking and running
Spend time walking and running.
-
Unstructured work
Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.
-
Health and safety of others
Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.
-
Impact of decisions
Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.
-
Wear common protective or safety equipment
Wear equipment like safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets.
-
Exposure to contaminants
Be exposed to pollutants, gases, dust or odours.
-
Responsible for outcomes
Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.
Values
Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
-
Support
Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.
-
Relationships
Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
-
Independence
Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.
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Achievement
Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.
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Working conditions
Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.
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Recognition
Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.
Interests
Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.
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Practical
Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.
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Enterprising
Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.
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Administrative
Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.
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Creative
Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.
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Helping
Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.
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Analytical
Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 35-2014.00 - Cooks, Restaurant.