The head cook is in charge of the cooking staff at an establishment that serves food products as its primary business. Head cooks aren’t very common in small-scale establishments, instead being found primarily in larger restaurants that serve a serious number of clients simultaneously. The job of the head cook is to ensure that the entire process runs as smoothly as possible, prevent any problems and sort out issues as they arise. The entire cooking staff is under the supervision of the head cook, and there’s rarely more than one person on the job at any given restaurant.
Becoming a head cook is primarily about experience. To get the job, a candidate will most often need to have worked at the restaurant previously, or have experience in the restaurant business from another place. They must be well-acquainted with the specific requirements of the job, the overall process of cooking and preparing food, as well as how to adjust meals when a customer has some custom needs that need to be met. The job can often be very demanding, especially in large restaurants with a lot of staff that needs to be maintained.
A head cook doesn’t have that high of an earning potential, despite the high demand that the job imposes frequently. The median salary for 2009 was just $23,000, and if you consider all the extra long working hours, frequent problems with the staff (which can add up greatly to the toll of the job), it can seem like a very unattractive choice for most people.