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Private household cooks (Cooks, Private Household) correspond in the United States to O*NET-SOC 35-2013.00: in a private home, planning menus, purchasing ingredients, cooking and serving to the employer's taste and dietary and nutritional restrictions, possibly also handling family banquets and holiday meals, tidying the kitchen and tableware, inventory and purchasing, freezing and storage and reheating instructions, and menu and expense records; this covers both live-in cooks employed by a single family and per-visit personal cooks (the latter often self-employed or contracted, under a different statistical measure); there is no corresponding occupational subclass on the Chinese side, and it must be checked separately against domestic service and skill grade entities.
Worth trying first: willing to arrange menus, purchasing and cooking independently to the employer's taste and dietary restrictions, able to serve at agreed times without a back-of-house team, and able to accept the tidiness, privacy and communication requirements of working in the employer's home.
Handle with care: if you would rather follow a fixed menu and station division of labour, rely on colleagues to get through a service peak, or are unwilling to handle purchasing, inventory and expense records, the actual work will not match expectations.
The work object of a private household cook is one employer household's taste preferences, dietary restrictions and daily routine, and the output is meals delivered at agreed times that match that taste and those restrictions, together with verifiable menu, purchasing and expense records.
Judgement two: do the ingredients and portions match the dining arrangements?
Judgement one: have the employer's taste and dietary restrictions been checked?
Cook and box in bulk to order tickets in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu, operating large-capacity single-purpose equipment, at a fast pace and with high repetition.
Mainly upstream work such as washing, cutting and preparation, usually without independent responsibility for menus, cooking and serving.
Design menus and output standards, organise the kitchen division of labour, calculate costs and manage kitchen staff, and may still cook signature dishes personally.
Refers to the extent to which a task can be performed or assisted by existing technology; it does not indicate whether employers actually adopt it, nor changes in employment numbers or wages.
Below, tasks are divided into three groups: the parts more easily changed by tools, the parts where people still carry the judgement and responsibility, and the parts that require checking both sides at once.
Insufficient evidence: no occupation-level mainland China wage distribution corresponding to private household cooks (O*NET-SOC 35-2013.00) was obtained
Direct household employment, agency dispatch and individual order-taking are editorial service forms, and the domestic share was not obtained; the unit's industry must be checked against the real employer, and direct household employment is not within the NBS urban legal-entity wage survey.
Catering businesses taking on household or private banquet work are editorial settings, and the actual entity and domestic share are checked separately; the NBS2025 accommodation and catering annual averages of 62461 and 55123 yuan are all-position background for matched legal entities and do not substitute for an individual cook's quotes.
The 2025 national wage percentiles use the published 35-2013 values, and both the 35-2013 wage and the 2025—2035 employment carry the same occupational code but have different statistical coverage. The OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked. BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
Percentiles are statistical positions of OEWS employee wages, not seniority grades; the coverage excludes private household direct employees and the self-employed and cannot be used to infer all household service quotes or live-in differences, so specific employment is checked separately.
Editorial self-question: are you willing to check menus to the household's dietary taste, purchase, cook and record expenses; this round has no measured link from preference to success rate, and easier adaptation is not guaranteed.
Household daily meals centre on repeated home-style dishes and kitchen tidying; accepting repetition and carrying out every check properly is the precondition for serving one family over the long term.
Taste and seasoning are frequently corrected on the spot; treating rework as a checking process rather than as being aimed at you personally is what allows continuous improvement.
Operate equipment according to the home kitchen's conditions and the manufacturer's instructions: control oil temperature and the quantity of food added, keep floors dry, and use heat-resistant gloves and protective gear when carrying hot soup and hot pans; if protective gear is missing, replace it before operating.
Keep aisles and the work area dry, wear non-slip shoes, and lift in stages according to your capacity using a cart or by dividing loads; if standing water, insufficient lighting or unsafe storage positions are found, deal with them before working.
This page does not cite specific job postings or dispatch information and does not count historical cases as live positions; employment conditions in mainland China must be checked against the specific household's or institution's agreement for the year in question.
The questions and scenario observations are candidate verification methods designed editorially; this page has no employer verification frequency, so they are not called a common or uniform recruitment process.
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U.S. employment projections for this occupation, industry distribution and actual household and institutional recruitment are checked separately; household forms are an editorial checking scenario only, no demand causality was obtained, and a certification entry point does not stand in for demand.
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
Plan menus to the employer's taste and dietary or nutritional restrictions, buy or order ingredients and kitchen supplies, wash and cut vegetables and meat and bake bread and pastries, cook and serve in a private household, prepare for family banquets and holiday meals, store, tidy and clean the kitchen and cookware, cool, package, label and freeze food and provide reheating instructions, record administrative matters such as menus and expenses, and cook at a holiday residence with the employer as needed.
Private household cooks serve one family, with the menu set by the employer's taste and dietary restrictions, and they often keep purchasing and expense records; restaurant cooks serve public customers with a wider dish range and cook to order; institution and cafeteria cooks serve a fixed population in bulk to a cyclical menu.
Menu and recipe organisation, purchasing lists and inventory alerts, expense records and scheduling can be assisted by systems, and programmed equipment and temperature logging can also reduce manual steps; but applying taste and dietary restrictions, purchasing checks, heat and seasoning judgement, allergen isolation, ingredient exception handling and household communication still depend on on-site staff. Technology exposure does not equal organisational adoption or the disappearance of jobs.
The core output is meals delivered at the agreed time that match the employer's taste and dietary restrictions, with menu, purchasing and expense records kept, not “being able to make a particular dish” or “being able to use a particular machine”.
Low-risk verification: use fictional household members, taste preferences and a dietary restriction list to do one “menu plan—purchasing check—cooking—serving and recording” exercise; it only gauges work preferences and is not equivalent to a qualification, training or hiring.
Central judgement: whether you can, on your own, keep the menu, purchasing, hygiene and records consistent with the employer household's taste, dietary restrictions and daily routine.
Work pace is decided by the employer household's routine, the number of diners, and banquet and holiday arrangements; live-in cooks and per-visit personal cooks differ markedly in time arrangements, pay basis and the tools they provide themselves.
Similar names for adjacent positions do not mean the same authorisation; when comparing, first look at the work object, output, whether the public is served, training requirements and the boundaries of responsibility.
Menu and purchasing list software can be treated as a controlled organising aid, but generated content must not be treated as an unchecked dietary restriction, allergen judgement or food-safety conclusion.
Fit judgements should combine a real task sample, employer feedback and hygiene checks, and should not be replaced by an interest type or a single test.
All paper exercises on this page use fictional material; food safety, equipment operation, dietary restrictions and employment arrangements in a real home kitchen must be confirmed by the employer and the practitioner under applicable rules.
Progress by the employer household's routine and dining arrangements: first check the day's menu, the number of diners and dietary restrictions, and confirm the state of ingredients and equipment,
Judgement three: are the raw-cooked zones separated and allergens isolated?
Collaboration is checked by household and the actual form of service: the cook may work independently or may organise kitchen food events and work with other people; this round obtained no share of positions working alone, and that conclusion is not inferred from a team questionnaire.
Live-in cooks and per-visit personal cooks differ markedly in workplace, routine and tool supply, and employers' eating habits and banquet frequency also vary, so no generalisation can be made from the occupational title.
Judgement six: have ingredient exceptions and household feedback been handled?
Menu and purchasing, cooking and serving, and kitchen tidying and records are editorial cross-cutting work areas on this page, not three official occupations. Currently 13 tasks 12/1 Core and Supplemental: washing, trimming, cutting and cooking, baking, cooling, packaging, labelling, freezing and reheating instructions, menu planning and purchasing, meals for family and other household staff, menu financial records, kitchen tidying, organising kitchen food events, special diets, family banquets, exploring new dishes and serving are Core; accompanying the employer to a holiday residence is Supplemental. Importance is not frequency, and purchasing organisation and innovation are already duties, so management and baking are not excluded wholesale. Real service may involve one or several families, and specific equipment, records and purchasing authority are checked against the agreement and applicable rules.
Menu and purchasing
Draw up a menu to the employer's taste and dietary restrictions → plan dishes for family banquets or holiday meals → estimate ingredients and portions from household size and frequency → buy or order ingredients and kitchen supplies → check shelf life and storage conditions by batch → label arrival time and storage location
Menu and purchasing records, confirmation of dietary restrictions and allergen ingredients
Cooking and serving
Wash and cut vegetables, meat and seafood → cook and bake to the employer's recipes and taste → handle special diets and signature dishes → check doneness and seasoning → serve the employer household and their guests and provide refreshments → record output and feedback
Output records and taste feedback, confirmation of stopping on exceptions and reporting
Kitchen tidying and records
Store, tidy and clean the kitchen and cookware → cool, package, label and freeze food as needed → write reheating instructions → record menus, expenses and other administrative matters → check the week's data against physical stock → set out outstanding items and hand over
Where is the boundary between private household cooks and adjacent catering positions?
This table compares private household cooks with adjacent catering positions item by item across seven dimensions: core purpose, main object and basis, core process, main output, responsible party, collaboration and supervision, and boundaries of conclusion; adjacent positions all work in food preparation settings, but whether the people served are a single household or the public, who decides the menu, whether purchasing and expense records are kept, and the food-safety chain of responsibility do not transfer simply because positions are adjacent; comparisons must check the actual duties item by item.
In a private household, plan menus, purchase, cook and serve to one family's taste and dietary and nutritional restrictions, and keep menu, purchasing and expense records.
Core purposes of adjacent positions: head cooks and chefs are responsible for menu design and output standards; food service managers are responsible for outlet or catering operations, costs and staff; restaurant cooks serve continuously in the back of house to customer orders; institution and cafeteria cooks serve a fixed population in bulk to a cyclical menu; fast food cooks prepare to order in a limited-menu restaurant; food preparation workers are responsible for upstream preparation such as washing and cutting.
Main object and basis
The employer household's taste preferences, dietary and nutritional restrictions, number of diners and routine, banquet and holiday arrangements, ingredient batches and the expense ledger; the basis is the employer's requirements, ingredient labels and applicable food hygiene requirements.
Objects and bases of adjacent positions: menus and cost sheets (chefs and managers), full recipes and orders (restaurant cooks), cyclical menus and dietary restrictions (institution and cafeteria cooks), fast food recipes and order tickets (fast food cooks), prep lists (preparation workers).
Draw up the menu and estimate portions → purchase and check by batch → wash, cut, cook and bake → season and plate and serve → tidy the kitchen and store and freeze → record menus, expenses and handover.
Processes of adjacent positions: menu and cost accounting, scheduling and purchasing, continuous heating and plating to order, bulk cooking and portioning to a cyclical menu, bulk heating and boxing to order, washing, cutting and preparing.
Meals delivered at agreed times that match the employer's taste and dietary restrictions, together with verifiable menu, purchasing and expense records.
Outputs of adjacent positions: a costable menu and gross margin, operating reports, per-customer dishes, bulk meals and temperature-control records, fast food finished products, prepared semi-finished ingredients.
Responsible party
The private household cook is responsible for menu planning, purchasing checks, cooking and serving, applying dietary restrictions, tidying the kitchen and the accuracy of records; the household employment arrangement, purchasing budget and expense approval are decided by the employer.
Responsible parties of adjacent positions: chefs and managers are responsible for menus, costs and people management; restaurant and fast food cooks are responsible for single-customer or single-order output; institution and cafeteria cooks are responsible for bulk meal portions, temperature control and records; preparation workers are responsible for prep specifications.
Collaboration and supervision
In practice the cook may work independently or organise food events and collaborate, and no share of positions working alone was obtained. Accompanying the employer on holiday is Supplemental, and specific communication and arrangements are checked against the service agreement; exceptions are held back, and the employer's agreement cannot prove safety or substitute for the applicable basis for handling.
Collaboration of adjacent positions: chefs and managers assign tasks and schedules; restaurant cooks align timing with the plating and food-running roles; institution and cafeteria cooks collaborate by station and meal service period; fast food cooks check orders with the counter; preparation workers receive prep specification requirements.
Boundaries of conclusion
Similar position names do not mean interchangeable roles: whether the public is served, who decides the menu, and whether purchasing and expense records are kept determine the scope of authorisation and where responsibility lies.
The preparation levels and qualification requirements of adjacent positions do not apply to this occupation and must be checked item by item against each occupation's official material and the employer's rules.
Key occupational judgements
Six recurring professional judgements: whether the employer's taste and dietary restrictions are checked; whether ingredients and portions match the number of diners; whether raw-cooked zoning and allergen isolation are in place; whether heating and storage temperatures meet the standard; whether purchasing, inventory and expenses are recorded as agreed; and whether ingredient exceptions and household feedback are handled according to procedure and handed over.
Before cooking, check taste preferences, food avoidances, allergens and dietary restrictions item by item (low salt, low sugar, vegetarian, soft food and so on) and confirm the number of diners; treating restrictions as a verbal impression rather than applying them to a specific meal will pass the risk on to members of the employer household and their guests.
Editorial suggestion: estimate ingredients from the menu and the number of diners and recheck portions, and check batch and shelf life when purchasing; whether estimation causes shortages or waste must be checked against actual usage, keeping assumptions and physical check records, and experience-based estimation alone does not invalidate recording.
Raw and cooked ingredients, knives and chopping boards must be handled separately and cleaned and disinfected, and allergen-containing ingredients stored and labelled separately; in a home kitchen with shared stations confusion is more likely, so separate checking is essential.
Check cooking, storage and reheating temperature and time against the applicable dish and equipment requirements and keep records; confirm with a food thermometer, as appearance and tasting cannot prove that suspect food is safe. This round obtained no ranking of common hazards or complete handling conditions for every food.
Judgement four: do heating and storage temperatures meet the standard?
Editorial suggestion: record the menu, purchasing, inventory, expenses, batches and storage locations as agreed with the employer; unclear records may impede expense checks and rotation, and the actual effect and other material must be checked, without assuming simultaneous loss of control.
Judgement five: are purchasing, inventory and expenses recorded as agreed?
For spoilage, foreign objects and allergy risk, first hold back the affected food, check batch and temperature and discuss alternatives; resuming requires an applicable safety basis, and the employer's agreement alone cannot release it. Handover keeps outstanding items in the actual form used, without uniformly treating oral handover as invalid.
Menu and purchasing ｜ draw up the menu to the employer's needs ｜ plan menus to the employer's taste, dietary and nutritional restrictions and dining frequency, arrange dishes for family banquets, holiday meals and luncheons, and confirm with the employer before adjusting when the menu or the number of diners changes.
Purchasing and inventory ｜ buy ingredients and check batches ｜ buy or order ingredients and kitchen supplies, check shelf life and storage conditions by batch, rotate first-in-first-out and state the storage location and arrival time.
Core: trimming, cutting and cooking vegetables and meat, baking and exploring new dishes; the literal “wash” task does not mean all raw meat must be rinsed. U.S. FoodSafety.gov household guidance lists clean, separate, confirm cooking with a thermometer, and chill promptly, and states explicitly not to wash raw meat, poultry, eggs and seafood so as to avoid spreading contamination. It is U.S. household food-safety guidance, not Chinese law; this page has no complete temperature handling procedure for every dish, and exceptions are held back until an applicable basis is obtained, since the employer's agreement cannot prove food safety.
Core: cooking and serving meals for the family and household staff, family banquets and special diets; Supplemental: catering while accompanying the employer on holiday. The specific scope follows the task authorisation, and accompanying the employer is not uniformly Core.
Tidying, storage and reheating ｜ tidy the kitchen and keep instructions ｜ store, tidy and clean the kitchen and cookware, cool, package, label and freeze food as needed, write reheating methods, and maintain raw-cooked zoning and cleaning and disinfection.
Records and handover ｜ record menus, expenses and matters ｜ record administrative matters such as menus, purchasing, inventory and expenses, explain shortages and losses to the employer, and set out unresolved exceptions and items to be confirmed and hand them over.
Work context and working conditions
Private household kitchen work may involve standing, hand use, menu purchasing and communication requirements; the specific space, collaboration and rotation are checked against the actual residence and service agreement, and working alone is not guaranteed for most positions.
Current 57 work context questions: 54% daily in a climate-controlled indoor environment and 27% weekly rather than daily; outdoors in all weather 42% never and 50% yearly rather than monthly, and non-climate-controlled indoors 50% never, 19% weekly and 31% yearly. The last two questions do not show complete daily responses and cannot be filled in with 0, and the actual residence's ventilation and space must be checked.
Main materials and equipment ｜ ingredients and seasonings, the home kitchen's stove, oven, steaming gear and refrigeration and freezer equipment, knives and chopping boards, tableware and washing equipment, a food thermometer, preservation and labelling supplies, and menu and purchasing record tools; the equipment list comes from this occupation's tasks and work activities and is not a purchasing recommendation; a per-visit personal cook may also provide their own knives and some tools.
Then wash, cut, cook and bake in menu order and check doneness, and serve at the agreed time; when ingredient exceptions, allergy risk or equipment faults occur, stop using them and agree an alternative with the employer; after the meal, tidy the kitchen, store or freeze food and record the menu and expenses.
Currently standing 81%/15%, almost constantly and more than half the time; hand use 81% almost constantly; repetitive motion 19%/46%, almost constantly and more than half the time; and 50% face daily time limits. The equipment pace question shows only 12% fairly important and 81% not important, and no total for unshown responses is filled in. Work week: 27% over 40 / 35% about 40 / 38% under 40 hours; 50% irregular and 46% regular, which are U.S. respondent answers, not Chinese rotation rules.
Currently contact with others 21%/42%, continually and most of the time, and face-to-face 29% daily; teamwork 15%/15%/46%, extremely important, very important and not important, and coordinating 15% very important and 42% not important, with some responses not shown. This does not establish that most work alone or allow direct comparison of the collaboration scale of two occupations; the actual kitchen organisation is checked separately.
Currently responsibility for health and safety 27%/27%, very high and high; 35% make daily decisions. Consequences of error show 12%/15%/38%/27%, extremely serious, very serious, fairly serious and not serious, with other responses not shown and no old total filled in. This is not an accident rate, a legal allocation of responsibility or working hours; records follow the service agreement and applicable requirements.
Currently 44% have daily routine protection, accuracy 19%/42%/23%, extremely important, very important and important, and 50% never sit; 23% face daily burn, cut and sting exposure and 12% daily noise. The U.S. respondent answers to several questions are not an actual injury rate or Chinese conditions, and the supply categories do not require a full set for every person; actual selection is based on station assessment.
Professional basis and boundaries of use
Currently 13 tasks 12/1 Core and Supplemental: washing, trimming, cutting and cooking, baking, cooling, packaging, labelling, freezing and reheating instructions, menu planning and purchasing, meals for family and other household staff, menu financial records, kitchen tidying, organising kitchen food events, special diets, family banquets, exploring new dishes and serving are Core; accompanying the employer to a holiday residence is Supplemental. Importance is not frequency, and purchasing organisation and innovation are already duties, so management and baking are not excluded wholesale.
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed. Current interests R66/A46/S46/C45/E43/I7; R leads with A/S tied, summarised as R plus tied A/S, without prescribing the sole order of A/S. The activity profile corresponds to ingredients and equipment, dishes and service, not personality ability, population shares or hiring thresholds. The current industry split is 13% other services (except government) / 87% other (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting), the industry page does not state the year, and this is not the share of household employers.
The context of China's occupational classification and the Chinese cuisine chef (4-03-02-01) skill grades
NBS2025 resident services, repair and other services urban unit pre-tax average annual wage: 70,226 for non-private and 52,059 yuan for private units, and accommodation and catering 62,461/55,123 yuan. Unit main activities are matched separately: meal services run by domestic service companies may relate to resident services, catering operations are checked separately, and direct household employment and self-employed freelancers are not within that urban unit survey. It covers all positions in legal entities with 5 or more people and includes bonuses and allowances; it is not a private household cook's wage, median or self-employed revenue. In the same table, the all-position annual average of 58,838 yuan for above-scale resident service enterprises and the 48,013 yuan annual average for social production service and daily life service personnel are another enterprise and broad-occupation background and cannot substitute for household cooks. The gaps in precise occupational figures, quotes and percentiles remain.
Private household cooks 35-2013 prepare meals in private residences, including personal cooks, and may serve one or several families. Currently 13 tasks 12/1 Core and Supplemental: washing, trimming, cutting and cooking, baking, cooling, packaging, labelling, freezing and reheating instructions, menu planning and purchasing, meals for family and other household staff, menu financial records, kitchen tidying, organising kitchen food events, special diets, family banquets, exploring new dishes and serving are Core; accompanying the employer to a holiday residence is Supplemental. Importance is not frequency, and purchasing organisation and innovation are already duties, so management and baking are not excluded wholesale. The OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked. Chinese domestic meal services and the Chinese cuisine chef are separate entities, the occupational classifications are not one-to-one, and this round obtained no matching precise wages, so the lack of correspondence is not written as the relevant occupation not existing in China.
Responsible for the cost, budget, staffing and compliance management of a catering business, usually managing a team rather than personally handling daily service.
Restaurant cooks (O*NET-SOC 35-2014.00, adjacent segment)
Serve continuously in a restaurant back-of-house according to customer orders and the menu: the dish range is wider and there are more stations, requiring both reproducing flavours to recipe and aligning timing with the plating and food-running roles at peak times.
The key difference from private household cooks is serving public customers, with the restaurant deciding the menu and the service pace; employment was 1,460,200 in 2024, and the O*NET growth category is “much faster than average (7% or higher)”.
Better suited to people willing to collaborate on service in a faster-paced, multi-dish environment and able to accept evening and weekend shifts.
Institution and cafeteria cooks (O*NET-SOC 35-2012.00, adjacent segment)
Cook and portion in bulk to a cyclical menu for fixed populations such as schools, hospitals and enterprise and institutional canteens, and often keep usage and expenditure records.
The key difference is serving a fixed population to a cyclical menu, mainly in bulk, with the people served not being a single household; employment was 466,100 in 2024, and the O*NET growth category is “slower than average (1% to 2%)”.
Better suited to people willing to produce consistently to a fixed menu and fixed periods and able to accept long periods of standing and collective collaboration.
Fast food cooks (O*NET-SOC 35-2011.00, adjacent segment)
The key difference is cooking to customer order, with a fixed menu and random portion counts; employment was 669,500 in 2024, and the O*NET growth category is “decline (-14%)”.
Better suited to people who can accept a high degree of repetition, work to a standard and want to start work relatively quickly.
Food preparation workers (O*NET-SOC 35-2021.00, adjacent occupation)
The key difference is that there is no responsibility for menu planning and expense records; employment was 902,700 in 2024, the O*NET growth category is “decline (-1% or lower)”, and it often serves as the entry point into the catering system.
Better suited to people who want to start from preparation and gradually learn menus and cooking.
Chefs and head cooks (O*NET-SOC 35-1011.00, adjacent occupation)
The key difference from this occupation is management responsibility and menu leadership: taking on menu design and cost accounting, staff scheduling and training, and setting output standards; the preparation level is Job Zone 3, and employment was 197,300 in 2024.
Better suited to people who have built up output experience, are willing to take on staff and cost management responsibility, and want to lead the menu direction.
Food service managers (O*NET-SOC 11-9051.00, adjacent occupation)
The key difference from this occupation is operational and people management responsibility: a median annual wage of 69,390 dollars (2025), employment of 352,800 in 2024, and the O*NET growth category “much faster than average (5% to 6%)”.
Better suited to people interested in operations, budgeting and people management and willing to take on compliance and scheduling responsibility.
How do private household cooks compare with adjacent catering directions?
The table below compares private household cooks with five adjacent directions across four items: career direction, core work and output, key differences, and which choice suits you better; employment and growth use U.S. O*NET-SOC measures (2024 employment, 2024—2034 projection).
Conclusion: these directions share common ground in ingredient handling, hygiene and the service process, but differ markedly in whether the people served are a single household or public customers, who decides the menu, whether purchasing and expense records are kept, and whether staff and operations management is assumed; the choice should be based on the target job's actual tasks and employment arrangements, not on the occupational title alone.
Basis: O*NET OnLine 35-2013.00 and the summary pages and employment trend pages of adjacent occupations (2026 update); employment is for 2024 and growth uses the 2024—2034 projection period, and these are not used to infer an individual's chance of being hired or income.
Next step: use the exercise material on this page, or one shadowing experience, to check the target direction's real routine, service scale and boundaries of responsibility, and then decide.
Organisational adoption requires checking actual household service deployment, cost, equipment purchasing and training; this round obtained no adoption speed, so it is not described as necessarily slower than technical capability.
The following are editorial checking and escalation suggestions, to be implemented according to actual hygiene conditions; NIST voluntary governance is not a mandatory home kitchen procedure.
Measures how close generative AI is to work tasks at the task level, rather than making job displacement predictions.
There is no verifiable causal data for this occupation. Technical capability, organisational adoption and employment numbers are three different levels, and this page does not write any one of them as a conclusion.
Next step: check the three groups of task change above item by item against a specific home kitchen setting — which steps are already handled by systems or programmed equipment, which still need human judgement, and who is responsible for the results.
Refers to actual changes in employment numbers and income, decided jointly by household employment demand, cost and regional labour markets; this page has no verifiable single-occupation causal data for this occupation.
The 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting data list only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate.
How will AI and automation affect private household cooks?
Menu organisation, purchasing reminders, bookkeeping and scheduling are uses pending verification; sensing, programmed heating and generative text are checked separately, and the net effect must be measured. The 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting data list only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate. This round has no adoption rate, efficiency or employment causality for this job; people check dietary restrictions, temperature control and exceptions against their actual duties. BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
Below, the sources used on this page are listed one by one, together with what each actually regulates or measures and the limits on their use.
The 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting data list only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate.
Recruitment keywords are market signals; they do not measure usage rate, proficiency or job displacement.
ILO global measurement research on generative AI and occupational task exposure
The ILO2025 task exposure method; this round obtained no separate value for 35-2013, no adoption and no displacement date, and it is not asserted that the study has no occupational scores at all; exposure is not employment causality.
O*NET survey of the tasks, work activities and work context of private household cooks (35-2013.00)
Lists tasks such as menu planning, purchasing, cooking and baking, serving, refrigeration and freezing and reheating instructions, and recording menus and expenses, together with work context percentages.
It is a task and context profile and contains no technology adoption or job displacement data.
BLS table 1.2, the exact private household cook 35-2013 row for 2025—2035; O*NET's rounded 5% for the same period.
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
It is an occupational aggregate statistic; it contains no causal data on tool adoption and does not predict a displacement date.
NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0)
The NIST AI RMF1.0 provides voluntary recommendations on roles and responsibilities, records and oversight; it is not a mandatory home kitchen or food-safety procedure.
It is a governance framework; it does not set kitchen operating procedures and does not measure the degree of automation in this occupation.
What tasks are in the official task profile for private household cooks?
Currently 13 tasks 12/1 Core and Supplemental: washing, trimming, cutting and cooking, baking, cooling, packaging, labelling, freezing and reheating instructions, menu planning and purchasing, meals for family and other household staff, menu financial records, kitchen tidying, organising kitchen food events, special diets, family banquets, exploring new dishes and serving are Core; accompanying the employer to a holiday residence is Supplemental. Importance is not frequency, and purchasing organisation and innovation are already duties, so management and baking are not excluded wholesale.
What technologies are commonly mentioned in employer job postings?
The 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting data list only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate.
Can work context statistics show that AI will replace private household cooks?
No. O*NET work context percentages describe tasks and environmental conditions; they contain no data on technology adoption, job numbers or changes in individual income.
Will technological change directly reduce private household cook jobs?
How do official projections describe employment for private household cooks?
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
Can task exposure research predict the disappearance of private household cook jobs?
The ILO2025 task exposure method; this round obtained no separate value for 35-2013, no adoption and no displacement date, and it is not asserted that the study has no occupational scores at all; exposure is not employment causality.
Which governance requirements cannot be omitted when AI tools are introduced?
Roles and responsibilities should be defined, records kept and human oversight points established; a governance framework does not replace the employer's work requirements and food hygiene rules.
Occupational task and work activity profile
Provides the tasks, detailed work activities and work context percentages of private household cooks
The 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting data list only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate.
The ILO2025 task exposure method; this round obtained no separate value for 35-2013, no adoption and no displacement date, and it is not asserted that the study has no occupational scores at all; exposure is not employment causality.
Provides the tasks, work activities and work context percentages of this occupation
Provides an entry point for looking up certification and training for this segment, for verifying credential and training information
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
The NIST AI RMF1.0 provides voluntary recommendations on roles and responsibilities, records and oversight; it is not a mandatory home kitchen or food-safety procedure.
Plan menus to the employer's needs and dietary restrictions
Recipes and ingredient candidates can serve as tool verification objects; dietary and label aspects must be checked in practice, and nutritional suitability is not guaranteed.
Confirm taste preferences, allergens and nutritional restrictions, and check them item by item with the employer.
Buy or order ingredients and kitchen supplies
Purchasing price comparison, ordering and inventory alerts are candidates; net efficiency and adoption in this job were not obtained, and a reduction in bookkeeping is not guaranteed.
Check batch, shelf life and delivered quality, judge whether the item is usable and record losses.
Wash, trim and cut vegetables, meat and seafood
Cutting, portioning equipment and prep lists are directions pending verification, and safety and efficiency are checked in practice; they are not generative AI.
Judge the condition of ingredients, correct cutting specifications and handle allergen ingredients separately.
Cook and bake to the employer's recipes or taste
Programmed heating reminders are a conventional equipment use and require verifying dish temperature and time; they do not guarantee stability or replace on-site judgement.
Judge heat and seasoning, adjust to the household's taste and handle special dietary requirements.
Serve the employer household and their guests and provide refreshments
Menu scheduling reminders are candidates; real timings and changes must be checked, and adoption is not proven.
Serve at the agreed time, handle short-notice changes and communicate taste feedback directly.
Cool, package, label and freeze food and provide reheating instructions
Label and expiry alerts are candidates; the physical batch and cooling and storage conditions must be checked, and a reduction in transcription is not guaranteed.
Confirm whether cooling and freezing meet the standard, decide whether to discard and write out reheating methods.
Record menus, expenses and other administrative matters
Bookkeeping summaries are candidates; check the input of receipts and the results, and automatic accuracy or net efficiency is not guaranteed.
Check that receipts match physical stock and take responsibility for the accuracy of records.
Menu, purchasing and expense information
Menu, purchasing and expense summaries are uses pending verification, with inputs and physical stock needing checks; adoption and net effect in this job were not obtained.
Check that lists match physical stock and confirm whether the employer's taste, dietary restrictions and budget are usable.
Programmed stoves and scheduling are conventional equipment and process uses, and the time and temperature effect must be verified; they are not generative AI evidence.
Judge heat and seasoning, adjust to the employer's taste, and handle equipment faults and short-notice dining changes.
Sensor logging, storage and reheating instructions can serve as verification directions, and coverage, calibration and effectiveness must be checked; a reduction in labour is not guaranteed.
Clean and disinfect according to procedure and isolate allergens, and confirm whether temperature meets the standard and decide whether to stop using ingredients.
Check the source of the employer's taste, dietary restrictions, diner numbers and purchasing records; unidentified input errors that enter execution may affect meals, so they must be reviewed against the actual process.
Keep human review for key judgements on dietary restrictions, allergens, temperature and seasoning, and do not replace on-site confirmation and tasting with system prompts.
Record menus, purchasing, expenses and storage matters as agreed with the employer, stating who checked them; records must be traceable to a specific meal and batch.
For exceptions, first hold back, check batch and temperature and handling conditions and discuss alternatives; resuming must rest on applicable safety guidance, and employer or purchasing authorisation alone cannot prove food safety.
Operation and adjustment of equipment parameters, and the handling of information involving the employer's household affairs, must follow the agreement and authorisation; unverified suggestions must not replace work and hygiene requirements.
A tool does not bear the food-safety responsibility of the actual employer or operator; wrong suggestions that enter execution without review may affect household meals, and duties are checked against the actual activity.
Treat system output as a draft and verify key items against ingredients, labels and records.
Dietary restriction and allergen information being mismatched
Once a household member's allergy or food avoidance is misjudged, the family bears the consequences directly.
The employer's confirmation, ingredient labels and separate stations are authoritative, and system prompts serve only as reminders.
Temperature and storage records being simplified
Editorial risk example: omitting key batch data or distorting records during simplification may weaken verification and traceability; keep genuine key fields and check other material, without concluding that everything is untraceable.
Keep key purchasing, storage and reheating records, and state how values were obtained and who checked them.
Household privacy and improper handling of information
Working in a private household brings contact with personal information such as diet, health and household arrangements, and improper handling creates trust and legal risk.
Record and use information only to the extent necessary, keep and destroy it as agreed with the employer, and do not disclose it.
Skill degradation and incomplete handovers
Skill maintenance and missing handover items can serve as check scenarios; this round obtained no causality or incidence rate for skill degradation caused by tool reliance in this job, so inevitable outcomes are not written.
Maintain basic training in cooking and purchasing checks, and handovers must clearly state outstanding items and actions already taken.
People preparing to enter this occupation
First master the basics of menu planning, purchasing checks, heat control and seasoning, dietary restrictions and storage records, then learn to use menu, purchasing and bookkeeping tools.
Treat system prompts as an aid and retain the ability to judge dietary restrictions, allergens, temperature and taste independently.
Define the boundaries of tool use, information handling and purchasing authority, and write the key checking points into the employment agreement and communicate them clearly.
In courses, train practical cooking alongside checking, recording, privacy and exception handling under a human-machine division of labour.
NBS2025 resident services, repair and other services urban unit pre-tax average annual wage: 70,226 for non-private and 52,059 yuan for private units, and accommodation and catering 62,461/55,123 yuan. Unit main activities are matched separately: meal services run by domestic service companies may relate to resident services, catering operations are checked separately, and direct household employment and self-employed freelancers are not within that urban unit survey. It covers all positions in legal entities with 5 or more people and includes bonuses and allowances; it is not a private household cook's wage, median or self-employed revenue. In the same table, the all-position annual average of 58,838 yuan for above-scale resident service enterprises and the 48,013 yuan annual average for social production service and daily life service personnel are another enterprise and broad-occupation background and cannot substitute for household cooks. The gaps in precise occupational figures, quotes and percentiles remain.
Note: the absence of occupation-specific figures obtained does not mean they were never published officially; this page registers only the scope actually consulted and its results, and does not fill gaps with industry averages or U.S. data.
Public measures and gaps for private household cook wages in mainland China
That resident services all-position average applies only to urban legal entities with a matching main activity and does not cover direct household employment or self-employed order-taking, and is not this job's wage.
Insufficient evidence: this round obtained no verifiable statistics on private household meal service quotes; a single household's or platform's quote cannot represent the national level
U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed.
Experience and communication can serve as editorial preparation directions, and the domestic distribution was not obtained. Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification.
The 2022 Chinese cuisine chef material lists five grades and a junior high school education or equivalent and includes cost, innovation and kitchen management work; it is that occupation's material only and not a uniform educational requirement or licence for private household cooks. Current assessment registration, fees and allowances and employer requirements are checked separately.
Meal experience, dietary communication, budgeting and service organisation can serve as editorial study directions; actual nutrition or management qualifications are checked against the target occupation's announcement, no nationwide distribution of position access was obtained, and no uniform college-level threshold is set.
Common settings: household daily meals are arranged weekly or monthly, family banquets and holiday meals cluster on particular dates, and holiday residence service changes with the employer's schedule; service frequency and the pay basis must be checked against the specific employment agreement.
This round obtained no causality for AI and household cook income in China. The NBS wage tables consulted are aggregated by industry and broad category and exclude self-employed freelancers; it cannot be concluded from this that there will never be occupational data, nor do they substitute for individual quotes or profit.
NBS2025 resident services, repair and other services urban unit pre-tax average annual wage: 70,226 for non-private and 52,059 yuan for private units, and accommodation and catering 62,461/55,123 yuan. Unit main activities are matched separately: meal services run by domestic service companies may relate to resident services, catering operations are checked separately, and direct household employment and self-employed freelancers are not within that urban unit survey. It covers all positions in legal entities with 5 or more people and includes bonuses and allowances; it is not a private household cook's wage, median or self-employed revenue. In the same table, the all-position annual average of 58,838 yuan for above-scale resident service enterprises and the 48,013 yuan annual average for social production service and daily life service personnel are another enterprise and broad-occupation background and cannot substitute for household cooks. The gaps in precise occupational figures, quotes and percentiles remain.
Published annual wages can be cited, and the OEWS standard 2080-hour statistical conversion and its exceptions do not equal a guarantee of individual hours; household employment by visit or hourly rate, months, board and lodging and taxes must be checked separately, and a stable monthly take-home figure cannot be inferred from unknown arrangements. The OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked.
Employment size, projected change and job openings answer different questions and cannot be merged into an individual probability of being hired.
An industry table shows only the employment classification under that measure and does not represent all employers' or households' wages; income differences between cities and households depend on the specific employment agreement.
BLS statistics and O*NET profiles serve different purposes: the former for wages, employment and projections, the latter for tasks, work context and preparation levels; each must be retained as cited.
How should the wages and employment of U.S. private household cooks be read?
Wage percentile and hourly wage measures
The median marks the midpoint of a distribution: half of workers under this measure nationwide earn less and half earn more; it is not an average starting wage and does not mean it is reached on entry.
Questions to ask when reading these numbers
The national table gives 10th to 90th percentile positions and does not provide a breakdown of the causes of difference by region, number of households, live-in status, duties or experience; coverage and percentiles are retained, and individual quote and hours are checked against the contract.
A projection is a change in the occupation total, not an individual's chance of finding work; openings come mainly from replacement demand as people change careers or leave the labour market.
Which industries is this occupation distributed across?
The current O*NET industry page shows 13% other services (except government) and 87% other (including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting), with no stated year. It is not the case that all employment falls under other at 100%, and it is not wages or the share of household employers.
The current industry page does not list the share of direct household employers separately, and the other 87% cannot be interpreted as all household employers or the self-employed population; specific industries and service forms are checked separately.
BLS table 1.2 shows self-employment of 79.7% for this job in 2025, which is a characteristic of the employed population, not an industry share or wages. The OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked.
Employment projections, industry distribution and wages are different coverage measures. The OOH cook family 2025 wage of 36640/17.62, a year and an hour, employment of 2705800 and growth of 7% are combined-group background only and do not substitute for this job.
What factors make income differ among similar jobs?
An individual's paid hours, months, taxes and benefits are checked against the actual agreement; OEWS wages are pre-tax regular monetary wages and do not cover the self-employed or direct household employees; published annual values can be cited but do not extrapolate the actual take-home pay of all private household employment.
Duties under the same occupational title differ considerably: positions responsible only for daily meals, those responsible for banquets and holiday meals, those responsible for purchasing and expense records, and even those also managing household arrangements correspond to different pay measures.
The workplace and arrangements affect income: region and city size, the employer household's size and number of diners, whether accompanying the employer to a second residence is required, and whether the cook is directly employed by an individual household or dispatched through a service agency.
How should employment projections be read?
Where comparable mainland China occupational income was not obtained, this page keeps the gap: no interpolation, no borrowing from adjacent occupations and no currency conversion.
At banquets there are many dishes and the timing is concentrated; handling them in order and preserving dietary restriction and heating standards first is safer than simply rushing.
Trait descriptions do not diagnose personality and do not predict whether someone can meet a particular household's specific requirements.
First check long periods of standing and frequent hand use, working alone, household privacy and communication style, and the requirement to stop and confirm on ingredient exceptions and allergy risk.
Do not use communication style to decide hiring or scheduling, and do not treat emotional descriptions as health conclusions.
Compare each item against what you can tolerate.
R leads; A/S tied (realistic, artistic / social)
Current interests R66/A46/S46/C45/E43/I7; R leads with A/S tied, summarised as R plus tied A/S, without prescribing the sole order of A/S. The activity profile corresponds to ingredients and equipment, dishes and service, not personality ability, population shares or hiring thresholds.
Current interests R66/A46/S46/C45/E43/I7; R leads with A/S tied, summarised as R plus tied A/S, without prescribing the sole order of A/S. The activity profile corresponds to ingredients and equipment, dishes and service, not personality ability, population shares or hiring thresholds.
Do your work preferences match private household cooks?
Compare menu purchasing, dietary taste, cooking and serving, standing and hand use, expense records and household communication item by item against your preferences; questionnaires do not guarantee competence and require training and feedback.
The interest types and questionnaires in this section describe experiential preferences only and do not replace ability, qualifications, health conditions or hiring decisions; they must not be used as hiring, promotion or medical-examination conclusions.
The fictional household menus on this page can be used to observe preferences; a real shadowing experience requires the household's and service provider's permission plus hygiene training and privacy conditions, and no one may operate or record household health matters without permission.
Occupational interests (RIASEC)
Is my interest type close to household meal work?
Current interests R66/A46/S46/C45/E43/I7; R leads with A/S tied, summarised as R plus tied A/S, without prescribing the sole order of A/S. The activity profile corresponds to ingredients and equipment, dishes and service, not personality ability, population shares or hiring thresholds.
Willingness to handle stoves, knives and ingredients by hand and to work standing for long periods.
Willingness to keep adjusting menus to one family's taste while also attending to plating.
Official source: O*NET OnLine 35-2013.00 interest code (2026 update)
Interest codes describe activity types only; they do not predict job performance and do not constitute hiring standards.
Big Five traits (OCEAN)
Do my personality traits help with household meal work?
You can observe whether someone checks menus and purchasing records and handles feedback changes as agreed; this round has no Big Five association strength or match threshold for this occupation, so no relationship is called the most direct.
Ability to complete repetitive tasks such as menu checks, purchasing checks and records consistently.
Ability to redo work according to the process and explain the basis when the taste is rejected or when being rushed.
General tool: Big Five scales describe trait tendencies, with no official occupational match threshold
Personality preferences (MBTI-type)
Can MBTI show whether I am suited to live-in or per-visit work?
MBTI-type tools describe preferences and are not occupational assignment tools; the difference between live-in and per-visit work lies mainly in how tightly time is bound, the sense of distance from the family and the pay basis, not in preference type. Check against actual task experience.
Editorial self-question: check the routine, privacy and purchasing communication requirements of live-in and per-visit service separately, and record how you feel; there is no measurement of personality type assigning positions.
Editorial self-question: check the routine, privacy and purchasing communication requirements of live-in and per-visit service separately, and record how you feel; there is no measurement of personality type assigning positions.
General tool: type preference description, not an occupational fit assessment
Type results must not be used as a basis for hiring, scheduling or choosing a work partner.
Motivation clues (Enneagram-type)
Can the Enneagram help me understand why I want to be a private household cook?
Enneagram-type tools describe motivation clues: wanting a craft-like focus on cooking, wanting to look after one family's daily meals, or wanting to build experience before moving into private banquets and dietary management correspond to different choices. Treat it as a questioning tool, not a job conclusion.
Ability to articulate what you want to gain from this work.
Willingness to test whether your motivation holds up through real experience.
General tool: motivation description, not an occupational fit assessment
Do not treat motivation descriptions as career-choice conclusions or as grounds for employment.
Cognitive and operational ability
How much cognitive ability does private household cook work require?
The preparation level for private household cooks is Job Zone 3 (SVP 6.0 to below 7.0), and the work centres on completing menus, purchasing, cooking and records independently to the employer's taste; IQ-type scales describe general cognitive performance and have no official correspondence with job requirements.
Ability to plan several dishes and several dining times at once while keeping the sequence.
Ability to estimate ingredients from the number of diners and to spot ingredient or temperature anomalies.
General tool: cognitive performance description, with no official occupational threshold
Cognitive test results are not hiring standards and do not represent physical or sensory conditions.
Communication and emotion management
Is strong communication ability required?
This job centres on direct communication with the employer household, focusing on taste preferences, dietary restrictions, time arrangements and expense boundaries; rejected tastes and short-notice changes are common and require steady expression and a sense of boundaries. Emotion-type tools offer only a self-observation angle and are not a job threshold.
Ability to confirm taste preferences and dietary restrictions in a short, clear way.
Ability to explain the basis first and then adjust the approach when being contradicted or rushed.
General tool: communication and emotion description, not a job threshold
Live-in full-time household cook
Employed by one family, responsible for daily meals and kitchen tidying and working to the household routine; suited to people who want long-term stability, clear boundaries and can accept a live-in arrangement.
Time is bound fairly tightly to the family and private space is limited; menu repetition is high, requiring continuous taste adjustment and maintaining tidiness standards.
Per-visit personal cook and private banquet service
Cooking on site for several families by visit or on a cycle, or taking on family and holiday banquets; suited to people willing to arrange their own schedule and purchasing.
Income fluctuates with the number of bookings, and purchasing, quoting and hygiene responsibility must be handled personally; self-employed status is not covered by wage statistics.
Chefs and head cooks (adjacent occupation)
Requires production experience plus menu design and people management skills; suited to people willing to take responsibility for costs, scheduling and training.
This is already an adjacent occupation: it involves menu pricing and people management, and its duties and qualification requirements must be checked separately.
Food service managers (adjacent occupation)
Focused on outlet or catering operations plus people and cost management; suited to practitioners interested in catering operations management.
Daily tasks differ greatly from household meal service, and moving across requires additional operations and compliance knowledge.
Food preparation workers (adjacent occupation)
Mainly upstream preparation such as washing and cutting, and a common entry point into the catering system.
Food preparation includes prep, temperature recording, food assembly and some preparation, and does not uniformly lack cooking responsibility or have all tasks narrower than this job; it is checked by target task and division of labour.
Bakers (adjacent occupation)
Centred on dough, fermentation and baking, with processes more sensitive to time and temperature; suited to people who like recipe-based repetitive work.
An adjacent occupation: the equipment and recipe systems differ, and moving across requires retraining in baking skills.
Would repeated home-style dishes and kitchen tidying wear down your patience?
Can you accept immediate feedback and being asked to redo work?
Would the pressure of a family banquet or holiday meal fluster you?
Would you rather work to a standard or improvise freely?
Household service requires choosing between “to the employer's taste” and “your own expression”: there is room for dish innovation, but taste and dietary restrictions still govern; first establish the authorisation scope in the employment agreement, then decide.
Are you willing to spend time with the same family over the long term?
Live-in and fixed-household positions require long-term contact and handling privacy boundaries; per-visit positions involve shorter contact and more autonomy, but income depends more on bookings.
Do you mind long periods of standing and a high-temperature environment?
Currently standing 81%/15%, almost constantly and more than half the time, not 96% of working hours for every person; the U.S. respondent answers are not applied to Chinese households, and oil fume and noise intensity are checked against the actual kitchen.
Can you adapt to meal times decided by the household routine?
Meal times are decided by the employer household's routine and banquet arrangements: breakfast and dinner, weekends and holidays may all require service; live-in positions bind time more tightly.
Are you willing to keep practising menu and purchasing checks?
Taste adjustment, ingredient estimation and purchasing checks depend on repeated practice; recording practice volume, feedback and service consistency says more about fit than a test score.
Can an interest or personality test decide whether I am suited to being a private household cook?
No. Tests describe preference clues; they do not predict job performance and do not constitute hiring or qualification judgements; real judgement comes from task samples and feedback.
What should be done next?
The fictional household menus on this page can be used to observe preferences; a real shadowing experience requires the household's and service provider's permission plus hygiene training and privacy conditions, and no one may operate or record household health matters without permission.
Supports tasks, work context and interest codes; interest codes describe activity types only and do not constitute a fit conclusion.
Supports employment and projection measures, for judging the size of the occupation, not for judging individual fit.
Observation points for preparation level and educational requirements (O*NET 35-2013.00); they do not represent a specific employer's hiring conditions.
O*NET interest questionnaires describe experiential preferences only and do not replace ability, qualification, health or hiring judgements.
For comparing duties and preparation levels in the chef and head cook direction (adjacent occupation).
For comparing operational and management duties in the food service manager direction (adjacent occupation).
For comparing preparation duties in the food preparation worker direction (adjacent occupation).
For comparing recipe and baking duties in the baker direction (adjacent occupation).
Monitor and record refrigeration, freezer and heating temperatures according to the applicable food hygiene requirements, keep raw and cooked food in separate zones with separate utensils, and handle and label dietary restriction and allergen meals separately; if abnormal temperatures or suspected contamination are found, stop using them and confirm with the employer.
Carry out health management, hygiene practice and training according to applicable rules and the employment agreement and keep records; the specific scope of responsibility follows the rules currently in force and the employment agreement, and this page does not constitute a qualification or employment opinion.
Record menus, purchasing, expenses and losses as agreed with the employer, keep receipts and labels, and state how values were obtained and who checked them; confirm important changes in writing before acting.
Use heat-resistant and skin protection, keep ventilation, arrange work breaks and rotate utensil positions; if discomfort persists, report it as agreed and seek medical attention promptly.
What are the actual work risks for private household cooks?
Risk scenarios are listed by task, covering stoves, hot oil and knives, slipping and lifting, food temperature control and allergens, and expenses and privacy; this is an editorial risk compilation, not a measured ranking. Standing and noise responses do not equal injury or diagnosis, and the actual household space and protection must be checked.
The risk scenarios come from the O*NET task profile and work context percentages (O*NET-SOC 35-2013.00); the mainland China classification and employment context come from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security's published occupational classification information; responsibility and record requirements when automation or AI tools are introduced refer to the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
This section explains hazards and control directions only; it does not replace the employer's and household's work agreement, training and authorisation, and does not constitute an occupational health diagnosis or a work-injury determination.
Start with the work context and working conditions
Burns and scalds from stoves, hot oil and ovens, and cuts from knives
Hob, frying, oven and washing stations, and the parts involving carrying hot soup and hot pans
Opening lids to take food out, pouring hot soup or oil, taking pans out of the oven and contact with hot surfaces during cleaning can all cause scalds; cutting, chopping and cleaning with knives with improper blade orientation can also cause cuts.
Burns and cuts cause lost work and may cause secondary injury through improper emergency handling.
Slipping and lifting strains caused by the limited space of a home kitchen
Washing areas, storage rooms and ingredient lifting steps
Limited space, dispersed storage and wet floors can serve as check scenarios; the actual residence area was not obtained, so it is not said that all home kitchens are usually cramped; lifting and reaching are assessed per station.
Slips and lifting injuries may affect booking attendance; this round obtained no incidence rate or ranking for this job or for domestic catering injuries, so they cannot be called generally common.
Food-safety incidents from temperature failures, mixed raw and cooked use and improper allergen handling
All steps that come into contact with ingredients and finished products
Mixing raw and cooked utensils, storage temperature failures or mismatched allergen information can create risk; this is checked against the actual kitchen, and a household name does not mean refrigeration space is necessarily limited. U.S. FoodSafety.gov household guidance lists clean, separate, confirm cooking with a thermometer, and chill promptly, and states explicitly not to wash raw meat, poultry, eggs and seafood so as to avoid spreading contamination. It is U.S. household food-safety guidance, not Chinese law; this page has no complete temperature handling procedure for every dish, and exceptions are held back until an applicable basis is obtained, since the employer's agreement cannot prove food safety.
Food-safety incidents directly harm the health of employer household members and guests, and individuals may bear corresponding responsibility.
Classification, qualifications and employment boundaries in mainland China
Practitioners working in mainland China in the form of private household meal service
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification.
Treating a classification name as authorisation to work, or treating one household's requirements as a nationwide uniform threshold, leads to misjudgement and misaligned responsibility.
Inaccurate records and purchasing expense disputes
Positions responsible for purchasing, inventory and expense records
Menu and purchasing receipts, batch losses and unrecorded budgets can serve as dispute scenarios; this round obtained no share of household employment conducted on a majority verbal basis, and the recording approach is an editorial suggestion.
Missing records turn into trust and contract disputes and may also conceal food-safety problems.
Long-term effects of prolonged standing, oil fume and noise
Positions working in the same home kitchen over the long term
Currently standing 81%/15%, almost constantly and more than half the time; hand use 81% almost constantly; 23% face daily burn, cut and sting exposure and 12% daily distracting noise. Contaminants show only 23% yearly rather than monthly and 62% never, with complete daily responses not shown and 8% not filled in; the proportions are not an injury rate or Chinese conditions.
Long-term exposure may cause skin, hearing and joint problems and affect sustained attendance.
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability. No injury ranking or household health diagnosis is provided.
Observation points for preparation level and educational requirements (O*NET 35-2013.00).
For directional checking of mainland China's occupational classification and the boundaries of household meal service work.
For work context percentages and working conditions (O*NET 35-2013.00; the corresponding source id is sag-moa).
NIST voluntary AI governance recommendations on roles and responsibilities and record oversight are not mandatory kitchen procedures or injury evidence.
| What the early period mainly involves |
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| Ability materials that editors suggest observing |
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| How to demonstrate this without experience |
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| Difference from other directions |
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| Household meal assistance and prep positions | Under supervision, complete washing and cutting, prep and kitchen tidying, and fill in ingredient and portion records for someone to review. | Hygiene habits, prep specifications, health management and hygiene training records. | A fictional prep and kitchen tidying record. | Focused on upstream prep and tidying, without independent responsibility for menus and cooking. |
| Live-in household cook | Independently complete one family's three daily meals and kitchen tidying, adjust to taste and record purchasing. | Consistent output to the employer's taste, applying dietary restrictions, kitchen tidiness standards. | A fictional one-week menu and purchasing record. | Time is bound to the family, serving the same household over the long term. |
| Per-visit personal cook | Cook the meal on site at the agreed time, tidy the kitchen and settle the expenses. | Time reliability, completeness of a single service, and clarity of purchasing and quoting. | A fictional single-visit menu, purchasing and expense list. | Paid per visit and can serve several households in parallel. |
| Family banquet and private banquet meal position | Take on prep, cooking and serving at family banquets and holiday meals, handling differences in guests' tastes. | Ability to produce several dishes simultaneously, timing control, handling special diets. | A fictional banquet menu and service timing plan. | Aimed at particular dates and numbers of guests, with concentrated intensity. |
| Hourly meal position dispatched by a domestic service agency | Complete meal preparation and kitchen tidying at the dispatched time, and fill in the service record. | Completing the service as agreed, hygiene standards, service record standards. | A fictional service record and hygiene self-check sheet. | Dispatched by the agency, with the dispatch pace and location changing with clients. |
Educational and academic background requirements
U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed. The domestic distribution of junior or senior high school starting points and of specialist advantage was not obtained and is checked against the specific announcement.
The respondent proportions on the O*NET summary page are respondents' judgements and do not equal any household's hiring conditions; the U.S. measure and domestic requirements cannot be equated directly.
Health management and hygiene conditions
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification.
No nationwide uniform qualification distribution was obtained for purely household service; specific operating health and contractual conditions are checked against the actual entity, and it cannot be uniformly exempt from certification or treated as enterprise catering employees.
Observable evidence of professional ability
Can plan menus to one family's taste and dietary restrictions, can complete purchasing checks and cooking independently, can explain the basis for heat control and hygiene, can stop using ingredients and confirm with the employer when something is abnormal, and can record menus and expenses completely as agreed (from O*NET task and work context data).
Tasks are observation points, not hiring thresholds; currently 44% have daily routine protection and accuracy 19%/42%, extremely important and very important, which are U.S. respondent answers, not Chinese requirements.
Common tools and technology scope
Physical equipment is checked against the tasks and the actual household; for software, a separate 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting table lists only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate.
Tool proficiency is a market preference and recruitment signal; it does not equal core ability or an entry threshold.
Sample one: one-week menu and taste check record
Deliverable: a one-week menu plan for a fictional household, covering taste preferences, dietary and allergy restrictions, the number of diners and the dish plan for each person.
The record must state where each setting comes from (employer confirmation, labels or previous records) and how the plan is adjusted when restrictions change.
Sample two: purchasing and expense record
Deliverable: a one-page record covering purchasing batches, shelf life, storage locations, expenses and losses, and the actions of stopping use and confirming when ingredient anomalies are found.
The record must distinguish actual observations from suspected causes, and must not treat assumptions as confirmed results.
Sample three: cooking and temperature record
Deliverable: a cooking and storage record covering the meal, cooking method, core temperature and cooling and freezing times, and reheating instructions.
Sample four: debrief note
Deliverable: a one-page note setting out how you arrange menus and purchasing under one family's taste requirements, which step takes the most time and what you will practise next; real households' member information, health information and household matters must not be included.
| Stage | What may be assessed | Observable evidence | Boundaries of use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Household interview communication | Whether the candidate can set out their dish range, time arrangements and expense boundaries, and proactively ask about household members' tastes, allergies and dietary restrictions, as well as working hours and whether the role is live-in. | Communication records and a question list. | One household's communication preferences do not represent a uniform industry process. |
| Dietary and hygiene questions | Whether the candidate can explain raw-cooked zoning, refrigeration, freezing and heating temperatures, the basic requirements for allergen isolation, and when ingredients must be stopped and confirmed with the employer. | Answer records and a statement of the basis. | The scope of assessment is decided by the employer and applicable rules; this page does not speculate. |
| Purchasing and record questions | Whether the candidate understands purchasing checks, receipt retention, expense and loss records, and the basic requirements for inventory rotation. | Answer records or a comparison of sample records. | The assessment standard is set by the employer; this page does not speculate. |
| Trial cooking and probation observation | Complete one session or a period of output to the household's taste, and observe hygiene execution, time reliability, kitchen tidiness and record quality. | Sampling of trial output and menu and purchasing records, and a kitchen tidying review. | Trial cooking and employment conditions are agreed between the parties; this page does not constitute an employment promise. |
| Qualification / preparation item | Who it mainly suits | Practical effect in job seeking | Whether it is a general entry threshold | Registration / application conditions | Investment considerations | Important limits |
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| Educational background (junior high to senior high) | People preparing to enter household meal service | Check education with the specific household or institution; no national distribution of hiring thresholds was obtained | Not a uniform mandatory threshold; check against the employer's requirements | Per the specific household's or institution's recruitment requirements | Costs and duration were not obtained this round; check against the actual procedure or training announcement | An educational credential does not represent food-safety or equipment operation authorisation. |
| Health management and hygiene training | Household meal service personnel who directly handle food | Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification. | Judged against the real employer and business activity, without claiming a nationwide uniform requirement across most households | Training is organised by the employer or attended as required by the competent authority | Costs and duration were not obtained this round; check against the actual procedure or training announcement | A training record does not equal work authorisation; specific requirements follow the rules currently in force. |
| Chinese cuisine chef vocational skill grade | People who want systematic training and skill recognition | The assessment system can provide skill evidence, while allowances and household employment benefits were not obtained and are checked against the actual announcement | This round obtained no distribution of nationwide household or institutional requirements; specifics are checked separately | Per the registration conditions published by the skill-grade assessment body, across five grades down to Grade One | Costs and duration were not obtained this round; check against the actual procedure or training announcement | The employer decides how a grade certificate relates to job placement; this page does not constitute a hiring conclusion. |
| Nutrition or dietary training | People serving households with dietary and nutritional restrictions | Editorial study preparation direction; the recognition of a specific training and its effect on recruitment and promotion must be checked with the actual employer, and no competitive advantage is promised. | Not a general entry threshold; per the position's requirements | Per the registration conditions published by the training provider and the competent authority | Costs and duration were not obtained this round; check against the actual procedure or training announcement | A training certificate does not equal authorisation for medical diets or nutrition prescriptions. |
| Household employment agreement and authorisation | People who need to complete purchasing, cooking and records independently | Determines whether someone can run the position independently and draw on the purchasing budget | Agreed between the parties according to household and institution | Per the employment agreement and the household's requirements | Costs and duration were not obtained this round; check against the actual procedure or training announcement | Authorisation is limited to the household and position and cannot be transferred across households. |
| Household dietary management and private banquet service training | People preparing to take on dietary management and private banquet coordination duties | Editorial study preparation direction; the recognition of a specific training and its effect on recruitment and promotion must be checked with the actual employer, and no competitive advantage is promised. | Not an entry threshold | Per the employer's and training provider's requirements | Costs and duration were not obtained this round; check against the actual procedure or training announcement | Management training does not equal authorisation for a food-safety responsibility position. |
Education, the health certificate, hygiene training, skill grade, nutrition study and purchasing authorisation are separated; actual household employment, agency dispatch and catering operating entities are checked separately, and household consent does not substitute for applicable law or a food-safety basis.
U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed.
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification.
Any qualification or employment requirement should follow the current rules of the employer and the competent authority; this page does not constitute an employment promise, a qualification opinion or advice on work authorisation.
Household assistant prep or an existing culinary background can serve as an editorial preparation path, and is not a measured domestic entry share. The typical U.S. BLS entry for this job shows a postsecondary non-degree award and less than 5 years of experience, and it is not said that all U.S. or Chinese positions need no education; fictional menu records do not substitute for training or health conditions.
U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed.
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification.
Fictional work-order material (practice input)
Fictional scenario: a fictional family banquet on Friday evening has 8 people, of whom 1 household member is allergic to nuts, 1 needs low-salt soft food and 1 does not eat animal offal; in this week's purchasing records a batch of chilled poultry is marked with an arrival date of Tuesday and a shelf life to the following Monday, but the fridge temperature log shows two occasions this week above 4 degrees Celsius with only “adjusted” written.
Material provided: this week's menu and taste preference list; a note of household members' allergies and dietary restrictions; the number of diners and the time arrangement; the purchasing batch and shelf-life ledger; the fridge and finished-product temperature records; the note on kitchen utensil and chopping board zoning.
Material not provided: the specific duration and cause of the higher temperature, whether the affected poultry has already been used in earlier meals, the confirmation process for deciding whether to discard it, and the employer's preference for a substitute menu. If these conditions are needed in the exercise, state your assumptions and whom you would need to confirm them with.
Task requirements
Write a one-page weekly handling and banquet plan covering menu and dietary restriction checks, the judgement and handling of the affected ingredients, purchasing top-ups and inventory rotation, cooking and finished-product temperature requirements, serving times and portion arrangements, the situations that require stopping use or confirming with the employer, and the matters to be recorded and handed over.
The plan must state which data come from the exercise material and which are still assumptions, and must say whether it relies on the menu, the temperature records or the utensil zoning note.
Reference deliverable (derivable from the exercise material)
The plan should include: checks (apply the 3 restrictions to specific meals and utensils separately, and match the 8 portions to dishes one by one); ingredient judgement (the chilled poultry from the temperature anomaly period must be held back and confirmed with the employer, and must not be released on the strength of an “adjusted” record alone); purchasing top-ups (determine the top-up list from the banquet headcount and existing stock, and keep receipts and batches); cooking and temperature (check finished-product core temperature and cooling and freezing times, with separate utensils and stations for allergen meals); serving and records (serve according to the time arrangement, set out the menu, purchasing, expenses and losses, and register the items still to be confirmed).
The reference deliverable lists only the elements that should be included and does not require wording identical to the example; explaining the basis for your judgement is enough.
Boundaries and conclusions that cannot be drawn
This exercise tests only taste and dietary restriction checking, purchasing and temperature awareness, and the ability to organise records; it does not evaluate any real household's meal safety and does not constitute an employment or qualification judgement or advice on real food-safety or dietary handling.
Real households' member information, health information or household matters must not be used; where real food-safety and dietary judgements are involved, applicable rules and the employment agreement must be followed.
Day 1: read one publicly available food hygiene material
Find a publicly available material on food handling and hygiene requirements, mark three requirements relating to temperature control, raw and cooked zoning or allergens, and write down the points you want to confirm.
Day 2: compile a one-week menu and headcount list
Using fictional household members and diner numbers, turn taste preferences, dietary restrictions and each person's dishes into a one-week menu, and note the actions and whom to confirm with when ingredients are short or restrictions conflict.
Day 3: do a purchasing and batch check
Using a fictional purchasing ledger, write out how to check shelf life by batch, how to arrange first-in-first-out, and how to handle missing labels or abnormal deliveries.
Day 4: do a temperature reading
Using fictional refrigeration, cooking and cooling temperature records, judge which period has abnormal readings and the possible direction of the cause, and explain your basis.
Day 5: write an allergen and special diet handling note
Write out the sequence for handling an allergen or dietary restriction conflict: confirming the requirement, using separate utensils and stations, and confirming an alternative with the employer, and note which steps must be confirmed by the employer.
Day 6: write a menu and expense record
Using fictional data, write a weekly record covering menus, purchasing, expenses and losses, key points of inventory rotation, unresolved exceptions and the items to be confirmed.
Day 7: decide whether to continue
Return to the judgement checklist on this page and write down three reasons you are willing to continue and two conditions that need caution.
How do people enter and progress in private household cooking?
Preparation and checks when entering the trade
The exercises, samples and seven-day schedule on this page are editorial designs, and the material is fictional or based on public sources; they do not constitute a training certificate, a food-safety permit, work authorisation or an employment promise.
Applicable jurisdictions: the U.S. measures come from O*NET and BLS public material; the mainland China measures refer to the occupational classification and the direction of food hygiene requirements published by the competent authority, and the specific requirements follow the employment agreement and the competent authority's current rules.
This section explains the U.S. preparation levels and the actual situation in mainland China separately:
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification. U.S. specific business and local licensing are checked separately; some U.S. state or local food handler certification and the FDA2026 model do not automatically equal uniform law for purely household service everywhere.
Household meal assistance and prep
Under supervision, complete washing and cutting, prep, table setting and kitchen tidying, and be able to check ingredients and portions against a list and record truthfully; the goal is to turn the basic hygiene, portion and dietary restriction actions into habits.
Independently completing household daily meals
Independently take on one household's daily meals: plan menus to taste and dietary restrictions, purchase and check batches, cook and serve, and stop using ingredients and confirm an alternative as agreed when something is abnormal.
Banquets and multi-household service
Take on family banquets and holiday meals and schedule service for several households at once, coordinate the output sequence and short-notice changes, and handle dietary restrictions and differences in guests' tastes.
Dietary management and private banquet direction
Editorial development suggestion: study menu systems and budget and expense accounting, and explore household dietary or private banquet planning; whether nutrition or service management training is required must be checked against real employment conditions, and it is not called generally necessary.
Live-in and fixed household service direction
Household meal assistant position
Under supervision, complete washing and cutting, prep and kitchen tidying, and record ingredients and portions against a list.
Can complete preparation and tidying to standard and record truthfully against a list.
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification. Education and specific hygiene training are checked against the real position, and it cannot be said broadly that no education is needed.
Learn to complete home-style dishes independently and to plan menus.
Live-in household cook
Responsible for one household's three daily meals and kitchen tidying, arranging time to the household routine.
Consistent output, ability to explain the basis for taste and dietary restrictions, and ability to stop use and confirm when something is abnormal.
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification. Education and specific hygiene training are checked against the real position, and it cannot be said broadly that no education is needed.
Learn banquet preparation and purchasing and expense records.
Multi-member and dietary restriction position
Cover household members' differences in taste and dietary restrictions (low salt, low sugar, vegetarian, soft food and so on).
Ability to adjust recipes for restrictions and handle allergen meals separately.
Authorisation and training requirements in the employment agreement.
Take on menu communication and handling household members' feedback.
Household dietary management direction (adjacent)
Take part in menu systems, purchasing budgets and kitchen arrangements, and may assist in coordinating the domestic team.
Ability to balance taste, nutritional restrictions and expense boundaries.
Editorial preparation suggestion: observe the requirements for meal experience, nutrition or management study; actual management position conditions must be checked with the employer, and no distribution of common requirements was obtained.
Check the relevant requirements for nutrition or domestic management positions.
Per-visit and hourly household meal direction
Hourly meal service position
Cook that session's meal on site at the agreed time and tidy the kitchen.
Ability to complete the output at the agreed time and restore the kitchen to its original state.
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification. Education and specific hygiene training are checked against the real position, and it cannot be said broadly that no education is needed.
Learn to produce several dishes in a single visit.
Regularly scheduled personal cook
Schedule weekly or monthly for several households and arrange purchasing and output personally.
Ability to serve consistently to the schedule and record purchasing and expenses.
Self-employed or contracted, requiring the practitioner to handle hygiene and the boundaries of responsibility themselves.
Learn quoting and purchasing cost accounting.
Multi-household and area service position
Coordinate schedules and purchasing between several households or areas.
Ability to adjust menus to client differences while keeping hygiene standards consistent.
Per the contract or platform agreement.
Learn client communication and service records.
Personal cook service direction
Take on household and private banquet service under the name of a personal cook, handling quoting and compliance matters personally.
Ability to complete the whole loop independently from menu to settlement.
Self-employed status is not covered by wage statistics, and tax and insurance must be checked personally.
Check the relevant business and contract requirements.
Banquet, holiday meal and private banquet service direction
Banquet preparation position
Take on prep, table setting and output assistance at family banquets and holiday meals.
Ability to complete preparation and output assistance to the banquet menu.
Direct household employment, domestic service company services and catering operations must be checked separately, and cooking at home does not automatically make catering business licensing or employee health requirements apply. Article 2 of the 2025 amendment to the Food Safety Law applies to food production and operation and similar activities; where the person is an applicable food production and operation operator, this is checked against Article 44 on enterprise food-safety knowledge training and Article 45 on the annual health examination and certificate for personnel handling directly consumed food. For purely household employment, the specific qualifications, health and contractual conditions were not obtained as a nationwide uniform distribution this round and are checked against the actual entity and local requirements, and are not interpreted as being exempt from any certification. Education and specific hygiene training are checked against the real position, and it cannot be said broadly that no education is needed.
Learn to produce several dishes simultaneously and the serving sequence.
Banquet cooking and serving position
Take on making, seasoning and serving hot and cold dishes, and handle guests' special requests.
Ability to complete output to the banquet timing and handle short-notice changes.
Project in-house training and authorisation.
Learn menu design and portion calculation.
Private banquet coordination position
Coordinate menus, purchasing, service staff and venue arrangements.
Ability to coordinate output, service and the time flow.
Per the project and the contract.
Learn budgeting and supplier liaison.
Private banquet planning and management direction
Responsible for menu systems, quoting and team arrangements, and may liaise with external services.
Ability to balance output, cost and service order.
Per the project and the contract.
Check the relevant nutrition, hygiene and employment requirements.
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability. U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed.
Observation points for preparation level and educational requirements (O*NET 35-2013.00).
For directional checking of mainland China's occupational classification and household meal service requirements.
The 2025 national wage percentiles for this job; the OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked. Official annual values can be cited and do not extrapolate an individual's monthly take-home pay.
O*NET provides an entry point for looking up certification and training for this segment, for verifying credential and training information; this is a description of an information entry point, not a demand signal.
Editorially compiled note on measures for checking job information: a single recruitment or dispatch notice can show only one household's or institution's demand at one point in time.
A single recruitment or dispatch notice can show only one household's or institution's demand at one point in time. The three cannot substitute for one another.
Market signals and adjacent directions for private household cooks
A projection is a change in the occupation total, not an individual's probability of being hired; faster growth does not mean every region or household has demand.
Certification and training entry points do not predict job numbers or wage levels.
Recruitment information does not represent national demand, the median wage or a uniform access requirement.
Shared abilities: ingredient handling, basic menu design, culinary skills and hygiene requirements.
Moving to chef work requires checking commercial output standards, multi-person scheduling and training, budgets and organising several kitchens; this job already has menu purchasing, kitchen organisation and financial records, so they are not assumed to be gaps from zero.
Distance note: moving from a private kitchen to a commercial kitchen management position usually requires years of output experience.
Shared abilities: cost awareness, purchasing and inventory, understanding of service pace.
To be added: operating budgets, compliance and people management, and outlet or catering operations.
Distance note: moving from household service to operations management requires additional operations and compliance knowledge.
Shared abilities: washing, cutting and preparation, basic hygiene requirements.
Moving to food preparation requires checking the target prep specifications, temperature records, food assembly and handover standards; the independent menu cooking this job already has is not listed as a gap for a reverse move into cooking.
The tasks overlap but the service division of labour differs; this round obtained no inevitable entry order or success rate, and the target standards are checked separately.
Shared abilities: following recipes, weighing and temperature control.
To be added: dough and fermentation processes, baking equipment and product systems.
Distance note: the equipment and recipe systems differ, and moving across requires retraining in baking skills.
Shared abilities: standardised service, assembly and hygiene requirements.
Moving to counter work 35-3023 requires checking order taking and payment, customer complaints, simple food and drink assembly and service delivery; the menu purchasing and independent cooking this job already has are not written as the target's main gap.
The service, payment and assembly division of labour differs, and counters also make food, so operational depth is not ranked uniformly; the target position is checked separately.
Shared abilities: cleaning and disinfection, returning utensils and hygiene requirements.
Moving to dishwashing requires checking the dishwashing equipment, sorting and putting away, cleaning throughput and procedures; menu cooking is not listed as the dishwashing target's main gap, and that target also has food prep tasks.
Distance note: a support role, usually the starting point for entering the trade.
Shared abilities: the meal process, hygiene standards and team collaboration.
Moving to supervision requires checking scheduling, performance and discipline, cash records and staffing; existing kitchen organisation experience is checked in practice and cannot be equated with all commercial team management.
Distance note: oriented to on-site management, requiring additional management and record-keeping responsibility.
Shared abilities: a basic understanding of dietary and nutritional restrictions, and meal records.
Moving to dietetic technician 29-2051 requires checking nutritional assessment, observing patients' food intake and weight and reporting to dietitians, interprofessional collaboration, and diets according to established guidelines; that occupation works under dietitian supervision, and household cooking skill does not automatically confer clinical authority.
The U.S. Zone3 for that position is a preparation level summary; actual qualifications and Chinese nutrition positions are checked separately, and an adjacent name does not confer prescribing or independent clinical authority.
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
For the official entry point for looking up certification and training information; it does not predict job numbers or wage levels.
Observation points for preparation level and educational requirements (O*NET 35-2013.00).
For comparing occupational tasks, work context and the preparation levels of adjacent occupations.
What can be checked is change at the task level: three task groups — menu, purchasing and expense information, cooking and service pace, and temperature, storage and records — can be partly taken over by tools; this page has no occupation-specific adoption rate or displacement data.
Menu planning and taste checking, purchasing and batch checks, heat control and seasoning, handling dietary restrictions and allergens, storage and reheating instructions, and the checking ability needed when using menu, purchasing and bookkeeping tools.
In the United States the 2025 median hourly wage is 23.05 dollars and the median annual wage is 47,940 dollars (the single-occupation measure for 35-2013.00), with percentiles of 36,090/40,630/47,940/55,450/91,130 dollars a year; that measure excludes self-employed personal cooks. No occupation-level wage figures were obtained for mainland China, and this page treats this as a gap rather than filling it in with industry averages.
The U.S. preparation level is Job Zone 3, and respondent education requirements show 38% stating a postsecondary certificate is needed, 31% a high school diploma or equivalent and 15% below high school, with skills coming mainly from related work experience and on-the-job training; the common starting point for household meal service in mainland China is junior or senior high school, and some require health management and hygiene training.
There is no uniform mandatory licence in the United States; in mainland China health management and hygiene training are common prerequisites, and the Chinese cuisine chef vocational skill grade is usually not a threshold for household meal service, with specific requirements following the employment agreement and the competent authority's rules.
First complete one “menu plan—purchasing check—cooking—serving and recording” exercise using the fictional material on this page, or do one household meal shadowing experience, and then check the target household's taste requirements, dining frequency and employment agreement.
U.S. official projections show the growth rate for this occupation over 2024—2034 as “much faster than average (5% to 6%)”, with about 5,300 job openings over the projection period; but the occupation is small and household employment mostly depends on direct agreement, and hours and income change with the employer household, so it must be checked against local actual demand.
FermatMind career content editorial team (source verification and exercise design)
O*NET current task context, preparation interests, 2025 recruitment technologies and industries; the exact BLS2025—2035 projection and the 2025 national wage and OEWS coverage are checked separately. Chinese NBS industry background, occupational material and business food-safety law are distinguished; U.S. household guidance supports the safety direction, ILO/NIST are method and voluntary governance, and adjacent occupations support only their corresponding targets.
Updated: 2026-10-09 (the actual dates each source was consulted are registered separately)
Note: this page distinguishes official statistics, legal rules and editorial compilation; source names and scopes of application are not interchanged.
For comparing duties and preparation levels in the chef and head cook direction (adjacent occupation).
The preparation levels of adjacent occupations do not equal this occupation's employment conditions.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Chef menu, cost and staff organisation tasks serve for incremental comparison, and private household cooks already have Core menu purchasing, organisation and financial records, so this job's management overlap is not excluded.
2026-09-18
For comparing duties in the dishwasher direction (adjacent occupation).
Support role duties are not merged into this occupation.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Dishwashing tasks include cleaning and putting away utensils and food prep, and do not uniformly consist only of washing dishes or all rank below this job.
2026-09-18
For comparing recipe and baking duties in the baker direction (adjacent occupation).
Baking processes are not written as duties of this occupation.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Supports only the recipes, fermentation and baking tasks and preparation level of bakers (adjacent occupation); the equipment and product systems differ from household meal service.
2026-09-18
Supports the statistical measures of employment projections and job openings.
Does not predict an individual's chance of being hired and contains no tool adoption data.
O*NET OnLine using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data
United States
BLS2025—2035; consulted 2026-10-09
official statistics
Occupation-specific
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability.
2026-10-09
Supports the context of mainland China's occupational classification.
Employment qualifications, work authorisation and wage figures are not inferred from it.
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security
Mainland China
2022-10-28; retrieved 2026-09-18
official guidance
Occupation-specific
Supports the published information of the Occupational Classification Code (2022 edition) in the context of China's occupational classification; it does not establish a nationwide uniform employment qualification or work authorisation, and the classification name cannot be treated as corresponding one-to-one with a U.S. occupational code.
2026-09-18
For comparing duties in the dietetic technician direction (adjacent occupation).
Medical dietary duties are not merged into this occupation.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current detail page tasks and preparation; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
U.S. dietetic technicians 29-2051 work under dietitian supervision and cover observing and reporting patients' food intake and weight, nutritional assessment, menu guidelines and interprofessional collaboration; the preparation level Zone3 is not a Chinese clinical licence.
2026-10-09
For comparing duties in the food counter worker direction (adjacent occupation).
Front-of-house duties are not merged into this occupation.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Counter work 35-3023 covers service, payment and complaints, and simple food and drink preparation and assembly, and is not a uniform operational-depth grade.
2026-09-18
For comparing duties in the first-line supervisor direction (adjacent occupation).
Management duties are not added to this occupation by default.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Supervisor scheduling, performance, cash and staffing are used for incremental comparison, and this job already has kitchen organisation tasks; authority is checked against the real position.
2026-09-18
For comparison with the restaurant cook direction.
The measures of an adjacent segment cannot replace the single-occupation measure of this occupation.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Restaurant tasks are used for adjacent comparison; the 2025 employment of 1417500 is checked separately in BLS and is not this job's wage or employment.
2026-09-18
Supports observation points for entry preparation level and educational requirements.
It does not constitute a specific employer's hiring conditions or a threshold in mainland China.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current detail preparation, education and interests; reread from the same batch and version on 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed. Current interests R66/A46/S46/C45/E43/I7; R leads with A/S tied, summarised as R plus tied A/S, without prescribing the sole order of A/S. The activity profile corresponds to ingredients and equipment, dishes and service, not personality ability, population shares or hiring thresholds.
2026-10-09
For comparing preparation duties in the food preparation worker direction (adjacent occupation).
Prep roles are not written as the whole of this occupation's duties.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Food preparation covers washing and cutting, temperature recording, food assembly and some preparation and does not uniformly lack cooking duties; historical 2024 employment is not used as this round's current value.
2026-09-18
The interest questionnaire is for self-observation only.
It must not be used as a basis for hiring, scheduling or promotion.
O*NET OnLine
United States / general
Current tool; retrieved 2026-09-18
official tool
contextual
The interest questionnaire describes experiential preferences only; it does not replace ability, qualification, health or hiring judgements and does not predict job performance.
2026-09-18
Registers the source and measure for mainland China industry average proxy income.
Proxy values must not be written as this occupation's wages.
National Bureau of Statistics
Mainland China
2025 wage data; published 2026-05-16; retrieved 2026-09-18
official statistics
Industry reference
Supports the urban non-private unit average annual wage of 70,226 yuan and private unit 52,059 yuan in resident services, repair and other services; this value is an industry sector average proxy, not a private household cook occupational wage, and cannot be extrapolated to national occupational income.
2026-09-18
For explaining the governance, record-keeping and human oversight requirements when AI systems are introduced.
A framework does not replace the employer's operating procedures and allocation of safety responsibility.
National Institute of Standards and Technology
United States
AI RMF 1.0; retrieved 2026-09-18
institutional framework
contextual
Voluntary AI governance recommendations on roles, responsibilities, records and oversight, not food law or mandatory kitchen procedures.
2026-09-18
For explaining the coverage and conversion measures of wage statistics.
Does not provide figures for this occupation and cannot be used to estimate individual income.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
United States
May 2025 wage data; retrieved 2026-09-18
official statistics
Occupation-specific
Provides an entry point for wage statistics published by occupational code and a coverage note; it does not directly list percentile values for private household cooks, industry average wages cannot be treated as this occupation's wages, and the statistics exclude self-employed positions.
2026-09-18
Supports the tasks, work context and preparation level of this occupation.
Contains no technology adoption or job displacement data.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official occupation data
Occupation-specific
Private household cook identity and overview, with detailed tasks, context and interests checked separately; the current industry split of 13% other services except government / 87% other has no stated year. Wage and employment coverage differ, and it contains no AI adoption or employment causality.
2026-09-18
Supports the market-signal notes on employer technology keywords.
Keywords do not equal adoption rates or ability requirements.
O*NET OnLine
United States
2025 U.S. Lightcast; the latest original page was consulted on 2026-10-09
official occupation data
Occupation-specific
The 2025 U.S. Lightcast private household cook job-posting data list only Intuit QuickBooks and WordPress, with the proportion for both marked “Not available”, and they cannot be filled in as 0 or below 1%. These are job-posting signals for bookkeeping and website software, not a list of kitchen purchasing software, an AI rate or an adoption rate.
2026-10-09
Registers the segment level and coverage of public wage statistics in mainland China.
No occupation-specific figures were obtained, and the gap is marked in a visible position on the page.
National Bureau of Statistics
Mainland China
2025 wages; reread from the same version on 2026-10-09
official statistics
Industry reference
NBS2025 resident services, repair and other services urban unit pre-tax average annual wage: 70,226 for non-private and 52,059 yuan for private units, and accommodation and catering 62,461/55,123 yuan. Unit main activities are matched separately: meal services run by domestic service companies may relate to resident services, catering operations are checked separately, and direct household employment and self-employed freelancers are not within that urban unit survey. It covers all positions in legal entities with 5 or more people and includes bonuses and allowances; it is not a private household cook's wage, median or self-employed revenue. In the same table, the all-position annual average of 58,838 yuan for above-scale resident service enterprises and the 48,013 yuan annual average for social production service and daily life service personnel are another enterprise and broad-occupation background and cannot substitute for household cooks. The gaps in precise occupational figures, quotes and percentiles remain.
2026-10-09
Notes that hourly wages, monthly wages and annual income cannot be interchanged directly.
Does not provide individual income conclusions.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
United States
The current OEWS method page was updated on 2026-09-24; consulted 2026-10-09
official methodology
contextual
The OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked. The standard 2080-hour statistical conversion and its exceptions do not extrapolate an unknown individual's monthly income; it is pre-tax regular monetary wages, excluding overtime premiums and employer benefits.
2026-10-09
For explaining the statistical position of wage percentiles.
Official annual values can be cited and do not extrapolate an unknown individual's annual hours or monthly take-home pay; self-employed and direct household employees are excluded.
O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
United States
2025 BLS wages; consulted 2026-10-09
official statistics
Occupation-specific
2025 national wages: 36090/40630/47940/55450/91130 dollars a year and 17.35/19.54/23.05/26.66/43.81 an hour; the OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked.
2026-10-09
Supports an entry point for verifying certification and training information.
An entry point does not predict job numbers or wage levels.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official guidance
Occupation-specific
Provides an entry point for looking up certification and training for this segment, for verifying credential and training information; this is a description of an information entry point, it does not predict job numbers or wage levels, and it does not replace mainland China's employment conditions.
2026-09-18
For explaining the method of task-level exposure measurement.
Task exposure does not equal automation adoption or job displacement outcomes.
International Labour Organization
Global
Time of publication of the study; retrieved 2026-09-18
institutional research
contextual
The ILO2025 task exposure method; this round obtained no separate value for 35-2013, no adoption and no displacement date, and it is not asserted that the study has no occupational scores at all.
2026-09-18
Supports tasks, work activities and work context percentages.
Contains no technology adoption, job number or income change data.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current detail page; reread from the same batch and version on 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Currently 13 tasks 12/1 Core and Supplemental: washing, trimming, cutting and cooking, baking, cooling, packaging, labelling, freezing and reheating instructions, menu planning and purchasing, meals for family and other household staff, menu financial records, kitchen tidying, organising kitchen food events, special diets, family banquets, exploring new dishes and serving are Core; accompanying the employer to a holiday residence is Supplemental. Importance is not frequency, and purchasing organisation and innovation are already duties, so management and baking are not excluded wholesale. Part of the responses to the 57 work context questions is not shown, and complete proportions are not filled in; they are not an actual accident rate or Chinese conditions.
2026-10-09
For comparing operational and management duties in the food service manager direction (adjacent occupation).
Business management duties are not merged into this occupation.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Page updated in 2026; retrieved 2026-09-18
official source
Occupation-specific
Catering manager operations, budgets and staff organisation are used for adjacent incremental comparison, and the original 2024 employment is not used as the current value.
2026-09-18
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
National People's Congress; republished via the Ministry of Commerce global regulation portal from the National Laws and Regulations Database
Mainland China
2025 amendment, effective 2025-12-01; the articles actually relevant
official source
Occupation-specific
Article 44 of the 2025 amendment to China's Food Safety Law requires food production and operation enterprises to provide food-safety knowledge training for employees; Article 45 requires food production and operation personnel who handle directly consumed food to undergo an annual health examination and obtain a health certificate before taking up their posts, and sets restrictions on posts for diseases that affect food safety. The scope is legally defined production and operation activity; it does not equate all private household cooking with catering operations, and does not treat a health certificate as a skill level or equipment licence. Articles 42/47/54—57 in fact support traceability, self-inspection and stop-reporting, storage of raw materials and equipment, and canteen responsibility; individual position division of labour and technical limits are checked separately.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
U.S. FDA
United States
Overview of the 2026 edition; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
contextual
A model guidance for jurisdictions to adopt, which does not automatically constitute law in all U.S. areas; this round read only the overview, did not read the full PDF or verify adoption in each state, and does not cite specific temperature limits.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Tasks such as sanitation supervision, training, kitchen coordination, budgeting and pricing, and menus; compared with existing segment experience for the increment. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Corresponding tasks such as operating budgets, staff training and scheduling, record compliance and service complaints. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Tasks such as preparation, temperature recording, weighing, assembling meals, cleaning and some serving; not all preparation work lacks finished-product preparation. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Tasks such as weighing and ratios, dough processing, baking parameters and product quality; these do not directly substitute for cook qualifications. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Tasks such as order taking and payment, customer communication, simple cooking and packaging, and cleaning, corresponding in practice to a move to the counter. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Tasks such as washing tableware, putting it away, cleaning the premises, preparing ingredients and moving materials; the role is not limited to washing dishes. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports only the relevant paragraphs actually consulted this round; articles not verified, jurisdictions and positions are checked separately.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current relevant task list; consulted 2026-10-09
official source
Occupation-specific
Tasks such as staff assignment, training, cash records, cleaning supervision and inventory; this does not rule out that cooks already have coaching duties. Transition distance and individual gaps are editorial check directions and do not guarantee hiring or mutual recognition of qualifications.
2026-10-09
Supports the context of mainland China's occupational classification and skill grades.
Employment qualifications, position authorisation and wage figures are not inferred from it.
China Employment Training Technical Instruction Centre
Mainland China
2022-06-08 occupational material; reread from the same batch on 2026-10-09
official guidance
Occupation-specific
The 2022 Chinese cuisine chef 4-03-02-01 lists five grades, a junior high school education or equivalent, and cost, innovation and kitchen management duties; it is not the U.S. private household cook or a threshold for all household employment, and assessment fees and conditions are checked separately.
2026-10-09
The original table gives employment, change and average annual openings in thousands; the self-employment share is for 2025.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
United States
2025—2035 projection and 2025 typical preparation; consulted 2026-10-09
official statistics
Occupation-specific
BLS table 1.2 private household cooks 35-2013: employment rising from 35,400 in 2025 to a projected 37,200 in 2035, a published net increase of 1,800 and growth of 5.1%, with an average of 5,000 openings per year (including growth and replacement), and the self-employed accounting for 79.7%. OOH/O*NET round the growth rate to 5%. The employment projection includes the self-employed while the wage coverage differs; openings are not a ten-year total, net increases, current hiring or a hiring probability. U.S. private household cooks are Zone3/SVP6 to below 7, and a level usually requiring 1—2 years of experience plus informal training is a summary, not a uniform course; respondent education was 38% postsecondary certificate / 31% high school / 15% below high school, and the partial responses are not a Chinese threshold. The BLS entry for this job typically shows a postsecondary non-degree award, less than 5 years of related experience and no on-the-job training indicator; typical and level are different classifications and do not mean no learning or training is needed. The OEWS method explicitly excludes the self-employed, people directly employed by private households and unpaid family members. O*NET currently still publishes 2025 wages for 35-2013, which can be read only as wages for the jobs covered by that survey and do not represent all private household direct employment, self-employed per-visit quotes, profit or all employment income; per-visit service does not automatically equal self-employment, and the actual employment status must be checked.
2026-10-09
The 5.1% employment and 79.7% self-employment for this job are checked separately in table 1.2, and wage coverage is checked separately in the OEWS method.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
United States
2025 wages and the 2025—2035 projection; reread from the same batch on 2026-10-09
official statistics
contextual
The combined cook six-segment group for 2025 has a median of 36640/17.62, employment of 2705800, growth of 7% and 393200 average annual openings, all background only and not substituting for private household cooks; some state and local food handler certification requirements are checked separately and do not apply directly to purely household work.
2026-10-09
A page update date does not automatically equal the statistical year.
O*NET OnLine
United States
The current page does not state the year; consulted 2026-10-09
official occupation data
Occupation-specific
The current 13% other services except government / 87% other including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting has no stated year; it is not the share of household employers or the self-employed, and is not wages.
2026-10-09
U.S. household clean, separate, cook and chill guidance, not Chinese law or a uniform occupational operating permit; no claim is made that all linked temperature tables have been read.
FoodSafety.gov
United States
The page was reviewed on 2023-09-18; this round the actual web text was consulted on 2026-10-09
official guidance
contextual
U.S. FoodSafety.gov household guidance lists clean, separate, confirm cooking with a thermometer, and chill promptly, and states explicitly not to wash raw meat, poultry, eggs and seafood so as to avoid spreading contamination. It is U.S. household food-safety guidance, not Chinese law; this page has no complete temperature handling procedure for every dish, and exceptions are held back until an applicable basis is obtained, since the employer's agreement cannot prove food safety.
2026-10-09
The overview, all 13 tasks and the preparation level were actually read; no claim is made that all clinical qualifications were reviewed.
O*NET OnLine
United States
Current 2026 profile; consulted 2026-10-09
official occupation data
contextual
Under dietitian supervision, 13 tasks including 10 Core / 3 Supplemental, covering reporting patients' food intake and weight, nutritional assessment, dietary guidelines and interprofessional collaboration; Zone3 is a preparation level, not Chinese clinical authority.
2026-10-09