Bakers
84% skill match · $37,160 · −1% pay
First step
- On-the-job training: over 1 month, up to and including 3 months.
Skills to add
Equipment Maintenance
Is this right for you?
- Long hours on your feet
- Tight deadlines are common
Jobs for Former Cooks (Institution and Cafeteria)
Cooks (Institution and Cafeteria) build judgment and decision making, operations monitoring and service orientation skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Bakers (84%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Skills you enjoy
Pick the skills you want to keep using. The list re-ranks.Sorted by skill match.
25 careers that use your skills
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bakers | 84% | $37,160 | −1% | None |
| 2 | Food Servers, Nonrestaurant | 83% | $35,360 | −6% | None |
| 3 | Butchers and Meat Cutters | 82% | $40,140 | +7% | None |
| 4 | Chefs and Head Cooks | 79% | $62,470 | +67% | Certificate or associate |
| 5 | Food Service Managers | 78% | $69,390 | +85% | None |
| 6 | Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | 77% | $33,980 | −9% | None |
| 7 | Fast Food and Counter Workers | 77% | $31,200 | −17% | None |
| 8 | Food Batchmakers | 76% | $42,290 | +13% | None |
| 9 | Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | 76% | $41,590 | +11% | None |
| 10 | First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | 76% | $44,080 | +18% | None |
- 84%
- Median pay
- $37,160
- Pay change
- −1%
Extra educationNone - 83%
- Median pay
- $35,360
- Pay change
- −6%
Extra educationNone - 82%
- Median pay
- $40,140
- Pay change
- +7%
Extra educationNone - 79%
- Median pay
- $62,470
- Pay change
- +67%
Extra educationCertificate or associate - 78%
- Median pay
- $69,390
- Pay change
- +85%
Extra educationNone - 77%
- Median pay
- $33,980
- Pay change
- −9%
Extra educationNone - 77%
- Median pay
- $31,200
- Pay change
- −17%
Extra educationNone - 76%
- Median pay
- $42,290
- Pay change
- +13%
Extra educationNone - 76%
- Median pay
- $41,590
- Pay change
- +11%
Extra educationNone - 76%
- Median pay
- $44,080
- Pay change
- +18%
Extra educationNone
Compared with Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria, median $37,450. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
Your transferable skills
How important each skill is in work as cooks (institution and cafeteria) (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
Judgment and Decision Making3.12
Operations Monitoring3.12
Service Orientation3.12
Quality Control Analysis3.12
Complex Problem Solving3.00
Management of Personnel Resources3.00
Skills to learn
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Repairing
- Coordination
- Management of Personnel Resources
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
Your top 3 moves, up close
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
83% skill match · $35,360 · −6% pay
First step
- Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (48% of workers).
- On-the-job training: anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month.
Is this right for you?
- Long hours on your feet
- Tight deadlines are common
Butchers and Meat Cutters
82% skill match · $40,140 · +7% pay
First step
- Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (70% of workers).
- On-the-job training: over 6 months, up to and including 1 year.
Skills to add
Repairing · Equipment Maintenance · Negotiation
Is this right for you?
- Long hours on your feet
- Tight deadlines are common
- Mistakes can have serious consequences
Similar roles in the same field
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
Free help near you
Questions former cooks (institution and cafeteria) ask
What jobs can former cooks (institution and cafeteria) do?
The closest matches are Bakers (84% skill match, median $37,160), Food Servers, Nonrestaurant (83% skill match, median $35,360) and Butchers and Meat Cutters (82% skill match, median $40,140), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Which cook career changes pay more?
Among the 25 matches, 14 pay more than cooks (institution and cafeteria) at the median. The biggest increases: Food Service Managers (+85%, $69,390), Chefs and Head Cooks (+67%, $62,470) and Farm Labor Contractors (+56%, $58,460).
Do former cooks (institution and cafeteria) need another degree?
23 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
How is the skill match calculated?
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.