Now hiring · Prep Cook / Kitchen Trainee · Schaumburg
Prep Cook / Kitchen Trainee Jobs in Schaumburg
Also posted as Catering Team Member / Kitchen Trainee
Half this job isn’t in the kitchen. You’ll cook, and you’ll be out with the team on caterings, talking with customers and learning the business side most kitchens never teach. Paid training from day one. No experience needed. Every step is earned: you train and move up on the restaurant side, level by level, and that’s how you become a Chef on the catering side.
- $15–$18/hr paid training — your base, not your ceiling
- 20-30 hrs/week to start, with a path to more as you train
- Third generation of home-developed chefs and counting
Why here
This isn’t just another restaurant job.
If standing at one station for eight hours sounds miserable to you, good. That’s not this.
- Debt-free trainingCulinary school charges tens of thousands in tuition and years of student loans. You get paid from day one while learning the same skills — and more.
- Both sides of the businessCulinary skills get you hired. Business skills get you promoted — here or anywhere. We stack both so you’re not stuck at a station for the next ten years.
- A real path upWe don’t hire managers — we develop them. Five clear steps from zero-experience trainee to Personal & Private Chef level, with new ways to earn unlocking at each one.
The path
Where this actually goes.
Five steps from zero experience to private chef. Every step up adds another way to earn.
- 1. TraineePaid training from day one. No experience needed — that’s who we hire. You learn the kitchen from zero and you learn the catering loop with the team: prep it, cook it, load it, deliver it. You’re a trainee on the restaurant side.Earn: base pay
- 2. Solo DeliveryTrusted to run the drop alone. You’ve earned the keys. You run deliveries to major corporate clients yourself — at a higher rate. The client sees you, not a logo. Tips on your drops go to you.Earn: base pay, delivery tips, solo delivery rate
- 3. Assistant ChefStations · shifts · training others. Now the kitchen gets serious. Grill, fry, sauté, pizza — station by station, proven and signed off. You run shifts and train the people behind you. Every station you master raises your base. Skill reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days.Earn: base, tips, solo rate, skill-based raises
- 4. ChefYour own corporate accounts on the catering side. You get here by graduating through the restaurant levels first. You’re handed real corporate accounts and you own the relationship. You cook for them, take care of them, grow them — and earn commission on everything those accounts produce, every month, on top of your wage. This is where the math changes.Earn: base, tips, solo rate, raises, account commission, marketing comp
- 5. Personal & Private Chef levelThe skills are yours — permanently. At this level you are, genuinely, a personal chef. You could cook for a family, an executive, or an estate anywhere in the country. That’s not a motivational line — it’s the standard we train to. We’d rather build someone who could leave and doesn’t.Earn: every stream, at full strength
Every step is earned: you train and move up on the restaurant side, level by level, and that’s how you become a Chef on the catering side.
The only thing standing between you and Chef is you
We do the training. Nothing here is hard to learn. The only thing that stops someone from becoming a chef here is not believing they can. Most kitchens hire chefs. We build them, from zero. We’re on our third generation of chefs built this way.
Pay
Most kitchen jobs have one number. This one has six.
A standard kitchen job hands you an hourly rate and a station, and ten years later you’ve got the same rate and the same station. That’s a trap, not a career. Here, your rate is the starting base — not the ceiling. These stack on top as you climb:
- 1. Hourly base that growsSkill reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days
- 2. Catering delivery tipsTips from drops to big clients go to you
- 3. Solo delivery rateHigher pay for running deliveries alone
- 4. Skill-based base boostsMaster more stations, handle more, earn more
- 5. Account commissionMonthly commission on your own corporate accounts at Chef level
- 6. Marketing compensationAdditional earning opportunities inside the company
$15–$18/hr during paid training
Most people start at $15 during paid training. The top of the range is for candidates with real restaurant experience who are ready for a management track.
This is your base, not your total. Your base grows as your skills grow — and the other five streams unlock as you climb.
We’re investing real training hours, real ingredients, and real mentorship into you before you’re producing at full speed. We bet on you first. That’s what the starting base reflects. If what you want is the training, this is a great deal. If what you want is only the highest starting number, there are places that pay more to teach you nothing. No hard feelings.
Skills
What you’ll learn.
Culinary skills get you hired. Client skills get you promoted. You’ll learn both as you move up the path.
- Line & station trainingGrill, fry, sauté, pizza — station by station
- Catering productionPrep, packing, temps, load-outs
- Speed & consistencyReal kitchen pressure, real standards
- Food safetyTemps, allergens, high-volume production
- Corporate deliveries & setupsRunning drops for major accounts
- Client communicationTurning a first order into a standing one
- Building regularsRepeat customers — it’s really just making friends
- LeadershipRun shifts, train teammates, problem-solve under fire
The job
What you need, and what you get.
- ScheduleDaytime availability is required for training. Some evening and weekend availability is needed (you won’t always work them). 20-30 hrs/week to start, with a path to more as you train.
- PhysicalYou’re on your feet all day and lift 30 to 40 pound food and catering boxes multiple times a day.
- EducationHigh school diploma or equivalent. No cooking experience needed.
- Getting hereReliable transportation to Schaumburg for daytime shifts and client visits.
- BenefitsPaid training, employee discount, flexible schedule, referral program.
- Tips & commissionTips from catering deliveries, and monthly account commission at Chef level, on top of your hourly base.
Looking for weekend evening hours instead? See our Culinary Host opening.
Fit
Who thrives here.
We’re not for everyone. That’s the point.
Apply if you…
- Actually like talking to people — half this job is talking to them
- Want to build a career, not just collect a check
- Are coachable — feedback makes you better
- Are reliable — you show up ready
- Are team-first — no egos in the kitchen
- Want to learn business, not just recipes
Don’t apply if you…
- Think you already know everything
- Just need “any job” for now
- Expect to skip steps or jump ahead
- Can’t handle direct, honest feedback
- See this work as temporary
- Want to hide at one station all shift
The long game
Why this path is worth it.
Kitchens are hot. Shifts are long. The pressure is constant. We’re not going to pretend otherwise. The difference is what you get for it.
Chef and head-cook jobs are projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2034, with roughly 24,400 openings every year. The field is expanding and short on skilled people — and the pay climbs with you:
| Who | Pay |
|---|---|
| National median — every chef job in America, including school cafeterias, hospital kitchens, and the cheapest markets in the country | $60,990 |
| Average chef wage in the Chicago metro — this market, right here | $68,620 |
| Experienced chefs in Illinois | $76,900 |
| Top 10% of chefs nationally | $96,030 |
| Experienced private chefs cooking for households, executives, and estates — the level this path trains to | Six figures+ |
Here’s the part most people miss: the government’s wage chart doesn’t even measure the top of this path. The survey excludes self-employed chefs — exactly the work a private chef does. The private chef career starts where that chart ends.
Culinary school charges tens of thousands in tuition and years of student loans to put you on this road. We pay you to walk it. With over 40 years of restaurant experience behind our culinary apprenticeship program, we don’t leave cooks as cooks — we build them into leaders.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook, chefs and head cooks, 2024–2034 projections and May 2024 median wage; national 90th-percentile wage from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024; Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro mean wage from BLS OEWS, May 2023. Illinois experienced-chef figure: Illinois Dept. of Employment Security OEWS experienced-wage data. BLS wage estimates exclude self-employed workers. Private chef earnings reflect experienced chefs at the top of the field, not starting pay.
Featured & recognized
We’re not just talking — the results speak.
- #5 Chicago’s Best TV (WGN)
- WGN Morning News
- Fox 32 Chicago
- Windy City Live
- Daily Herald
- AP News
College & high school partners
- Elgin Community College
- Harper College
- College of DuPage
- Triton College
- District 214 ProStart
Questions
Job questions, answered.
Do I need culinary school or experience to work here?
No. We hire for attitude and potential, not experience — training from zero is who we hire. Our paid apprenticeship teaches you everything culinary school would, plus business and marketing skills they don’t, while paying you instead of charging you tuition.
How much does it pay?
$15–$18/hour during paid training. Most people start at $15; the top of the range is for candidates with real restaurant experience who are ready for a management track. That’s your base, not your total. Six ways to earn stack as you climb: hourly base with skill reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days; catering delivery tips; a higher solo delivery rate; base boosts as you master stations; monthly commission on your own corporate accounts at Chef level; and internal marketing compensation.
What is the career path?
Five steps: Trainee → Solo Delivery → Assistant Chef → Chef → Personal & Private Chef level. Each step unlocks new income streams, and the destination is real — skilled enough to cook for a family, an executive, or an estate anywhere in the country.
What’s the schedule like?
Daytime availability is required for training — half this job is catering, and caterings are prepped, cooked, and delivered during the day. Some evening and weekend availability is needed, but you won’t always work them. 20-30 hrs/week to start, with a path to more as you train. You’ll need reliable transportation for daytime shifts and client visits.
Why do employees stay here?
We invest in developing employees into leaders instead of treating them as replaceable labor — three generations of chefs and leaders have trained here. Positions are limited because our staff stays, so apply early.
Will I hear back after I apply?
We get anywhere from 20 to 100 applications in a week, so unfortunately we can’t reply to every single one.
Apply
Ready to start?
Apply directly below — no third-party sites, no waiting. Answer every question completely. We read all of them.
Expected pay: tell us your number in the form. Applications that ask above the posted range ($15–$18), say “negotiable,” or leave it blank are automatically rejected. If you ask for more than $15, tell us what experience justifies it.
We get anywhere from 20 to 100 applications in a week, so unfortunately we can’t reply to every single one.
Job application
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