A shochet performs shechita, the ritual slaughter required to render meat kosher under Jewish dietary law, a method specified in detail by Jewish legal tradition: a single continuous, uninterrupted cut across the animal's throat with an exceptionally sharp, smooth-edged blade, checked for any nicks before and after each use, intended to sever the major blood vessels quickly and, according to religious and much veterinary opinion on the method properly performed, render the animal insensible to pain within seconds. Training for the role is lengthy and closely supervised, requiring not only mastery of the physical technique but detailed knowledge of the animal anatomy involved and the specific conditions, including internal examination after slaughter for certain physical defects, treifot, that can render an otherwise properly slaughtered animal not kosher after all.
A shochet typically works under the supervision of a rabbinic kashrut authority responsible for certifying that meat processed under the shochet's work meets the full range of kosher requirements, not only the slaughter method itself but subsequent handling, including the removal of certain forbidden fats and blood, making the shochet one link, albeit the most religiously exacting one, in a longer chain of supervision that brings kosher meat to market.