How To Become A Barista/Waitress: What It Is and Career Path

What is a barista/waitress and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a barista/waitress. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.44 an hour? That's $27,949 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 197,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBarista/WaitressUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $27,949

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.78%

Asian 9.46%

Black or African American 9.13%

Hispanic or Latino 20.59%

Unknown 5.55%

White 54.49%

Gender

female 92.73%

male 7.27%

Age - 25

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 25

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a barista/waitress

Explore barista/waitress education requirements

Most common barista/waitress degrees

Bachelor's

46.0 %

High School Diploma

27.7 %

Associate

17.1 %

Start to develop specific barista/waitress skills

Skills	Percentages
Coffee Drinks	52.39%
POS	5.77%
Customer Orders	4.67%
Espresso Machine	4.48%
Food Orders	3.39%

Complete relevant barista/waitress training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New barista/waitresses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a barista/waitress based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real barista/waitress resumes.

Research barista/waitress duties and responsibilities

Practice organization and cleanliness while managing individual tasks.
Welcome guest, taking order as well as serving quality service and friendly approach.process payments and operating pos machine
Develop relationships with regular patrons; develop an understanding of their personal needs and expectations, including preferences and food allergies.
Demonstrate ability to use appliances and relate tools, calibrate shoot sizes, roasting and grinding coffee beans, as necessary.

Prepare your barista/waitress resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your barista/waitress resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a barista/waitress resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable barista/waitress resume templates

Build a professional barista/waitress resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your barista/waitress resume.