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The differences between catering associates and server assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a catering associate has an average salary of $31,648, which is higher than the $25,654 average annual salary of a server assistant.
The top three skills for a catering associate include patients, tray assembly and allergies. The most important skills for a server assistant are cleanliness, reservations, and service stations.
| Catering Associate | Server Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,648 | $25,654 |
| Hourly rate | $15.22 | $12.33 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 3,045 | 194,248 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A catering associate is in charge of serving food and beverages to guests at special events, ensuring client satisfaction. Although their duties can vary upon the tasks assigned by managers, it usually includes taking and processing orders, maintaining buffets in good condition, monitoring supplies to ensure they are adequate, refilling food and beverage stations, and assisting guests courteously. They also participate in preparing meals and venues, loading and unloading supplies from trucks, organizing tables and utensils, and maintaining the cleanliness of areas.
A server assistant, also known as a busser, is a restaurant employee who assists food servers in providing prompt and polite service to their guests. Server assistants are responsible for the preparation of tables for their arriving guests at the same time to help deliver food to tables when the food servers are busy. Aside from entertaining guests, server assistants must ensure that beverages are refilled, menus are sanitized, and process payments. Server assistants must also possess excellent communication and customer service skills.
Catering associates and server assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Catering Associate | Server Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,648 | $25,654 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $38,000 | Between $19,000 And $33,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | - | Maine |
| Best paying company | - | Pioneer High School |
| Best paying industry | - | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a catering associate and a server assistant in terms of educational background:
| Catering Associate | Server Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between catering associates' and server assistants' demographics:
| Catering Associate | Server Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.4% Female, 69.6% | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 7.7% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |