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

What is a cocktail waitress and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A cocktail waitress can be found in bars, casinos, jazz clubs, cocktail lounges, and live music venues serving drinks to patrons. Your responsibilities include interacting with customers, making recommendations, taking orders, serving food and drinks, and providing the bills for payment. You will also be required to have a good knowledge of cocktails, wines, beers, and other beverages. You might also be required to have a knowledge of different types of food.

Some of your other duties include standing and walking while carrying heavy trays of food and drinks and taking inventory of supplies and ingredients. You will also be expected to clean and clear tables. You do not need more than a high school diploma to become a cocktail waitress, although places of employment differ. A friendly, positive attitude, good communication skills, great posture, and excellent customer skills make a great cocktail waitress. Remember everyone loves fast, efficient and friendly service. The average annual salary of a cocktail waitress is $23,000.

ScoreCocktail WaitressUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $26,819

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.90%

Asian 7.76%

Black or African American 10.71%

Hispanic or Latino 21.64%

Unknown 5.99%

White 53.00%

Gender

female 94.27%

male 5.73%

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 cocktail waitress

Explore cocktail waitress education requirements

Most common cocktail waitress degrees

Bachelor's

35.0 %

High School Diploma

32.9 %

Associate

19.7 %

Start to develop specific cocktail waitress skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	28.63%
Drink Orders	9.73%
Non-Alcoholic Beverages	8.14%
POS	7.94%
Beverage Orders	5.10%

Complete relevant cocktail waitress training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New cocktail 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 cocktail waitress based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real cocktail waitress resumes.

Research cocktail waitress duties and responsibilities

Offer first--class customer service to ensure VIP guests enjoy their club experiences in very fast--pace environment.
Relay orders to bar and kitchen quickly and accurately recording guest selections and keying into the POS system.
Assist bar tenders in peak hours and cash out customers as they exit the restaurant (POS cash register system).
Serve customers alcoholic beverages and accommodate VIP and special requests

Prepare your cocktail waitress resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your cocktail 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 cocktail 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 cocktail waitress resume templates

Build a professional cocktail 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 cocktail waitress resume.

Apply for cocktail waitress jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a cocktail waitress job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do cocktail waitresses rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Cocktail waitress reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022

Pros

Connecting with customers/regulars, building a foundation and not only making money for myself, but my bar. Making sure everyone has an amazing time while I’m on the clock!

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

Always loved working with people in the bar atmosphere I'm just looking for something different now

Cons

Sometimes things got out of hand when working at a bar and you needed hope

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019