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

What is a counter waitress/waiter 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 counter waitress/waiter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.46 an hour? That's $25,920 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 775,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCounter Waitress/WaiterUS Average

Salary

2.0

Avg. Salary $25,920

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.2

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 6.49%

Black or African American 9.64%

Hispanic or Latino 18.63%

Unknown 6.92%

White 57.47%

Gender

female 94.19%

male 5.81%

Age - 21

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 - 21

Stress level

4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.0

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a counter waitress/waiter

Explore counter waitress/waiter education requirements

Most common counter waitress/waiter degrees

Bachelor's

37.3 %

Associate

31.4 %

High School Diploma

25.5 %

Start to develop specific counter waitress/waiter skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Handling	88.85%
Customer Service	5.33%
POS	1.15%
Food Orders	0.78%
Customer Orders	0.68%

Complete relevant counter waitress/waiter training and internships

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

Research counter waitress/waiter duties and responsibilities

Counter staff, POS systems, and telephones.Waitress, serving guests, POS systems, running the kitchen.
Answer phones, put orders in through the POS, seat guests and take orders, clean the dinning area.
Develop relationships with regular patrons; develop an understanding of their personal needs and expectations, including preferences and food allergies.
Replace or attach bar code labels on every ammunition containers for identification and location.

Prepare your counter waitress/waiter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your counter waitress/waiter 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 counter waitress/waiter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable counter waitress/waiter resume templates

Build a professional counter waitress/waiter 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 counter waitress/waiter resume.