How To Become A Dining Car Server: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dining car server 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 dining car server. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.8 an hour? That's $26,623 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 197,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDining Car ServerUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $26,623

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.81%

Asian 9.75%

Black or African American 11.03%

Hispanic or Latino 19.28%

Unknown 5.62%

White 53.51%

Gender

female 73.20%

male 26.80%

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 dining car server

Explore dining car server education requirements

Most common dining car server degrees

Bachelor's

44.1 %

High School Diploma

29.0 %

Associate

16.2 %

Start to develop specific dining car server skills

Skills	Percentages
Exceptional Dining	17.58%
Fine Dining	15.40%
Meal Service	10.15%
Genuine Hospitality	7.15%
Customer Service	5.41%

Complete relevant dining car server training and internships

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

Research dining car server duties and responsibilities

Manage POS systems, cash register processes and packing food.
Demonstrate knowledge of each culinary dish, from farm to table.
Maintain cleanliness and conditional issues for the front and back of the house.
Communicate to the kitchen additional requirements, allergies, dietary needs, and special requests for meals.

Prepare your dining car server resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable dining car server resume templates

Build a professional dining car server 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 dining car server resume.

Apply for dining car server jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a dining car server 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 dining car servers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Dining car server reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2021

Cons

What I don’t like at times about being a hostess is sometimes running into those mean and rude customers at times.

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Cons

nothing

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

Most waiter and waitress jobs are entry level, and workers learn through short-term on-the-job training. No formal education or previous work experience is required to enter the occupation. Most states require workers who serve alcoholic beverages to be at least 18 years of age, but some states require servers to be older. Waiters and waitresses who serve alcohol must be familiar with state and local laws concerning the sale of alcoholic beverages.