How To Become A Food And Beverage Server: What It Is and Career Path

What is a food and beverage server and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a food and beverage server. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.2 an hour? That's $27,465 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 197,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFood And Beverage ServerUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $27,465

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 8.93%

Black or African American 11.21%

Hispanic or Latino 21.88%

Unknown 5.82%

White 51.31%

Gender

female 70.04%

male 29.96%

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 food and beverage server

Explore food and beverage server education requirements

Most common food and beverage server degrees

Bachelor's

45.1 %

High School Diploma

22.9 %

Associate

19.8 %

Start to develop specific food and beverage server skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Service	17.70%
Wine	11.67%
Cleanliness	8.66%
Beverage Orders	8.28%
Guest Service	5.96%

Complete relevant food and beverage server training and internships

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

Research food and beverage server duties and responsibilities

Implement training of (service techniques, up-selling, food preparation, wine selections and excellent customer service).
Perform bartending and hosting duties as well as set-up for group events.
Advise on menu selection, accurately enter orders, settle checks using POS and ensure guests' experience.
Perform all duties of hotel food and beverage including: event management, serving, bartending, etc.

Prepare your food and beverage server resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your food and beverage 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 food and beverage 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 food and beverage server resume templates

Build a professional food and beverage 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 food and beverage server resume.

Apply for food and beverage server jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a food and beverage 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 food and beverage servers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Food and beverage server reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

I like food, I believe that food is a comfort and food brings people together, and I like being apart of this.

Cons

Many restaurants are corporate or franchisees, and they dont really have good management, which leads to not hiring people on skill, but just to fill the space, which leads to high turn over rates for both FOH, BOH and management. There's no stability

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.

Cons

Nothing because this job cocktail service is nice and I'm comfortable to serve our costumer.. And I want this job because vases on my Japanese work experience

What is a food and beverage server and how to become one

Food and beverage server career paths

Key steps to become a food and beverage server

Explore food and beverage server education requirements

Most common food and beverage server degrees

Start to develop specific food and beverage server skills

Complete relevant food and beverage server training and internships

Research food and beverage server duties and responsibilities

Prepare your food and beverage server resume

Choose from 10+ customizable food and beverage server resume templates

Apply for food and beverage server jobs

How did you land your first food and beverage server job

Average food and beverage server salary

How do food and beverage servers rate their job?

Food and beverage server reviews