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The differences between food service specialists and food service assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a food service assistant has an average salary of $29,354, which is higher than the $29,286 average annual salary of a food service specialist.
The top three skills for a food service specialist include kitchen equipment, preventive maintenance and MOS. The most important skills for a food service assistant are patients, customer service, and food handling.
| Food Service Specialist | Food Service Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,286 | $29,354 |
| Hourly rate | $14.08 | $14.11 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 95,112 | 149,665 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
The food service specialists monitor food preparation, ensuring that the guests get their correct orders, providing them the best dining experience and satisfaction. A food service specialist takes the guests' orders, processes their payments, and serves their orders timely and efficiently. They also monitor the stock inventories, coordinate with suppliers and third-party vendors for stock requests, and assist with kitchen duties as needed, especially on high volume days. A food service specialist must have a broad knowledge of the food services industry, analyzing the current food trends to make suggestions for menus, and responding to the guests' concerns.
A food service assistant helps in food and beverage preparation and serving customers. Foodservice assistants make sure that great customer service is provided to clients. Their duties include answering phone calls for inquiries, providing information, selling products, and solving problems. They may function as cashiers in restaurants or any other food service institution. Upon receiving customer complaints, they escalate them to top management. This job requires people skills, communication skills, and food service knowledge.
Food service specialists and food service assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Food Service Specialist | Food Service Assistant | |
| Average salary | $29,286 | $29,354 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $43,000 | Between $23,000 And $36,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Springfield, MA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Brookhaven National Laboratory | Fremont Public Schools |
| Best paying industry | Government | Retail |
There are a few differences between a food service specialist and a food service assistant in terms of educational background:
| Food Service Specialist | Food Service Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between food service specialists' and food service assistants' demographics:
| Food Service Specialist | Food Service Assistant | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.1% Female, 42.9% | Male, 35.9% Female, 64.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 8.7% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 6% |