What does a formal waiter/waitress do?
Formal waiter/waitress responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real formal waiter/waitress resumes:
- Set up, work in, and manage the private room events as both bartender and waiter.
- Develop expertise in wine recommendations and pairings base on extensive winereserves.
- Operate large volume cooking equipment like buger grills, fryers, and/or griddles.
Formal waiter/waitress skills and personality traits
We break down the percentage of Formal Waiter/Waitresses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Wine, 78%
Directed weekly food and wine pairing with staff for further agreements,.
- Fine Dining, 22%
Provide a fine dining experience with detailed service and professional behavior in a fast paced and demanding environment
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a formal waiter/waitress to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "waiters and waitresses must listen to customers, ask questions as needed, and relay information to the kitchen staff so that orders are prepared to the customers’ satisfaction." Formal waiter/waitresses often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "establish customer relations through verbal communication, table service, taking orders, running food and drinks. "
Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling formal waiter/waitress duties is customer-service skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "waiters and waitresses are frontline workers for their restaurant." According to a formal waiter/waitress resume, here's how formal waiter/waitresses can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "resolved any customer complaints and fixed any errors in their orders. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for formal waiter/waitresses to perform their duties. For an example of how formal waiter/waitress responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "waiters and waitresses must record customers’ orders accurately." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a formal waiter/waitress: "maintained a high level of customer satisfaction through attention to detail in defining needs. ".
Physical strength. A big part of what formal waiter/waitresses do relies on "physical strength." You can see how essential it is to formal waiter/waitress responsibilities because "waiters and waitresses need to be able to lift and carry trays of food or other items." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical formal waiter/waitress tasks: "strengthened and established management skills by resolving customer complaints. "
The three companies that hire the most formal waiter/waitresss are:
- Compass Group USA52 formal waiter/waitresses jobs
- Red Robin17 formal waiter/waitresses jobs
- IHOP9 formal waiter/waitresses jobs
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Formal waiter/waitress vs. Server
A server is a restaurant employee assigned to the main dining area of the restaurant to primarily attend to the customer's needs. Servers assist guests to their tables, wait for the guests to be ready with their orders, and take the guests' orders. They should be knowledgeable about the restaurant's offerings since they should be able to answer any questions asked by the guests regarding the menu. They communicate the guests' orders to the kitchen crew and serve the orders once they are ready. Once the guests are finished eating, servers provide their bills upon their request and clean up the table when they leave. Servers should have excellent customer service skills and hospitality management skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, formal waiter/waitress responsibilities require skills like "customer service guidelines," "customer payments," "quality standards," and "event space." Meanwhile a typical server has skills in areas such as "customer service," "guest satisfaction," "cleanliness," and "cash handling." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Servers tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,027. In contrast, formal waiter/waitresses make the biggest average salary, $27,329, in the real estate industry.servers tend to reach similar levels of education than formal waiter/waitresses. In fact, servers are 2.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Formal waiter/waitress vs. Server manager
As the name entails, server managers are responsible for managing and overseeing the serving areas in restaurants. This role is associated with several tasks, including checking the appearance of servers, checking a server's knowledge of the restaurant's daily specials and menu items, and greeting the customers. Additional tasks may include assisting new serving crews and evaluating their self-reliance and capabilities, managing the schedule of servers, and organizing staff training. The skills needed for this position may include excellent customer service skills, leadership skills, and communication skills.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that formal waiter/waitress responsibilities requires skills like "wine," "customer service guidelines," "customer payments," and "quality standards." But a server manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer service," "payroll," "pos," and "food orders."
In general, server managers achieve similar levels of education than formal waiter/waitresses. They're 3.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Formal waiter/waitress vs. Shift leader and server
A server and certified trainer is a wait staff position who takes orders and serves food and beverages to customers dining in the restaurant. Often known as the lead server, a server and certified trainer provides training to new server trainees to serve customers and handle payments. A server and a certified server should maintain a professional attitude in order to ensure guest satisfaction. He/She or she should also be highly knowledgeable about anything related to the computer system.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, formal waiter/waitresses are more likely to have skills like "wine," "customer service guidelines," "customer payments," and "quality standards." But a shift leader and server is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "pos," "new servers," and "guest satisfaction."
Shift leader and servers typically earn similar educational levels compared to formal waiter/waitresses. Specifically, they're 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Formal waiter/waitress vs. Server and certified trainer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between formal waiter/waitresses and server and certified trainers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a formal waiter/waitress might have more use for skills like "wine," "customer service guidelines," "customer payments," and "quality standards." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of server and certified trainers require skills like "customer service," "new servers," "pos," and "guest satisfaction. "
The average resume of server and certified trainers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to formal waiter/waitresses. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.2%.Types of formal waiter/waitress
Updated January 8, 2025











