Restaurant servers attend to guests at dining establishments, serving them food and beverages. They seat customers, inform them about specials, and answer questions about the menu. They take their orders and deliver the meals to their tables. Very much like waiters, which is the less fancy term for restaurant servers.
Being polite and patient is essential in any profession dealing with customers, and this applies to restaurant servers just the same. They communicate with kitchen staff as well, which is no less of a feat, and contribute to keeping the establishment clean and safe. Taking payment and dealing with customer complaints is also their duty.
A high school diploma will suffice to get you started on the job. Being energetic and positive, thriving in a teamwork atmosphere, and performing well under pressure will be what really matters. You will have to be fast and on your feet during your entire shift, though, so physical stamina is also essential.
How to Become a Restaurant Server
What is a Restaurant Server
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Restaurant Server. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.96 an hour? That's $26,953 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 170,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Restaurant Server Do
There are certain skills that many Restaurant Servers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Detail oriented, Communication skills and Customer-service skills.
How To Become a Restaurant Server
If you're interested in becoming a Restaurant Server, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 48.3% of Restaurant Servers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.0% of Restaurant Servers have master's degrees. Even though most Restaurant Servers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Restaurant Server. When we researched the most common majors for a Restaurant Server, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or High School Diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Restaurant Server resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Restaurant Server. In fact, many Restaurant Server jobs require experience in a role such as Server. Meanwhile, many Restaurant Servers also have previous career experience in roles such as Cashier or Sales Associate.
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Restaurant Server Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Warehouse Worker you might progress to a role such as Technician eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title General Manager.
Restaurant Server Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Restaurant Server
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12 Restaurant Server Resume Examples
Build a professional restaurant server resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your restaurant server resume.
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Judy Perkins Restaurant Server |
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Albert Grant Restaurant Server Experience Restaurant Server2019 - Present TGI Friday's•Atlanta, GA
Take Out Waitress2018 - 2019 Darden Restaurants•Richmond, VA
Caterer/Server2017 - 2018 TGI Friday's•Philadelphia, PA
Skills Presentation StandardsCustomer ServiceGuest ServiceFast ServiceTake-Out OrdersFinancial TransactionsCustomer OrdersSpecial RequestsService AreasGenuine Hospitality Education High School Diploma 2017 - 2017 |
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Learn How To Write a Restaurant Server Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Restaurant Server resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Restaurant Server Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Restaurant Server Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Restaurant Server templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Restaurant Server resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Restaurant Server Demographics
Restaurant Server Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Restaurant Servers, 59.2% of them are women, while 40.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Restaurant Servers is White, which makes up 57.7% of all Restaurant Servers.
- The most common foreign language among Restaurant Servers is Spanish at 52.8%.
Find the best Restaurant Server job for you
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Top Skills For a Restaurant Server
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.6% of Restaurant Servers listed Beverage Orders on their resume, but soft skills such as Detail oriented and Communication skills are important as well.
Best States For a Restaurant Server
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Restaurant Server. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, Washington, Hawaii, and California. Restaurant Servers make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $35,853. Whereas in Washington and Hawaii, they would average $35,508 and $35,442, respectively. While Restaurant Servers would only make an average of $34,161 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. West Virginia
$28,774
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$35,508
Avg. Salary
3. California
$34,161
Avg. Salary
How Do Restaurant Server Rate Their Jobs?
Restaurant Server Videos
