Be our guest! Sure, server's don't typically sing Disney songs to their customers but they do make sure customers get their food as soon as it's ready.
Once you've been serving for awhile, you may be able to impress your guests with taking their food order without writing the orders down. As long as you get the entire order correct, this may score you a nice tip.
Not everyone is going to enjoy their dining experience though, and whether it's your fault or the chef's fault, it is your responsibility to correct any problems. Don't worry, you can go yell at the chef later.
Server Overview
Working as a Server
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a server. For example, did you know that they make an average of $11.17 an hour? That's $23,225 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 Server Do
There are certain skills that many 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.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a server, we found that a lot of resumes listed 12.8% of servers included guest service, while 10.8% of resumes included high volume, and 10.4% of resumes included customer service. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the server job title. But what industry to start with? Most servers actually find jobs in the hospitality and retail industries.
How To Become a Server
If you're interested in becoming a server, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 37.1% of servers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.3% of servers have master's degrees. Even though some 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 server. When we researched the most common majors for a server, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on server resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a server. In fact, many server jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many servers also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or hostess.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
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 office assistant you might progress to a role such as executive assistant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title general manager.
Server
General Manager
6 Years
Account Manager
5 Years
Assistant General Manager
5 Years
Director Of Food And Beverage
9 Years
Co-Owner
6 Years
Food Service Director
9 Years
Show More
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Server
Servers in America make an average salary of $23,225 per year or $11 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $32,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $16,000 per year.
Average Salary
$23,225
Best Paying Cities
City
Average Salary
$14k
$40k
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Streets of New York Server Server | Streets of New York Streets of New York | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $18,78301/31/2021 $18,783 |
Drury Inn & Suites Dayton North Kick Back Host Kick Back Host | Drury Inn & Suites Dayton North Drury Inn & Suites Dayton North | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $25,04401/30/2021 $25,044 |
Drury Inn & Suites Greenville Kick Back Host Kick Back Host | Drury Inn & Suites Greenville Drury Inn & Suites Greenville | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $25,04401/30/2021 $25,044 |
Peopleready Host Host | Peopleready Peopleready | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $25,04401/29/2021 $25,044 |
Peopleready Server Server | Peopleready Peopleready | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $35,47901/29/2021 $35,479 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Server Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Server. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Server Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Server resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationJob type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary
Top Skills For a 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, 12.8% of servers listed guest service on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and communication skills are important as well.
- Guest Service, 12.8%
- High Volume, 10.8%
- Customer Service, 10.4%
- Communication, 9.5%
- POS, 6.5%
- Other Skills, 50.0% See All Server Skills
Best States For a Server
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a server. The best states for people in this position are New York, Oregon, California, and Massachusetts. Servers make the most in New York with an average salary of $32,413. Whereas in Oregon and California, they would average $32,137 and $31,974, respectively. While servers would only make an average of $31,244 in Massachusetts, 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. Arizona
Total Server Jobs:
746
Highest 10% Earn:
$43,000
Location Quotient:
1.3
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$25,516
Avg. Salary
2. West Virginia
Total Server Jobs:
205
Highest 10% Earn:
$34,000
Location Quotient:
1.59
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$23,373
Avg. Salary
3. Oregon
Total Server Jobs:
279
Highest 10% Earn:
$45,000
Location Quotient:
0.72
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$32,137
Avg. Salary
How Do Server Rate Their Jobs?
Top Server Employers
Server Videos
A day in the life of a server
How To Be A More Successful Server (Pt. 1)
Server (fine dining), Career Video from drkit.org