Essential
Waitress Job Duties
While not every
restaurant will use the
same job description for waitress positions, the basic duties for this type of
work are similar from one employer to another.
Customer Service Duties
Waitresses are responsible for a variety of
customer service tasks, including:
·
Providing excellent customer service
·
Greeting patrons once they are seated
·
Presenting menus to customers
·
Explaining menu items to customers
·
Answering questions from patrons about food and
beverages
·
Sharing information with customers about the
status of their orders
·
Refilling customer drink orders throughout the
meal
·
Finding out if customers need additional items
·
Verifying that customers are satisfied with
their order
Sales Duties
Waitresses handle a variety of sales-specific
tasks, including:
·
Taking food and drink orders
·
Up-selling additional food and beverage products
to patrons
·
Entering each item ordered into restaurant
register system
·
Delivering check to customers
·
Accepting payment for the meal
Operations Duties
·
Communicating customer orders to kitchen staff
·
Ensuring that customer orders are assembled properly
in the kitchen
·
Delivering orders to customers
·
Removing empty plates, used silverware, and
soiled napkins from tables
·
Determining when customers have completed the
meal
·
Attending scheduled team or shift meetings
Compliance Duties
Waitresses play a role in regulatory compliance,
including:
- Verifying
age of customers who order alcoholic beverages
- Following
all relevant health department rules and regulations.
- Since each
restaurant location or chain has its own guidelines for customer service
and staffing, wait staff may be asked to perform a variety of different
functions. In some facilities, working as a waitress requires additional
duties.
Hostess Functions
Not all restaurants
have a dedicated hostess staff. In these facilities, waitresses will likely be
required to perform the following tasks:
·
Taking reservation
phone calls
·
Greeting customers at
the door
·
Seating patrons
·
Cash register
operation
Additional Operations
Duties
In some restaurants,
waitresses are required to be heavily involved with all aspects of operations.
Additional duties may include:
·
Assisting with
preparation of some food items
·
Preparing table for
the next guests once a party has departed
·
Preparing cocktails
·
Training new food
servers
·
Keeping the restaurant
location clean and tidy
·
Restocking salad bars
or buffet lines
·
Folding napkins
·
Arranging table
settings
Amenity Duties
Some restaurants offer
more amenities than others. Depending on the "extras" provided at a
particular restaurant, waitresses may be required to perform the following
tasks:
·
Coordinating with
other wait staff members to provide team oriented service
·
Presenting a dessert
tray once the main course is finished
·
Singing Happy Birthday
to patrons upon request
·
Encouraging customers
to complete customer service surveys
·
Providing private
event and banquet service
Additional
Requirements to Work as a Waitress
Some employers prefer
to hire waitresses who have previous serving experience, while others are
willing to give chances to inexperienced individuals with a positive attitude
and good work ethic. When interviewing candidates for waitress positions,
hiring managers tend to look for those who come across as positive and upbeat
and who can demonstrate that they can be expected to be reliable employees.
Regardless of employer
hiring preferences, there are several skills and abilities that individuals who
want to work as waitresses must have. For example, working as a waitress is a
physically demanding job. Waitresses must have the ability to work on their
feet, performing a combination of standing and walking, for extended periods of
time. They must also be able to lift and carry very heavy trays from the
kitchen to where customers are seated.
Potential
An upscale restaurant waiter should have an ability
to remember things. This includes food and drink orders, customer names and
their preferences. Advancement is rare in this profession, but some waiters can
be offered formal management training and manager positions in the restaurant.
Education
It is common to be required to have some previous
serving or fine-dining experience to get a job as an upscale waiter. Waiters do
not typically need any certain educational achievements besides a high school
diploma. Several establishments provide on the job training, proper food
handling methods and cleanliness procedures. Training provided may focus on
certain serving techniques, the restaurant's philosophy, how to work as a team
and customer relations. It is possible to obtain additional knowledge through
classes available privately and publicly at educational institutes,
associations or restaurant chains.
Function
An upscale waiter works in a prominent restaurant.
Their job description differs, depending on the company but many duties are
typical. This includes describing items on the menu (ingredients used along with
how it is prepared, cooked and served), taking food and beverage orders,
serving and checking back with customers during the meal for any additional
needs along with providing checks and taking payments. They must be able to
work with other restaurant employees to present an enjoyable dining experience
to their customers.
Significance
Upscale restaurant waiter performs the duties of a
regular waiter with more attention given to the customers, the service and the
overall dining experience. This type of a waiter typically dresses more
formally and may be directed by a headwaiter. Some high-end restaurants that
provide a certain style of cuisine need waiters to serve food in out-of-the
ordinary or formal styles. It is also possible to require these types of servers
to be fluent in foreign languages.
Environment
This type of job requires the ability to stand on
your feet the majority of the time. It also entails carrying trays weighted
down significantly with food, glasses, dishes and working with items of extreme
hot or cold temperatures. It is common to have peak periods of business that
must be handled sufficiently. An upscale restaurant waiter is paid more than
other servers but relies on tips for an income. The tips are typically higher
than in more modest restaurants. Work is part time and full time, with
schedules based around busy meal times, holidays, events and weekends.
Skills
1)
Speaking --
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
2) Active Listening -- Giving full attention to what other people are
saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as
appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
3) Service Orientation -- Actively looking for ways to help people.
4) Social Perceptiveness -- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding
why they react as they do.
5) Coordination -- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
6) Reading Comprehension -- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in
work related documents.
7) Instructing -- Teaching others how to do something.
8) Learning Strategies -- Selecting and using training/instructional methods
and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new
things.
9) Critical Thinking -- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths
and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
10) Time Management -- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
11) Active Learning -- Understanding the implications of new information
for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
12) Writing -- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate
for the needs of the audience.
Abilities
1) Oral Comprehension -- The ability to listen to and understand information
and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
2) Oral Expression -- The ability to communicate information and ideas in
speaking so others will understand.
3) Speech Clarity -- The ability to speak clearly so others can
understand you.
4) Speech Recognition -- The ability to identify and understand the speech
of another person.
5) Trunk Strength -- The ability to use your abdominal and lower back
muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time
without 'giving out' or fatiguing.
6) Gross Body Coordination -- The ability to coordinate the movement of your
arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
7) Problem Sensitivity -- The ability to tell when something is wrong or is
likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing
there is a problem.
8) Information
Ordering --
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern
according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers,
letters, words,
pictures, mathematical
operations).
Salary
National
Wage Statistics
Because the rate of hourly pay earned by waitresses
tends to fluctuate, all statistics reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
are averages. As of May 2011, the average of all hourly rates of pay for
servers was $10.05, and the median wage reported was $8.93. Half of all
waitresses reported average hourly wages of between $8.25 and $10.61. The
lowest-paid 10 percent of servers earned an average of $7.73 per hour or less,
while the highest-paid 10 percent of servers reported average hourly wages of
$14.34 or more.
Pay
by Employment Sector
As of May 2011, most waiters and waitresses were
employed at full-service restaurants and earned an average of $9.93 per hour.
Those working at limited-service restaurants reported an average hourly wage of
$9.03, and those working at drinking establishments such as bars averaged $9.43
per hour. Waitresses employed at other amusement and recreation facilities
averaged $10.81 per hour, and those employed at restaurants connected to hotels
averaged $11.87 per hour.
Pay
by Area
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, waiters
and waitresses working in the District of Columbia earned an average hourly
wage of $14.06, higher than those in any other state. Other high-paying states
for servers included Washington, at $13.94; Massachusetts, at $13.27; Vermont,
at $12.58; and Oregon, at $12.37. The highest-paying metropolitan area for
servers was the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area of Washington, with an average
hourly wage of $14.87. Servers working in northern Vermont reported the highest
average wage of any non-metropolitan area, $14.19 per hour.
Variations
in Pay
Because waitresses rely on gratuities for the bulk of
their income, pay can fluctuate significantly between shifts. Servers may earn
little on some days and a lot on others. In general, the servers who can treat
their customers politely and provide efficient service will earn more per hour.
Because most customers tip as a percentage of their meal cost, servers working
at upscale establishments tend to earn the highest hourly wages.
