INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Waitress positions are at a 20% growth rate, which is much faster than average. With that said, there are currently 2,023,200 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 407,600 to 2,430,800 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Waitress jobs was $23,740 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $8.42 per hour, and the highest 10% more than $20.46 per hour.
Our conclusion? The Waitress job market is wide open for candidates.
Top waitress sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a memorable experience section: waitress resume edition
Checklist: ways to make your experience section stand out
- Find balance: use 4-6 bullet points per position;
- Include positions that are relevant to the job you’re applying for;
- Use action verbs when describing your responsibilities and results;
- Highlight your achievements by adding numbers to them (e.g. instead of saying “achieved a steady increase in…”, say “achieved an X% increase in…”);
- Prove that you’re willing to work hard, both individually and in a team.
We’ve gathered the most impressive Waitress experience sections from real Enhancv resumes. Check them out for some additional inspiration!
- Present menu to restaurant patrons and answer any queries regarding the dishes, and making food recommendations
- Worked together with kitchen staff as a team to ensure smooth operation of the restaurant especially during peak periods
- Operated POS terminals and ensured that all orders were keyed in correctly and cash collected tallies with receipts
- Effective communication skills with guests and staff; quick thinking.
- Taking and delivering beverage and food orders. Check-in with guests to ensure that everything is going well.
- Clear dirty dishes from table; delivering bills and taking payments.
- Got to learn and improve on my soft skills
- Adapted a solution driven problem solving approach
- Using the art of persuasion to sway guests to take other offers should ones they want be unavailable.
- Hospitality industry: I started as a waitress, very steep learning curve, my currrent tasks include: financial control and planning, managing the money at the beginning of the day, expenditure during the day, payments taken over the course of time.
- The restuarant owners delegate to me the responsibility of counting the money at the beginning of the day, the profit at the end of the day, payment of rent to the landlord, payments to suppliers, intake of raw food.
- Coordinating the entire operation of the restaurant during scheduled shifts. Responding to customer complaints.
- explain various dishes & menu presantation, taking orders, food service, cleaning and setting tables
- coffee preparing, latte art, grinder adjustment, taking care about quality of coffee, customer service
- preparing and mixing beverages and coctails, bar set up
- stocking supplies, weekly ordering
- training new employees
- Table service, preparing coffee and drinks
- Responsible for training new staff members
- Preparing receipts and collecting payments
- Assist manager in ordering delivery for bar
- My work involved making various cocktails and mocktails, mixers and coffee
- I had to work with a cash register and keep track of the orders and the money
- It was my responsibility to check if the bar was stocked before and after my shifts, to make a list of what we needed and to negotiate deliveries
- As a waitress, I was mainly expected to collect glasses, clean tables and make sure all guests were satisfied
- As a part of my work I had to engage in conversation with the clients sitting on the bar as many of them were often by themselves
- Interacting with customers on a daily basis
- Team-working
- Multitasking
- Commended for multitasking in the largest and busiest section of the restaurant in peak hours
- Resolved internal conflicts between waiters thereby setting an example for employee relations
- Maintained perfect attendance for two month in a row
- Main focus on customer care due to vegetarian and vegan service.
- Help with organization of family events and celebrations.
- Providing information about supplied food and beverages.
- Providing customer care and service.
- Setting tables and organize the place in tidiness
- Assuring the esthetic look of supplied food.
- Executed excellent customer service in a fast-paced environment to increase efficiency and drive revenue
- Developed social media presence to promote restaurant while increasing customer base and engagement
- Created & distributed collateral to promote restaurant throughout community, driving new business in peak tourist season
- Joined a new environment and ascended to become head waitress
- Learned about overlooking a team and delegating responsibilities to meet deadlines
- Gained experience in high class bar-tending
- Gained excellent customer service experience
- Learned about administrative part of a bar
- Witnessed a modern approach of selling beverages
PRO TIP
Make sure to relate your experience to your job description, but never lie. That’s not tolerated and will show up in the face-to-face interview later on.
Action verbs for your waitress resume
Recommended reads:
Waitress resume: crafting a strong skills section
Do this if you want to make your skills section stand out.
- Check the job advert for keywords and add them to your skills section to pass ATS;
- List only skills that are relevant to the position to keep the hiring manager focused;
- Balance between hard, soft, and technical skills;
- Elaborate on some of your strongest skills in other sections of your Waitress resume, e.g. the experience section or your resume’s summary.
Top skills for your waitress resume
Serving Food
Food & Wine Pairing
Knowledge of Dining Styles
POS Operation
Food Safety
Knowledge of Common Allergies
Patience
Multitasking
Listening
Attention to details
Communication
Memorization
PRO TIP
Avoid getting sidetracked by Applicant tracking software by including a tech skills' section matching the job description and your own qualifications.
Recommended reads:
Waitress resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your waitress resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Waitress resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
How to write an inspiring waitress resume summary
Checklist: Writing a resume summary that makes you stand out
- Keep it short and use well-structured sentences;
- Mention your total years of experience in the field and your #1 achievement;
- Highlight your strengths and relevant skills;
- Add keywords from the company’s website or the job description.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Read the job description carefully and understand what the hiring company is exactly looking for. After that, write your summary accordingly while highlighting your potential and ability to be the best at that job.
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Making the education section of your waitress resume stand out
education section checklist for your waitress resume:
- List your highest education degree: including your major, year of graduation, and the institution you attended;
- Highlight the extracurricular activities that have helped you gain additional expertise;
- Share more about the certifications you’ve got, especially if they are relevant to the job position;
- Entry-level applicants: Mention relevant courses and projects.
Top certifications for your waitress resume
Build and Deploy Dialogflow Chatbot Waitress Lilis
Step-by-step Guide to Create Conversational Assistant with Dialogflow
Learn to Pole Dance with Complete Pole
Learn the latest dance and fitness craze from the worlds leading pole dance instructors.
Start a Killer Restaurant- How to open a Restaurant Course
Learn to a Start A SUCCESSFUL Restaurant Without making costly mistakes that cause 80% of Restaurants to fail.
The Complete 5 Volume Series: If You Can Cook, You Can Code
5-in-1 Course Bundle, 14 hrs: Use the Metaphor of Cooking to Learning Programming 101, Computers, AI, Big Data and More
If You Can Cook, You Can Code Vol 1: How Programming Works
Learn how to program using the metaphors of how cooking and restaurants work.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Waitress Resume: Formatting Tips & Tricks
Which came first: the hen or the egg? This question reminds us of the thing our resume experts hear most often in their job – which comes first: the content or the format? Well, we advise you to pick the format first and then go on with drafting your resume’s content.
And how do you choose a resume format? Well, based on your applicant profile. In general, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Let’s look at each one of them in more detail:
The reverse-chronological resume format is quite straightforward. Here, you describe all your previous jobs in a reverse-chronological form, meaning your latest job comes first. This resume format is great for people with lots of experience and skills who don’t have any career gaps.
If you are a recent graduate or don’t really have much experience in the industry you’re applying for, go for the functional skills-based resume format. This format focuses on skills and character traits, rather than experience. It makes the hiring manager realize you’re the perfect fit for the role without putting too much emphasis on your work history.
And if you’re looking for something a bit more intriguing and exciting, check out the hybrid resume format. It’s a combination of the reverse-chronological and functional skills-based formats, which makes it great for all types of job-seekers. The hybrid resume allows you to showcase both your professional experience and your skills, education, and additional qualifications. If you’re feeling creative, add a separate section about your typical day or life philosophy.
Our top style and layout resume format tips:
- Go for a standard 12p resume font;
- Choose 1-inch resume margins for a professional and easy-to-read feel;
- ry your best to fit your resume in a one-page template. If you’re a professional with over 10 years of relevant experience, having a two-page resume is also fine;
- Make sure to save your resume as PDF – this will help you avoid unwanted editing and formatting issues.
Read this: How to make your resume stand out
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Waitress resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Other sections that’ll look good on your Waitress resume
Do you want to move beyond the traditional skills, education, and experience section? Easy-peasy!
Just choose one or two additional sections to help recruiters get a fuller picture of who you are, both as a person and as a professional:
Adding a splash of creativity to your waitress resume
Boring resumes are no longer an option if you’re looking to impress recruiters.
And no matter whether you’re looking to give your old resume a new life or want to start building a new one from scratch, being at least moderately creative is always a good idea. Do this by adding a ‘favorite books’ section or even a pie chart of what your typical day looks like.
What makes a great waitress resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
