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Updated 2010
Bright Outlook

Summary Report for:
35-3031.00 - Waiters and Waitresses

Take orders and serve food and beverages to patrons at tables in dining establishment.

Sample of reported job titles: Waitress, Server, Waiter, Food Server, Banquet Server, Cocktail Server, Restaurant Server, Room Service Server, Food Runner, Waitstaff

View report: Summary  Details  Custom

Tasks  |  Tools & Technology  |  Knowledge  |  Skills  |  Abilities  |  Work Activities  |  Work Context  |  Job Zone  |  Education  |  Interests  |  Work Styles  |  Work Values  |  Related Occupations  |  Wages & Employment  |  Job Openings  |  Additional Information

Tasks

  • Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals and take action to correct any problems.
  • Collect payments from customers.
  • Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
  • Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
  • Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
  • Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
  • Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
  • Present menus to patrons and answer questions about menu items, making recommendations upon request.
  • Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
  • Prepare hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons, and chill bottles of wine.

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Tools & Technology

Tools used in this occupation:

Bar code reader equipment — Portable bar code scanners
Cash registers
Commercial use cutlery — Carving knives
Electronic funds transfer point of sale equipment — Credit card processing machines
Paging controllers — Alphanumeric paging equipment
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers — Personal digital assistants PDA
Point of sale POS receipt printers — Point of sale POS printers
Point of sale POS terminal — Point of sale POS terminals; Point of service workstations
Touch screen monitors

Technology used in this occupation:

Point of sale POS software — Compris Advanced Manager's Workstation; ICVERIFY software; Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale; NCR NeighborhoodPOS

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Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Food Production — Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

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Skills

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.
Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

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Abilities

Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Arm-Hand Steadiness — The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Stamina — The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
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.
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).
Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

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Work Activities

Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.

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Work Context

Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
Spend Time Walking and Running — How much does this job require walking and running?
Spend Time Standing — How much does this job require standing?
Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?
Physical Proximity — To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people?
Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?
Frequency of Decision Making — How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?

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Job Zone

Title Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed
Education Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Related Experience Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.
Job Training Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.
Job Zone Examples These occupations involve following instructions and helping others. Examples include taxi drivers, amusement and recreation attendants, counter and rental clerks, construction laborers, continuous mining machine operators, and waiters/waitresses.
SVP Range (Below 4.0)

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Education


Percentage of Respondents		 Education Level Required
50  High school diploma or equivalent
37  Less than high school diploma
12  Some college, no degree

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Interests

Interest code: SEC

Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

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Work Styles

Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

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Work Values

Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

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Related Occupations

35-2011.00 Cooks, Fast Food Bright Outlook
35-2021.00 Food Preparation Workers Bright Outlook
35-3021.00 Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food Bright Outlook
35-3022.00 Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop Bright Outlook
35-3041.00 Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
35-9011.00 Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers Bright Outlook
35-9031.00 Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop   Bright Outlook Bright Outlook  
39-3031.00 Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers
41-2011.00 Cashiers Bright Outlook
43-5081.01 Stock Clerks, Sales Floor Bright Outlook

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Wages & Employment Trends

National

Median wages (2012) $8.92 hourly, $18,540 annual
Employment (2010) 2,260,000 employees
Projected growth (2010-2020) Slower than average (3% to 9%) Slower than average (3% to 9%)
Projected job openings (2010-2020) 1,324,300
Top industries (2010)

State & National

          CareerOneStop

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012 wage data external site and 2010-2020 employment projections external site. "Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2010-2020). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.

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Job Openings on the Web

Find Jobs
for Waiters and Waitresses

          mySkills myFuture

State & National Job Banks

          CareerOneStop

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Sources of Additional Information

Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.

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