Waiters and Waitresses

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Prepare hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons, and chill bottles of wine.
• Remove dishes and glasses from tables or counters, and take them to kitchen for cleaning.
• Perform food preparation duties, such as preparing salads, appetizers, and cold dishes, portioning desserts, and brewing coffee.
• Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
• Garnish and decorate dishes in preparation for serving.
• Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
• Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.
• Prepare tables for meals, including setting up items such as linens, silverware, and glassware.
• Assist host or hostess by answering phones to take reservations or to-go orders, and by greeting, seating, and thanking guests.
• Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
• Assist host or hostess by answering phones to take reservations or to-go orders, and by greeting, seating, and thanking guests.
• Provide guests with information about local areas, including directions.
• Inform customers of daily specials.
• Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
• Roll silverware, set up food stations, or set up dining areas to prepare for the next shift or for large parties.
• Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.
• Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
• 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.
• Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
• Explain how various menu items are prepared, describing ingredients and cooking methods.
• Escort customers to their tables.
• Collect payments from customers.
• Fill salt, pepper, sugar, cream, condiment, and napkin containers.
• Perform food preparation duties, such as preparing salads, appetizers, and cold dishes, portioning desserts, and brewing coffee.
• Describe and recommend wines to customers.
• Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and take action to correct any problems.
• Stock service areas with supplies such as coffee, food, tableware, and linens.
• Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.

Skills

• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.

Abilities

• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

Knowledge

• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• 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.

Education

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

47490/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.83/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

54,240

Yearly Projected Openings

11990

Personality

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

• Stress Tolerance
• Self Control
• Dependability
• Integrity
• Social Orientation
• Adaptability/Flexibility

Tools

• Bar code reader equipment
• Cash registers
• Commercial use cutlery
• Magnetic stripe readers and encoders
• Paging controllers
• Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
• Point of sale POS receipt printers
• Point of sale POS terminal
• Touch screen monitors

Technology

• Instant messaging software
• Point of sale POS software
• Web page creation and editing software