Prepare To Write Your Resume
Streamline your resume-writing process by setting some time to prepare the information you need beforehand. A lot goes into writing a resume, so weve created a checklist of tips you should follow to avoid getting overwhelmed when personalizing your resume. Letâs browse through them:
- Carefully study the job posting to learn what the recruiter wants in the perfect candidate. Skills such as food safety, POS knowledge and multitasking abilities are essential for this role. Make a note of the ones you possess so you can add them to your resume.
- Depending on the employer, your resume may pass through an applicant tracking system . To score highly on the ATS, your resume needs to be free of spelling errors, eccentric fonts or generic keywords such as âhard workerâ or âfast learner.â
- Create a list of your past work accomplishments and gather quantifiable metrics such as the number of customers served or sales percentage, to add credibility to your resume statements.
- Look for resume examples for your desired role to understand how the final version should look. A resume example directly shows you what skills you should include, what accomplishments to highlight and the jargon you should use for your particular job.
- Gather the dates and official titles of your studies, certifications or volunteering experiences to add to your professional profile.
Third Provide Clear Examples
For each work experience description you list in your resume, you should provide clear examples of how you succeeded in your role. For example, maybe you were voted server of the month for your exceptional ability to create customer relationships. Or maybe you increased your past companys customer base by succeeding as a brand ambassador. If you have an example of how you can benefit the employer youre applying to, consider including it in your job description.
Key Takeaways For A Server Resume
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Fifth Include Your Accomplishments For The Business
If you have any accomplishments in your past serving experience, you might consider including them in your resume. For instance, if you created and helped launch a fundraising event, a new product menu or a new type of food service like take-out or delivery, you can include details of these accomplishments in your work history. Employers typically like to see that potential hires value their companys values and overall mission.
What Is A Server Resume
A server resume is a document servers can use to show their restaurant experience and food service skills that make them a valuable candidate. They may use a food service resume to achieve career advancement, which may include becoming a member of restaurant management, or they may find a different server position at a new dining establishment. Your resume reflects your ability to work well with customers, handle food properly and understand standard restaurant procedures.
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What To Include In Your Resume And Cover Letter
Highlight your customer service skills. Restaurant managers are eager to hire front-of-house staff who understand the importance of providing exemplary customer service to guests.
Emphasize your dedication to creating positive guest experiences, your proactiveness in identifying diners needs, and your tact in responding to difficult customers.
Remember the importance of soft skills. Not only must waitstaff have exemplary customer service skills, but they must also demonstrate soft skills such as dependability, timeliness, flexibility in being available for different shifts, and a solid work ethic.
Match your skills to the job. Review this list of skills required for waitstaff jobs before you get started, then take the time to match your qualifications to the job. This way, your application materials will show the employer that you’re a qualified candidate for the position.
Include all relevant experience. Provide descriptions of your previous restaurant jobs, accompanied by bulleted statements about your achievements and significant contributions in each role. Also mention any restaurant point-of-sale systems or other computer technologies you are familiar with.
Detail your education and certifications. In the Education section of your resume, list any college degrees you hold or are currently pursuing. You should also mention any SafeServ, MAST, or other industry-specific certifications you have earned.
Write An Impressive Resume Summary/objective
The resume profile is a 2-3 sentence long paragraph that goes at the top of your resume and aims to convince the restaurant/bar manager they should consider you as an applicant from the get-go.
Now, depending on your level of experience, your can shape up your resume profile as:
A resume summary, which includes your work experience, skills, and 1-2 of your top achievements to date. If you have years of experience to show for, you should definitely opt for the resume summary.
Positive and friendly Restaurant Server with 4+ of experience working in a fast-paced food preparation environment. Proven people skills as a successful bartender with the highest customer satisfaction among the bars staff. Certified food manager.
A resume objective, on the other hand, focuses on your professional goals, the reasons you want to work as a server, and how your skills and background make you the right fit. An objective is better for younger candidates lacking in work experience.
Outgoing and friendly university junior looking for a part-time job as a server. Proven time-management skills and attention to detail as a student with excellent academic results. Speaks Spanish fluently and has previous experience serving tables as a teen.
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How To Describe Previous Server Experience On A Resume
There are several approaches you can use to highlight your serving experience on your resume. For instance, you might start with your most recent job first and provide details about the skills you developed and the positive effects you had in your past role.
You can refer to the following steps to help you include server experience on your resume:
Quantify Your Previous Serving Experience
Quantifying your serving experience lets a recruiter see examples of your past work as a server. Pro tip: If you have experience with a particular point of sale system, include the information in the summary of your skills to show your ability to use required technologies. Answer questions that put a number with an action verb and a key serving skill. For example:
- How many tables have you served in a shift?
- How many customers have you served on an especially busy evening?
- How many tables have you served while also maintaining the buffet area in a restaurant?
Example #1
Good
Served 10 tables while taking orders on a Xono POS tablet with an average of four customers per table each shift. Ensured the satisfaction of as many as 75 customers per afternoon shift by using effective verbal communication techniques. Enhanced customer experience by employing active listening techniques when taking orders and following up to ensure orders were right.
Served 75 people per day and used a tablet to enter orders for kitchen staff to prepare
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What Work Experiences Should You Include On Your Resume
Here are some ideas on writing about your experiences and responsibilities as a Server on your resume depending on the level of experience you have.
Tip: Create a Strong Work Experience Section – It’s important to include action verbs and quantify results. Use this list of over 350 resume action verbs as a guide to craft the most effective bullet points.
Name And Contact Information
Start off by writing your name at the top of your resume in large font. Follow your name with your contact information, which should include a professional email address, your phone number, and your LinkedIn URL. You can also include your city and state or your full mailing address if youd like to.
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Describe Your Server Experience With Hard Numbers
Adding hard numbers to your job description bullet points helps the hiring manager understand the scope of your responsibilities as a server, and emphasizes the depth of your experience in the industry.
The easiest way to include numbers in your server resume is to simply state the size of a restaurant you worked at, or mention how many seats it had.
These examples show how to include numbers on a resume:
- Write patrons food orders on slips, memorize orders, and enter orders into Square POS to direct the kitchen staff in 150 square yard restaurant
- Present menus to patrons, answer questions about menu items, and make recommendations upon request in a 70+ seat restaurant
To really impress the hiring manager at a busy restaurant however, youll need to do more complex research, like in this example:
- Memorized restaurants wine stock and the meals they should accompany, leading to daily wine sales averaging $150, fully 20% higher than company average
Most restaurants especially big chains track their servers sales statistics for the purposes of budgeting . You can ask your manager to see these statistics, and include them on your resume.
What To Write And Not To Write In The Restaurant Server Resume Experience Section
Restaurant owners know that the job of a Server is temporary. The tenure of many Servers does not last months or even more than a year. This is because those who become Servers often use it as an entry point to a restaurant career. Some move on to the kitchen or accept offers from restaurants for higher positions.
Thus, it is understandable to have an extensive work experience as a Server. And while the scope of responsibilities of Servers is hardly differentiated, the nature of the restaurant may highlight a more diversified skill set.
Always make it a point to go into detail when you write down your list of responsibilities in your work experience. Include the standard skill requirements such as:
- Greeting customers
- Serve food promptly and accurately
But you should also include responsibilities that differentiate your work. These could be as follows:
- Up-selling select menu items
- Give suggestions from the wine or craft beer list
- Educate or inform diners on the establishments unique propositions
- Train or assist other Servers
- Conduct inventory
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Tips For Taking Your Server Resume To The Next Level
While there are many available server jobs, you still need to work on your server resume and ensure it stands out, especially if you want high-level server jobs. One way to take your server resume to the next level is by adding additional sections such as volunteer experiences, languages, awards, and certifications. Lets look at these sections in detail.
What Are Some Job Duties Expected Out Of A Restaurant Server
Restaurant servers donât just greet customers and serve meals they carry out multiple tasks to enhance a guestâs dining experience. Some of their essential duties include:
- Recommending menu specials or discounts to customers when required
- Process cash, credit or digital transactions manually or through a POS system
- Build a loyal restaurant clientele and implement surveys to gain active feedback
- Train junior staff about the restaurantâs rules or food safety and compliance
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Fourth Highlight Your Customer Service Skills
In each role you performed, you might consider highlighting how you applied your customer service skills. For instance, if a customer received a meal they did not order and you helped solve the conflict, highlight your customer service skills to describe how effective you are at conflict resolution. Since working as a server can rely heavily on your customer service skills, you might think about including these details in your resume.
Key Points For Your Server Resume
Congratulations on completing the first step toward earning your next job! Taking your server resume and job application seriously is the best thing you can do to ensure you get hired.
You now know how to format your resume for the ATS, include job-specific skills, emphasize your value as a server with quantifiable metrics, and rework your resume to customize it for any server job.
Now that youâve done your due diligence with research, you can check your resume using our AI-powered tips or start making your resume from scratch using our resume builder. Once your resume is written and perfected, all that’s left to do is hit “submit!”
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Use Soft Skills To Showcase Your Serving Experience
Your personality and interpersonal skills play an important role in your success as a server. Recruiters in this field want to know how you will interact with customers, so add examples of your soft skills to show why you are an excellent server candidate. Be sure to pull the soft skill you feature from keywords in the job description to help the ATS pull your resume so the recruiter sees it.
Example # 1
Good
Anticipated customer needs by scanning the seating area to determine immediate needs, such as refills on water and coffee, before being summoned. Exhibited patience under pressure when tour buses brought in large groups on nights that were already busy.
Filled empty glasses and cups at customers request
How To Align Your Resume With The Job Description
Recruiters in this field search for candidates who have the skills to provide excellent customer service to diners. They typically look at a lot of applicants to find the right candidate for each open position. Thats why its so important to showcase the skills you possess and any past experience you have that makes your resume stand out from the resumes of other applicants.
If you arent confident regarding which skills and experiences to showcase, review the job description and pull skills from the top of the listing. Recruiters often put the requirements they need most from an applicant at the beginning of the job description. Also, look for any skills that are mentioned more than once in the job description because if the recruiter took the time to mention a needed skill more than once, you want to be certain you mention having that skill, or being willing to learn it, in your resume.
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Nail The Server Resume Summary
The summary is the introduction of your resume-it notifies the recruiter about your overall experience.
Some servers might consider this section useless and skip it.
However, this way, you would miss a huge opportunity and regret it later.
The summary helps you capture the employers attention with just 2-3 specific things about yourself.
Therefore, you should focus on giving the most valuable, accurate and extraordinary information.
Here are some tips for writing your summary:
- Use industry terminology and action verbs
- Add Courses or Languages to stand out
- Mention 2-3 specific tasks that you performed
- Emphasize communication skills/flexibility/sales and back them with examples
What to avoid in your server resume:
- Use of monotonous sentences without valuable data
- Starting the first sentence with I
- Too general or too specific data-find the balance
Follow these tips and nail the server resume!
RIGHTRIGHTRIGHTRIGHTRIGHT
Pro tip
Mention high-performance metrics that you achieved utilizing knowledge. Did foreign languages or suggestive selling help you increase your tips? Did flexibility help you get a promotion?
Cv Layout Design And Formatting: Try A Template
For a server resume, clean and simple CV layout is a must. Whether youre a new server or an experienced one, an attractive resume document sends the message that you are a professional. Its not necessary to include color, pictures or other creative elements on your server resume, since a manager is looking for someone who can do the job efficiently and with a smile.
If you have some graphic design experience, you can probably handle creating a resume format yourself. If not, using a professionally designed resume template can make the process much easier. From the Resume.io collection of field-tested resume templates,you can easily download one that suits you best and customize it to your preferences and style. Our resume buildertool allows you to plug in your own text to fit your experience and needs.
When selecting a template, it’s important to evaluate the branding of the restaurant you’re applying to. For example, a quirky cafe might appreciate a creative template, while a fine-dining Japanese restaurant may favor a design from the professionalcategory. In most cases, a simpletemplate would be perfect for server resumes. And if you change your mind, it’s easy to switch templates at any stage.
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How To Create A Server Resume
The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed’s data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.
Servers are professionals who provide high-quality food service to patrons. A solid server resume shows food handling skills, customer service abilities and restaurant experience. If you’re a server, learning how to create an excellent resume may help you achieve career advancement or find a new server position. In this article, we discuss how you can create a winning server resume, then provide three examples of resumes for different types of servers.