How can you be sure you’ll find someone with the proper charm and work ethic when looking for a server? It starts with a well-written job description reflecting your company’s distinct culture and requirements.
You’ll need to consider what you’re searching for regarding personality and talent compatibility.
In other words, servers greet customers, take food and beverage orders, ensure that visitors are satisfied throughout their meal, and, when possible, clear dishes and glasses.
They must also communicate with kitchen employees to ensure that food orders are fulfilled accurately.
Use the professional Server job description sample below to gain inspiration on how to craft your job description best.
Table of contents
- What is a Server?
- What Do Servers Do?
- Server Job Description: Duties and Responsibilities
- Server Job Description: Skills and Qualifications
- Server Salary Expectations
- Server education and training requirements
- How To Be A Great Server: The 6 Best Tips
- Server Job Description Template
- Do’s and Don’ts for Writing Your Server Job Description
- Conclusion
- References
- Recommendations
What is a Server?
According to TopResume, A Server is responsible for creating significant guest interactions while serving visitors politely and efficiently and plays a vital role in ensuring that our customers enjoy exceptional dining experiences.
Servers must always be sensitive to our Guests’ requirements, making them feel welcomed, comfortable, meaningful, and relaxed.
The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic about food and service and appreciate providing exceptional experiences for our guests.
In addition, the ideal candidate will have experience working as a Server in a busy, fast-paced restaurant atmosphere and a warm, outgoing demeanor.
What Do Servers Do?
In a restaurant or bar, a server serves as a liaison between the table’s visitors and the kitchen or bartender. He or she takes orders, delivers food and beverages, and assists with maintaining high standards of quality.
In many establishments, the server also presents the visitors with a bill and assists them in making payments.
Servers in most restaurants with a high level of casual service and above are required to serve as salespeople and customer service agents.
This line of employment necessitates the employee’s constant standing or walking, often for long periods during the day.
It’s also a high-pressure environment, and most servers agree that organization and quick thinking are the most vital job qualities.
Furthermore, most restaurants need their servers to receive both basic and ongoing education training on product, sales, and service training.
Prior serving expertise in casual or chain eating contexts is usually required in upmarket service and fine dining restaurants.
You can read this: Best Cashier Job Description Templates for 2023
Server Job Description: Duties and Responsibilities
- Communicate with guests about when their food will be ready and any problems that may arise in a friendly and sincere manner.
- Interact with other service and cooking staff to ensure speedy and effective operations, so guests receive their food as quickly and accurately as possible.
- Work with money daily, providing accurate change quickly and precisely while communicating cheerfully with the guests.
- Handle food carefully and responsibly while serving guests their dishes.
- Provide a friendly and caring experience for every guest who enters the restaurant, upholding the restaurant’s hospitality standards.
- Receive orders every week, guaranteeing the accuracy of the order, and help unload the shipment and put every product away correctly.
- Prepare dishes in the kitchen for certain shifts as needed.
- Train other employees in standard practices and procedures in a shadow-style training program.
Server Job Description: Skills and Qualifications
Being a server necessitates a unique personality. When dealing with demanding customers, servers are under a lot of stress, thus management must hire only the finest.
When writing a server job description, how can food service managers be sure they’re attracting the best candidates? The following tips will undoubtedly assist you in creating a successful advertisement.
- Previous serving experience required
- Excellent oral communication skills required
- Positive interpersonal skills required
- Must speak English fluently and be able to write in basic English
- Food Handlers Card OLCC Certification
- Good telephone speaking and listening ability
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Multitasker
- Excellent time management skills
Server Salary Expectations
Servers in the U.S. normally earn less than minimum wage as base pay (depending on the region) but do earn tipped income from guests that they may be required to share with support personnel such as bussers and food runners.
Their work hours depend on the facility in which they work; in many cases, servers work weekends (the busiest times for some restaurants) and holidays.
However, according to PayScale, The average hourly pay for a Server is $8.01. According to Indeed, the average salary for a server is $13.97 per hour in the United States and $100.00 tips per day, depending on the years of experience.
Server education and training requirements
Many Servers have some high school education and are en route to obtaining their diploma. However, some applicants have completed high school or got a GED and are pursuing higher education.
Once employed, servers usually complete their training through previous relevant experience or on-the-job training.
These applicants with prior experience may already be ServSafe certified, demonstrating their understanding of service and food handling standards and best practices. Other candidates may be in the process of completing one or are willing to do so.
How To Be A Great Server: The 6 Best Tips
It’s not about collecting a big tip or sleeping late on weekdays to be a great server. Being a great server boils down to following one basic rule: treat others the way you want to be treated.
It means ensuring that your customers are satisfied and that their dining experience runs smoothly.
Also, it involves factors like timeliness and efficiency, as well as how you present yourself, act, and say (and how you say it).
Therefore, to be a great server, you have to be:
- Warm and friendly
- Be observant
- Exercise good manners
- Practice efficiency and organization
- Show attention to details
- Always be cleaning.
Also, you can check this: Customer Service Representative Job Description for 2023
Server Job Description Template
We are looking for a server responsible for taking orders from and serving food to customers. Duties will primarily include taking food and drink orders, writing them down on order slips, and ensuring that tables are served correctly and all payments are collected.
To succeed in this role, you must have a positive attitude and the ability to work well under pressure with bussers, cooks, and other staff. Previous work experience involving customer service in a fast-paced environment is greatly desired.
Server Responsibilities:
- Take food and drink orders from customers accurately and with a positive attitude.
- Write patrons’ food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
- Engage with customers in a friendly manner.
- Knowledge of the menu, with the ability to make suggestions.
- Ensure tables are enjoying their meals and take action to correct any problems.
- Collect payments from tables.
- Prepare checks that itemize total meal costs and sales taxes.
- Help food preparation staff when necessary.
Server Requirements:
- Experience providing excellent customer service in a fast-paced environment.
- A positive attitude and ability to work well under pressure with bussers, cooks, and other staff.
- Able to perform high-quality work while unsupervised.
- Able to handle money accurately and operate a point-of-sale system.
- High school diploma.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment and deliver orders promptly.
Job Summary
Our restaurant prides itself on providing fresh food and excellent customer service. As a quickly growing company, we want to expand our staff with a new server position.
If you have the customer service skills required to provide our high level of service requirements, apply for this appealing and beneficial serving position.
We prioritize creating a caring and fun environment for our staff and customers.
With opportunities to advance into managerial or marketing positions, we encourage and help our servers excel in their jobs and other aspects of their professional lives; apply to join our superstar team today.
Job Responsibilities
- Communicate with guests about when their food will be ready and any problems that may arise in a friendly and sincere manner.
- Interact with other service and cooking staff to ensure speedy and effective operations, so guests receive their food as quickly and accurately as possible.
- Work with money daily, providing accurate change quickly and precisely while communicating cheerfully with the guests.
- Handle food carefully and responsibly while serving guests their dishes.
- Provide a friendly and caring experience for every guest who enters the restaurant, upholding the restaurant’s hospitality standards.
- Receive orders every week, guaranteeing the accuracy of the order and help unload the shipment and put every product away correctly.
- Prepare dishes in the kitchen for specific shifts as needed.
- Train other employees in standard practices and procedures in a shadow-style training program.
Job Skills & Qualifications
Required:
- Fluent in English with excellent communication skills
- Results-driven and goal-oriented with a priority on teamwork
- Ability to stand for extended periods and move heavy items
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to get along with any person
Preferred:
- Passed food handling examination before applying
- Previous experience in customer service or related interpersonal position
Do’s and Don’ts for Writing Your Server Job Description
As you start filling in your outline for our job description, you’ll want to avoid some key mistakes. To help yourself stay on track to writing an adequate job description, use these dos and don’ts:
- Don’t mention salary or related information until you’ve consulted with company colleagues and policy. Consider researching industry trends and best practices as well.
- Do state the level of experience and skill you need. If you want an entry-level server, ensure your reader understands that fact.
- Also, do mention the position’s location. Especially if you have multiple restaurants, you want to avoid confusing applicants and receiving applications from out-of-town professionals.
- Don’t make the application or resume submission process long or complicated. Since this is just the first of many steps, keep it simple.
Conclusion
I believe this article gives you a clear template of what a server job description is all about to be the best candidate for the job or stay on track to writing an adequate job description.
References
- LiveCareer – Examples
- TopResume – Description
- Betterteam – Example
- GetSling – Tips
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