Being a food server is a challenging job. You must be skilled at dealing with both customers and coworkers. Here we bring to you strong food service skills. So, incorporate these into your resume and make it outshine.
Although this job does not ask for special qualifications academically, a number of skills are required. The job can be physically demanding. At times you have to serve for long shifts, often rushing from table to table, carrying food trays, etc.
Therefore this server job requires diplomacy, a good memory, as well as the ability to interact with a wide range of personalities.
On the other hand, there are innumerable perks to a food service job. It can be lucrative, rewarding, and even fun. You can also take home thousands of tips each month.
Whether you work at a high-end fine dining establishment, or a local diner, check out the skills listed below and make your stand out.
Strong Food Service Skills
An ideal food server should be able to engage customers with a pleasant attitude. Moreover, he/she must be adept at taking orders, remembering preferences, moving quickly, and managing an entire room of diners.
If your attitude gives customers the impression that they do not matter, they might take it personally.
Check out some essential restaurant and foodservice skills below. The that can be learned you must do so. Improvising on your own self is certainly beneficial in any industry.
Types of Restaurant and Food Service Skills with Examples
Given below are some restaurant and foodservice skills. A food server must include them while customizing a resume.
Skills Depicting Friendliness
Food servers must be friendly. While dealing with customers as well as patrons, one must be friendly. No matter how tired or frustrated you are but your customers must feel that you care for them individually. The customers dining experience depends on your positivity and friendliness. A demanding food server can have a negative effect on the mood of the kitchen staff. So, being pleasant and enjoyable are important qualities in both the front and back of the house.
Add these to depict your friendly nature.
- Enthusiasm
- Resilence
- Stress Tolerance
- Hospitality
- Courtesy
For Paying Attention To Detail
At times certain orders are complicated. Customers may tell food allergies or spice or seasoning preferences. If you forget a detail, you will upset, disappoint, or possibly harm the customer. Paying attention to the details of orders is a very important aspect of your job. Here are some skills that emphasize this quality of yours.
6. Attentiveness
7. Memory
8. Active Listening
9. In-depth knowledge of menu items
10. Meal Ingredient details
Skills emphasizing Energy
Often the shifts can be long and tough for a food server. Therefore, you must have significant energy reserves. High-energy people tend to thrive better in this industry. Energy specific food service skills for resume are-
11. Physical Endurance
12. Confidence
13. Resilience
14. Flexibility
15. Motivation
16. Inspiration
Communication Skills
Well, these are really important in the food server job positions. You must communicate well with both customers and co-workers. You need to be able to listen attentively as well as understand customer concerns. Furthermore, you must relay them to the cooks or management staff effectively. An excellent communicator is really valued in such an industry. Check out some skills below.
17. Active listening
18. Humor
19. Verbal Communication
20. Written Communication
21. Collaboration
22. Teamwork
23. Note-taking
24. Memory
Problem-Solving Skills
At times you may not have your seniors or managers to help you. You must be able to problem-solve on the spot. Even when you cannot fix the problem, you must make the customer feel heard and understood. You must be creative to sort issues and deal with situations.
25. Decision Making
26. Proactive
27. Logical Thinking
28. Problem Sensitivity
29. Integrity
30. Problem Solving
Food Service Manager Skills
The manager has some extra roles to play. So, he also requires some additional skills s well. There are a number of new responsibilities. These can be learned over the years. You must possess certain interpersonal skills as well as technical skills.
31. Relationship management
32. Supervising
33. Money handling
34. Problem-solving
35. Decision-making skills
36. Data entry
37. Technical Writing
38. Accounting
39. Action Planning
40. Software and Computer skills
Related-50+ Top Resume Management Skills
Some More Skills For Food Server
Check out some more miscellaneous skills for food server jobs.
41. Efficiency
42. Approachability
43. Persistence
44. Bar Tending
45. Money handling
46. Patience
47. Adaptability
48. Observation
49. Presentation
50. Agility
51. Payment processing
52. Fast learning
53. Quality awareness
Where Should I Add Skills on my Resume?
The skills section on your resume has your skills. In addition to this, there are other places as well.
- Resume Summary/ Objective
- Core competencies
- Work History
- Cover letter
Tips to Write Skills On Resume
Add Relevant Skills
In addition, to resume you may have to fill out application forms as well. In either case, be sure to emphasize the skills that your prospective employer is looking for. Add skills that are specific to the food industry.
Resume Keywords
Scan the job posting. Look for words in the requirements section. Here the employers have mentioned certain skills. Use the same terms in your resume. Add buzzwords that are industry-specific. These act as resume keywords. They optimize your resume for ATS.
All efforts go in vain when your resume does not pass the ATS.
Highlighting skills in a cover letter
Usually, a cover letter is not asked for in a food serving job. However, you may add one to your resume. This gives you some extra space to highlight your skills. So, whenever you are writing a cover letter, mention the extent of your experience using some of the skills listed above.
So, use the above list of foodservice skills for your resume. Ensure that you create a perfect blend of soft and hard skills. Both of these are essential in your resume. Hard skills should be more. The reason behind this is that they are gained through experience. Moreover, they are industry-specific. While soft skills are transferable.
If you have queries, comment below. We look forward to hearing from you.
