Tourism, Food / Beverage
Waiter and Waitress
Overview
A Waiter/Waitress is responsible for providing excellent customer service to restaurant patrons. This includes taking orders, delivering food and drinks, ensuring that customers are satisfied with their meals, and processing payments. Waiters and waitresses must also maintain a clean and organized dining area.
Waiters and waitresses may work in a variety of food service establishments, from casual diners to high-end restaurants. Good communication skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work well under pressure are important qualities for this profession.
Common tasks
| Task | Related trait(s) |
|---|---|
| Greeting customers | Amiability Extroversion – Handling social situations |
| Showing customers to their tables | Conscientiousness |
| Providing menus and taking orders from customers | Conscientiousness |
| Serving menu items to customers | Multitasking and working fast |
| Checking on customers throughout their stay | Multitasking and working fast |
| Processing payments | Conscientiousness |
| Keeping working area clean and organized and restocking tables with relevant items | Conscientiousness |
| Assisting other staff members | Teamwork |
| Following all food safety and sanitation procedures | Dutifulness |
| Addressing customer complaints | Extroversion – Handling social situations Amiability Optimism – Positive expressiveness Emotional intelligence – Understanding customers |
Soft skills measured by TraitForward
| Trait | No of Questions | Cronbach’s alpha (α) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teamwork | 9 | 0.73 | |
| Are they good team members? | |||
| Conscientiousness | 10 | 0.80 | |
| Do they have a desirable work ethic? | |||
| Amiability | 7 | 0.85 | |
| Are they calm? Do they respect others? | |||
| Extroversion – Handling social situations | 8 | 0.85 | |
| Are they skilled handling social situations? | |||
| Multitasking and working fast | 5 | 0.67 | |
| Can they multitask? Can they handle demanding workloads? | |||
| Optimism – Positive expressiveness | 8 | 0.77 | |
| Are they joyful? | |||
| Emotional intelligence – Understanding customers | 5 | 0.80 | |
| Do they understand the emotions of others? | |||
| Dutifulness | 8 | 0.77 | |
| Can they follow orders? | |||
Did you Know?
Source: US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics
Median wage:
$26,000 / per year
$12.5 / hour
The median annual wage for this profession is $26,000. Nonetheless several professionals may not be paid in that rate. A relatively low salary the 10th percentile of the annual wage is $17,840 whilst a relatively high salary, the 90th percentile of the annual wage is $45,910.
Expected employment growth:
Number (in thousands in 2021): 1904.4
Number (in thousands in 2031): 2101.4
Employment percent change: 10.3
Find out the psychometric properties for the Waiter and Waitress Traitforward questionnaire