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Fast Food and Counter Workers

  • Bright Outlook
  • Rapid Growth
  • Numerous Job Openings

Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages.

What you’d do

  • Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
  • Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.
  • Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper.
  • Balance receipts and payments in cash registers.
  • Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints.
  • Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars.
  • Monitor and order supplies or food items, and restock as necessary to maintain inventory.
  • Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary.

Skills that matter

  • Active Listening
  • Coordination
  • Service Orientation
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Monitoring
  • Speaking

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Cafeteria Worker
  • Counter Worker
  • Food Service Worker
  • Server
  • Cafe Server
  • Cafeteria Server

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