5 Server Resume Examples for 2022

4 Professional Tips to Perfect Your Server Resume 

Servers find employment in different types of restaurant environments from casual eateries and national chains, to local hangouts and fine dining establishments. Servers may have experience as bartenders, cashiers, hostesses, or other front-of-house positions. Many restaurant servers also have prior experience in sales roles or back-of-house positions, such as prep or line cook. 

Perfecting your server resume is a surefire way to make sure employers notice you. Your resume will be ready to make its debut on your next job application when:

• You showcase relevant skills
• Your resume adheres to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) standards
• Your impact is quantified across your work experiences
• Your resume is customized for each server job you apply to (because a Michelin Star restaurant will look for different qualities in servers than a laid-back pub)

 Tip 1: Showcase your server skills

Did you know that it’s not uncommon for a single job posting to get 200+ applicants? Unfortunately, the sheer number of applications often leaves hiring managers overwhelmed and unable to spend significant time reviewing each candidate. As a result, companies turn to recruiters and applicant tracking system (ATS) software to do some of the initial work. 

Recruiters and ATS often work hand-in-hand. Recruiters are human resources (HR) workers skilled at attracting applicants, screening resumes and conducting interviews alongside hiring managers. Recruiters configure ATS software to scan for select keywords in your resume. If there aren’t enough keyword matches, ATS will automatically remove the resume from the pool of applicants, thus reducing the overall workload for the hiring team. 

The downside to ATS is that it can overlook even the best applicants if they don’t have enough matching keywords in their resumes. Fortunately, once you know how to beat the ATS, you can rest assured that a person will review your application. 

How do you do this? 

The number one way to make it through ATS screening is to include a resume skills section. The keywords that recruiters program ATS to recognize are the most relevant skills for that specific server job. ATS scans your resume to determine whether your skillset is a match, so carefully curated skills sections help you ensure you have enough matching skills. 

The real challenge is deciding what skills to include. The best place to start is by looking at the job posting. Oftentimes, the job description itself will offer up key job skills you can use.

Take a look at these skills that are specific to servers along with our brief explanations for why they may be a good fit:

Possibly, your skills section could look like this: 

Tip 2: Ensure your server resume format is correct

Not to be dramatic, but resume format is everything. If your resume isn’t formatted well, employers will have a difficult time reading it, and ATS won’t be able to properly scan your resume (meaning it may never be viewed by recruiters).

The best resume format is one that’s easy to read, flows logically, and is ATS-friendly. We recommend you format your server resume in reverse-chronological order with your most recent job experience listed toward the top of the page. This way, recruiters will notice your most recent, most relevant, and likely most impressive job title first.  

Notice in the resume image below that the title the candidate is seeking is listed directly below her name.

Server resume objective

Many applicants report confusion about what resume objectives and summaries are and when they’re needed on resumes. Resume objectives and summaries are similar, short paragraphs that can be included to enhance some resumes. However, there are a few key differences:

Resume objectives are two-to-three-sentence paragraphs highly specific to each job for which you apply. A thoughtful objective should include:

• Your experience and the job title you’re seeking
• The name of the company you’re applying to, and 
• One to three specific skills that you bring that will contribute to operations.

A resume objective may be appropriate for your resume if: 

• You’re making a significant career transition (ex: from working as a sales associate to working as a server), or
• you’re an entry-level worker with minimal restaurant work experience. 

To better understand when you’d want to include an objective, let’s go over two examples. First, here’s a generic, uninformative objective: 

Looking for a restaurant job where my skills would help advance the work environment, and I can grow my career. 

• Why this doesn’t work: This resume objective doesn’t specify a specific job title, a restaurant, any relevant skills, or how the applicant would positively contribute to the restaurant. 

Now, compare this objective with the poor one above: 

Observant, disciplined, and energetic high school graduate seeking a restaurant server position at Red Robin. My can-do attitude and amiable personality will serve dine-in customers well, keeping happy diners returning and expanding the customer base with professional service. 

• Why this works: This resume objective is specific. This entry-level candidate clearly articulates skills and how employment would benefit the restaurant—despite not having job experience as a server. 

Alternatively, you might choose to use a resume summary if you wish to provide a short overview of your job history and skillset in two to three sentences. A summary is best-suited for restaurant servers who have years of industry experience because it allows them to pull from a lot of information to provide recruiters with key information and core competencies. 

However, if you write a summary like this, you’re likely to end up in the reject pile: 

With lots of years of experience, my skills make me the perfect candidate for the position.

• Why this doesn’t work: Just like the example of the poor objective, there’s nothing specific here either. It’s vague, underwhelming, and honestly makes us wonder whether the applicant even wants a job.

This job-specific resume summary, however, is likely to snag the attention of hiring managers: 

Welcoming and thoughtful server with 12+ years of front-of-house experience at local dining establishments. Throughout my career, I have sought to ensure customers return again and again. Eager to build rapport with regulars and establish relationships with new diners with the utmost care and attention at Glenwood Eatery. 

• Why this works: This resume summary is highly specific. It specifies a job title, the number of years of relevant experience, skills, the restaurant name, and how employment would benefit the restaurant. 

Tip 3: Use numbers to quantify your impact as a server 

A great resume is not a summary of job titles, descriptions, and responsibilities. To set yourself apart from the competition, you’ll need to highlight how you bring value to the restaurant uniquely and convincingly. You can do this by showing rather than telling recruiters about your achievements and value. 

By using quantifiable metrics (numbers), you can demonstrate your impact at previous jobs without feeling the need to tell recruiters that you’re really, really great. Furthermore, forming your bullet points around numbers will help ensure that each one of your bullet points provides recruiters with valuable information. In short, data demonstrates clear and concrete evidence that you’re an asset to the service industry. 

Now that you know why it’s important to include quantifiable metrics, let’s examine a few ways to leverage metrics on your server resume:

• Customer satisfaction: Can you think of any regulars who come back because of the experience you provide? Or do you get exceptionally large tips? Maybe customers have specifically mentioned you in positive restaurant reviews? 
• Speed of service: How many tables per hour do you typically serve? How long does it take you, on average, between seating a table and taking orders during peak operation hours? How often do you check on tables?
• Memory: Do you have the menu memorized? And how many dietary restrictions can you advise on? How many orders can you take at any given table without error?
• Sales: Are your order sizes, on average, larger than sales targets per customer? Are check sizes larger than targets? What percent of customers order drinks? How many of your customers do you cross-sell add-ons or wine pairings?

Check out a few concrete examples of some server bullet points that successfully incorporate some of these metrics: 

• Established robust knowledge of 25+ menu items, recommending specific wine pairings for dishes and advising on 6 major dietary restrictions. 
• This bullet point includes two metrics that demonstrate memory retention.
• Exceeded sales targets by 8% by up-selling appetizers and drinks based on specific tastes and interests of diners. 
• This bullet point uses data to back up sales performance. 
• Quickly developed relationships with customers, and maintained positivity while servicing up to 8 tables an hour during peak seasons. 
• This number emphasizes service speed during prime operational hours. 

Tip 4: Hand-tailor your resume for each server job 

It’s important to reiterate that customizing your resume for every job you apply to is important. Tailoring your resume for each job will demonstrate to recruiters that the job is important to you, you’re taking the application process seriously, you respect employers’ time, and you’re a professional who doesn’t shy away from the extra effort. Recruiters will look for different skills when they’re seeking a casual eatery server versus a fine-dining server. 

Fortunately, you don’t need to start from scratch each time you apply for a job. That would be depressing, not to mention it would take forever! These three areas need your attention:

• Resume objective/summary: If including this section, state the company name, the specific job title you’re applying to, and skills unique to this role.
• Skills section: Read the job description. Oftentimes, recruiters will give you hints (or overtly list) on what the most critical skills are for this server position.
• Job description bullet points: Again, look at the job description. Is teamwork emphasized? Is the job in a fast-paced environment? Think about how you can shift your bullet points (and metrics) to meet the needs of this work environment. 

Before we examine a few types of server resumes and how they can be customized for any job, take this bonus tip: Have a folder on your computer where you can save an expanded bulleted list of your work experience, skills, and skeletons for resume objectives/summaries. Then, pull what works from this list to create a truly customized resume for your next job application. 

Server resume 

• Your server resume should ideally include two to three server work experiences, but you can include relevant job titles like back-of-house restaurant positions, bartending, hosting, or runner/busser positions. 
• Emphasize skills like customer relations, sales performance, and multitasking. 

Restaurant server resume 

• You can ensure your restaurant server resume is specific by including details in your work experience bullet points about table service. 
• By contrast, a server job where you’re not waiting on tables may emphasize just how quickly you get food out. A sit-down restaurant server resume should highlight building customer relationships throughout the meal service. 

Server bartender resume 

• A server bartender resume is different from other server roles. 
• If you’re applying to work as a server bartender, you should emphasize drink-making knowledge (such as the number of cocktails you can prepare) and details about how you manage to get bar-seated guests to order bar food and meals in addition to drinks. 
• You may also want to present knowledge in your bartending resume about profit margins and accurate alcohol dispensement to maintain profit margin targets for liquor.

Experienced server resume 

• Experienced server resumes should be specialized to emphasize career growth.
• Order your resume in reverse-chronological order.
• Include more leadership experience later on in your career (such as mentorship and training for junior servers or collaborating in server interviews).
• Include a tailored summary at the top of your resume.

Fine dining server resume 

• At a fine dining restaurant, most recruiters will be less interested in rapid table turnover and more interested in providing diners with a personalized and luxurious experience. 
• Therefore, you should focus on discussing things like: 
• Wine pairing knowledge
• Ability to follow the chef’s direction to present dishes to an exacting standard 
• Memory retention concerning prix fixe menu items, such as dish origin/backstory, ingredients, and specifics on dish preparation

Key points for your server resume

Congratulations on completing the first step in working toward 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. 

And now that you’ve done your due diligence, you can upload your own resume to check out our AI-powered tips or start from scratch with our resume builder.