Waiter & Waitress CV Sample—Examples and 25+ Writing Tips (2023)

From serving adorable couples at two-tops to troublesome parties of seven, you’re the best waitperson they could hire.

Thing is, they don’t yet know it.

You need a waiter or waitress CV that shows you’re a catch as rare as a Matchello's steak still mooing.

Want that job? No prob—

In this guide:

• The best waiter and waitress CV sample to get those restaurant jobs.
• How to tailor your CV to the waiter or waitress job description.
• How to write CVs for waitstaff positions that score restaurant interviews.
• Expert tips and examples to improve your chances of landing restaurant jobs.

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Are you looking for other restaurant-related CV examples? Try these out:

• Customer Service CV
• Restaurant CV
• Bartender CV
• Server CV
• Barista CV
• Hostess CV
• Food Service CV
• Fast Food CV
• Hospitality CV Examples
• Retail CV

Haven't found what you're looking for? Check all ourCV Examples for Over 200 Jobs.

Waiter / Waitress CV Example You Can Copy and Use

Now—

Here’s how to write a waiter CV or waitress CV of your own:

1. Sort Out the Waiter or Waitress CV Format First

Like any eatery about to open for dinner, you have to prep things on your CV before you begin to write.

It needs to be as organised as a kitchen on the brigade system.

So—

This is how to format a waitress CV template:

• Use the reverse-chronological format on your CV, starting with your most recent position and going backward from there.
• Use a one-inch margin on all sides of your CV for restaurant jobs.
• Select a great CV font to use, one that’s easily legible for any reader.
• Learn exactly which items to include on a CV—only relevant material, and remove everything else.

Make sure your CV has an eye-catching design. Know what to include and what to leave out, and don’t cram a tonne of tiny print in there or push out the margins to the edge just to fit it on one page. While what you say on your CV is paramount, how you format and design your CV can make a big difference, too.

Expert Hint:Save your CV as a PDF. The PDF format can be read on any device the restaurant manager views it on, unlike a Microsoft Word doc, which sometimes looks funny on certain screens.

2. Start with a Waiter or Waitress CV Objective or Summary

When a dinner guest firsts walks into a dining establishment, the restaurant hopes to set the tone with appropriate lighting, scrumptious smells wafting from the kitchen, and a pleasant ambience.

The CV heading statement, an objective or summary, has to do the same thing—lure the employer in rather than turning them away.

But which introduction paragraph do you choose?

If you have years of restaurant serving experience, choose the CV summary.

The summary statement whets their appetite with a quick recap of your waitstaff experience and server skills. It adds a cherry on top by offering up a number or two to quantify your achievements.

Here’s how to write a waitress or waiter CV summary:

Waiter or Waitress CV Summary Example

This first one comes from a CV personalised to one specific job offer, and that’s a key attribute of interview-winning CVs. On top of that, it offers up examples of just how good this person is as a waitress with the use of numbers.

But—

What If You Have No Experience?

When you have little or no serving experience, use the CV objective.

The objective statement talks up any unrelated experience you have and transferable skills to make the case that you’d be better than any of the other waiters applying for the job. It then states your career goals at the restaurant or other establishment.

It also includes a numbered accomplishment to prove your talent.

Here’s how to write a waitress CV objective statement:

Entry-Level Waiter or Waitress CV Objective Example

As in our previous set of examples, the first one here is tailored to the job and uses transferable skills to show how their earlier job sets them up for success as a waiter. Also, here we used achievements, in the form of the awards, to immediately be their top candidate.

Expert Hint: Write this CV profile statement when you finish all the other parts of your CV, even though it is positioned at the very top. This way, you’ll have a clearer image of the best items to talk about for maximum impact.

3. Write a Great Waiter or Waitress Job Description and Restaurant Skills Sections

Think of your CV as a many-course meal, each course being a particular CV section.

In that case, you’ve just come to the main dish—

The waiter or waitress work history section.

Here’s how to describe previous waiter duties on a CV for waiter jobs:

• Go in reverse-chronological order, listing your current or most recent job position first.
• Add your job title, the date range you worked there, the name of the place, and its location.
• Next, add job responsibilities you had to your waitress CV description. Document them strategically in a way that is relevant to the current waitress job duties.
• Whenever possible, include a key win or accomplishment with numbers to showcase your talent in the waitress job description for CVs.

Now, here are waiter or waitress CV examples of job descriptions:

Waiter or Waitress Job Description for CV Examples

How about that?

If you compare the first example with the second one, you’ll easily see what makes one far more palatable than the other. In the good example, we spelled out waiter duties in detail, removed any obvious ones, and added quantifiable achievements.

One’s medium well, while the other is well done.

Another thing to keep in mind—

Many larger and more modern restaurants use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to manage the dozens of server job applications they receive each day.

An ATS helps the employer screen large amounts of CVs for waitresses and waiters by digitally scanning them for particular CV keywords.

And, if your waiter or waitress CV lacks a keyword, it could mean you’re 86’d right out of the candidate pool.

How to find the right keywords to use on a CV for waitresses and waiters?

Go back to the job ad.

The original job description tells you exactly the kind of applicant this restaurant is searching for. Look at the job responsibilities section of the advertisement, in particular. If you’re having doubts about how to phrase such-and-such, use the wording from the ad to be on the safe side.

After a waiter or waitress description for CVs, it’s time to list the perfect CV skills to pair alongside.

You need to portray yourself in a way that gets attention.

That’s where a server skills list comes in.

Here is a list of sample waitress and waiter CV skills:

Restaurant Waiter/Waitress CV Skills

• Basic arithmetic skills
• Customer service
• Excellent verbal communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Able to work in fast-paced environment
• Quick thinking
• Honesty and integrity
• Strength, balance, and stamina
• Patience and diplomacy
• Microbrew beer menu
• French wine list
• Till & credit card machine
• Great memory
• Japanese cuisine
• Food safety & personal hygiene
• Dining room layout and organisation

Don’t just pick any server skill you think of and add it to your CV. Remember to tailor it to this one waiter job by looking at the job ad.

Use the job responsibilities section to understand the kind of waitress they’re looking for. If you are blessed with a skill they value, add that to your restaurant server or cocktail waitress CV.

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Expert Hint: Always add a healthy mixture of both hard skills (those you can build, such as knowing how to use the POS) and soft skills (those you develop through life, such as communication skills).

4. Turn Your Education Section Into a Reason to Hire You

Not adding your education correctly on CVs for waitress jobs is a quick way for you to be removed from their “specials” board.

Since you don’t want that—

Here’s how an academic entry should appear on your CV for waitressing:

Waiter/Waitress CV Example of Education Section

To break it down, here’s what we did:

• The degree is listed at the top.
• On the next line, we give the school name.
• Next, we add the estimated date of completion or a graduation date.
• Finally, include extras to really impress them. In our example, we listed relevant coursework related to waiter jobs. However, you could list academic awards or extracurriculars.

Finally, if you have completed a degree in university, don’t add high school. If you’ve never been to university or are in the middle of working on a degree, add high school as a secondary entry.

Expert Hint: Is your education more impressive than your work history so far? If you have an impressive academic section but no real-world working experience, place your education area above the employment section.

5. Round Out Your Waiter or Waitress CV With a Few Extra Side Dishes

Show the restaurant manager you’re an item from the secret menu rather than any ol’ blue-plate special.

How?

By including a few additional CV sections to really impress them.

Here are some of the best extra sections you can add, followed by some prime waiter and waitress CV samples:

• Certified Food Service Professional (CFSP)
• The Waiter's Academy Certificate

Restaurant Organisations & Associations

• UKHospitality
• The Sustainable Restaurant Association

• Cooking
• Food Blogging
• Wine Tasting

Foreign Language Proficiency

• Spanish: Native Proficiency
• Brazilian Portuguese: Professional Working Proficiency
• Bahasa Indonesia: Intermediate Proficiency
• Swahili: Basic Conversational Proficiency

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Expert Hint: Want to know the best side dish for any waitress or waiter CV? A waiter or waitress cover letter. How important are cover letters?More than 80% of recruiters and hiring managers prefer it.

Key Points

It’s not so hard to serve up a plate of your skills, experience, and education as a mouth-watering CV.

But it’s not so hard to mess it up, either.

So, to recap—

Here’s how to write a CV for waiter and waitress jobs:

• Format the waiter / waitress CV template before you begin writing.
• Start with a great waitress or waiter CV objective or summary at the top, but write it last for effectiveness.
• Document your past experience in a waiter or waitress duties CV section. Use numbers to show quantifiable accomplishments.
• List your top skills which are relevant to this restaurant server job, specifically.
• Include a standard addition of your education on a waitress / waiter CV template.
• Add a dash of a few extra sections to really stand out as a restaurant waiter candidate.
• Always include a waiter or waitress cover letter alongside.

Have any questions on how to write a waitress job description CV section or how to make waitressing sound good on a CV? Need more waiter CV samples? Let’s chat below in the comment area, and thanks for reading!