Server Resume Skills and Keywords

What skills should I put on a server resume?

The top skills to put on a server resume are sales and marketing, service orientation, and customer and personal service. Employers also look for dependability, cooperation and social orientation, which are best shown through results in your bullet points rather than listed. For software, list what the posting names; servers most often use point-of-sale and instant messaging software.

• Sales and Marketing knowledge
• Service Orientation
• Customer and Personal Service knowledge
• Dependability
• Cooperation
• Social Orientation

What software should servers know?

No single program shows up often in server job postings. Servers most often use point-of-sale, instant messaging, and web page creation and editing software, so list the specific products a posting names and you have used.

What hard skills do employers want in servers?

Servers need sales and marketing far more than most workers, and service orientation and customer and personal service more than most. Name these in your resume summary and prove each one with a bullet that shows you using it.

• Sales and Marketing · Needed far more than in most jobs
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Service Orientation · Needed more than in most jobs
  Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Customer and Personal Service · Needed more than in most jobs
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Compared with the average rating across all jobs in Department of Labor data.

What soft skills do servers need?

The most important soft skills for servers are dependability, cooperation and social orientation, followed by optimism. Show them through results in your bullet points rather than listing them as single words.

1. Dependability: A tendency to be reliable, responsible, and consistent in meeting work-related obligations.
2. Cooperation: A tendency to be pleasant, helpful, and willing to assist others at work.
3. Social Orientation: A tendency to seek out, enjoy, and be energized by social interaction at work.
4. Optimism: A tendency to exhibit a positive attitude and positive emotions at work, even under difficult circumstances.

What keywords should a server resume include?

A server resume should include the exact tool names, skills and job title from the posting. For servers, common keywords include sales and marketing, service orientation, Banquet Server, and Busser. Applicant tracking systems and recruiters scan for these words, so use them wherever they truthfully describe your experience.

How do I write server resume bullet points?

Start each server bullet point with a past-tense verb and a core task, such as “Collected payments from customers,” then end it with a measurable result: what changed, by how much, and for whom. These starters come from the job’s most important tasks.

What are other job titles for a server?

Other job titles for a server include Banquet Server, Busser, Cocktail Server, Food Runner and Food Server. Government job data groups them as “Waiters and Waitresses.” Search for these titles too, and use the posting’s exact title on your resume when it fits your experience.

• Banquet Server
• Busser
• Cocktail Server
• Food Runner
• Food Server
• Restaurant Server
• Room Service Server
• Waiter
• Waitress
• Banquet Waiter
• Banquet Waitress
• Bar Waiter
• Bar Waitress
• Buffet Waiter
• Buffet Waitress
• Carhop
• Club Waiter
• Club Waitress
• Cocktail Waitress
• Deck Steward

What education do servers need?

Most servers need no formal education credential to get hired. New hires typically get short-term on-the-job training. No prior work experience is usually required. On your resume, list coursework or certifications in sales and marketing and customer and personal service. In a federal survey, 58% of servers said the job requires a high school diploma and 32% less than a high school diploma.

How much do servers make?

Servers earn a median salary of $35,230 a year, according to May 2025 federal wage data. The lowest-paid 10% earn less than $18,100, and the highest-paid 10% earn more than $64,720. Employment is projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% average for all jobs, with about 423,100 openings a year.

What other jobs can servers do?

Servers’ skills carry over best to jobs as dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers; food servers, nonrestaurant; and bartenders, which use the most similar skills and day-to-day work.