A waiter/waitress works in restaurants, bars, hotels, and other food and beverage establishments. They deliver outstanding customer service to ensure guests have a great eating experience. They greet clients, take lunch orders, and ensure the dining room and kitchen communicate well.
Responsibilities
Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:
- greet customers, give out menus and take food and drink orders
- answer questions about the menu and give advice on ingredients
- serve food and drinks, handle bill payments and clean tables
- handle any complaints and make sure customers are happy.
Salary
- Starting salaries for an apprentice is £12,000 per year.
- Experienced butchers can earn up to £22,000 per year.
Working hours
You will typically work 40 to 42 hours per week, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays on shirts.
Working environment
You could work at a restaurant.
Your working environment may be hot, humid and noisy.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Qualifications
Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice waiter include:
- Level 2 Hospitality Team Member – Entry requirements for this level include some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship. This qualification will take 12 months to complete.
Skills
On a waiter apprenticeship, you’ll learn:
- customer service skills
- the ability to work well with others
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- excellent verbal communication skills
- a desire to help people
- active listening skills
- a good memory
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device.
Career path and progression
With experience you could:
- specialise in fine dining at formal events like wedding and banquets
- progress to head waiter, restaurant supervisor or restaurant manager
- move into kitchen management or stock purchasing.