How To Become A Beverage Server: What It Is and Career Path

What is a beverage server and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Considered as a customer service professional, a beverage server works at and for restaurants, cocktail bars, and other similar establishments. Some of the tasks of a beverage server include setting up tables, serving drinks, removing plates and other used dishes, and preparing drinks.

One does not need a college degree to become a beverage server. Some beverage servers possess college degrees, but employers look more into the experiences and skills of the applicants. Having past experiences as server or sales associate might help one land a job as a beverage server.

As a beverage server, one must be able to stand or walk for long periods of time, and carrying or lifting heavy objects might also be asked of a beverage server sometimes. In addition, good customer-service skills and general math skills are needed in this line of work.

With an average salary of $22,789 per year, this work has a growth rate of 6%. There is also career progression in this line of work, and one can be a trainer or a general manager after some years.

ScoreBeverage ServerUS Average

Salary

2.0

Avg. Salary $25,886

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.2

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.81%

Asian 8.35%

Black or African American 11.52%

Hispanic or Latino 19.31%

Unknown 5.63%

White 54.39%

Gender

female 86.35%

male 13.65%

Age - 25

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 25

Stress Level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a beverage server

Explore beverage server education requirements

Most common beverage server degrees

Bachelor's

32.4 %

High School Diploma

31.3 %

Associate

22.1 %

Start to develop specific beverage server skills

Skills	Percentages
Drink Orders	9.88%
Guest Service	8.91%
Beverage Orders	8.00%
Exceptional Guest	5.66%
Guest Satisfaction	5.46%

Complete relevant beverage server training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New beverage servers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a beverage server based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real beverage server resumes.

Research beverage server duties and responsibilities

Open and close the register, provide credit card and cash reports, and batches on POS.
Learned more about different liquor, cocktails and wine, drink mixes and special drink of the month.
Work with large amounts of cash as well as credit cards, and knowledge of the POS system.
Present menus to guest, answer and give information about menu items such as wine selections to pair with meal.

Prepare your beverage server resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your beverage server resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a beverage server resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Beverage Server Resume templates

Build a professional Beverage Server resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Beverage Server resume.

Apply for beverage server jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a beverage server job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do beverage servers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Beverage Server reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Cons

Many restaurants are corporate or franchisees, and they dont really have good management, which leads to not hiring people on skill, but just to fill the space, which leads to high turn over rates for both FOH, BOH and management. There's no stability

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

Most waiter and waitress jobs are entry level, and workers learn through short-term on-the-job training. No formal education or previous work experience is required to enter the occupation. Most states require workers who serve alcoholic beverages to be at least 18 years of age, but some states require servers to be older. Waiters and waitresses who serve alcohol must be familiar with state and local laws concerning the sale of alcoholic beverages.