Basics

• Restaurant waiters are assigned certain tables or booths (also called "sections") to wait on in their particular establishment. Waiters typically introduce themselves to guests and begin by asking what each guest would like to drink. They deliver drinks and give guests ample time to place an order, explaining specials and other items on the menu. Oftentimes, a waiter will give recommendations or offer details regarding various selections. They make sure food is cooked to each guest's liking, refill drinks and suggest desserts. Waiters usually receive a small base salary and make the majority of their earnings off tips left by the patron once the dining experience is complete.
  
  

Skills

• Restaurant waiters need to be personable and exceptional communicators, enabling them to effectively take a patron's order and relay the order to kitchen workers. They also need to possess the strength and stamina needed to not only spend most of their workday on their feet but delivering trays of food as well. Waiters should also own good organizational skills because they frequently wait on more than one table at a time.
  
  

Background

• Requirements to become a waiter vary by restaurant. Fine dining establishments usually prefer someone who has waited before. Some restaurants hire waiters who make the natural transition from host. Some are willing to hire high school and college students, and some prefer their waiters have obtained at least a high school diploma. But regardless of education, the majority of waiters are able to learn on the job via a brief training process.
  
  

Prospects

• More than 2.3 million workers were employed as waiters in May 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That number is expected to increase by 6 percent through 2018, which is slightly slower than average for all occupations, the BLS reported.
  
  

Earnings

• Many restaurant waiter positions are part-time. Still, plenty of waiters make serving their livelihood. According to PayScale, waiters earned anywhere from $13,000 to more than $28,000 per year in March 2010. Much of it depended on tips and the type of establishment in which the waiter was employed. In 2010, 76 percent of waiters were female (waitresses), PayScale reported.