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Fast Food and Counter Workers

In the Fast Food and Counter Workers occupation, workers perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Expect to accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary. On the six-type interest model it reads CRS, meaning orderly work with data, records and clear procedures comes first, followed by hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world. Plan on a few months to a year of learning on the job; O*NET labels this some preparation. Strength in social perceptiveness, service orientation, and coordination helps most here. You may also need to serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food. People who want orderly work with data, records and clear procedures usually fit better here than those who need research, analysis and working through hard problems.

What they do

Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages.

Main tasks

  • Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
  • Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.
  • Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper.
  • Balance receipts and payments in cash registers.
  • Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints.
  • Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars.

Skills

  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Service Orientation
  • Coordination
  • Active Listening
  • Monitoring
  • Speaking

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You like clear rules and getting the details right.
  • You like ending the day with a physical result you can point to.
  • You want to start work after a short stretch of training.
  • You are comfortable relying on social perceptiveness and service orientation.

May not suit you if

  • You get restless with routine, records and exact procedures.
  • You want to spend most of your time analyzing and researching. Investigative rates 1.0 out of 7 here.
  • You want a career built on years of advanced study.

Interest profile

O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code CRS takes the three highest, and Conventional comes first here.

Preparation

Some preparation. Most people start with a high school diploma, then learn from experienced coworkers over a few months to a year.

Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Less than a High School Diploma. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.

Also called

  • Cafe Server
  • Cafeteria Server
  • Cafeteria Worker
  • Counter Worker
  • Deli Worker (Delicatessen Worker)

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.