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Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop

Under the title Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop, workers welcome patrons, seat them at tables or in lounge, and help ensure quality of facilities and service. One core duty is to provide guests with menus. With a code of SEC, this is mostly a job for people drawn to helping, teaching or caring for people. Enterprising interests also help, rated 4.4 out of 7. Plan on a few months to a year of learning on the job; O*NET labels this some preparation. Strength in active listening, speaking, and service orientation helps most here. People who want helping, teaching or caring for people usually fit better here than those who need research, analysis and working through hard problems.

What they do

Welcome patrons, seat them at tables or in lounge, and help ensure quality of facilities and service.

Main tasks

  • Provide guests with menus.
  • Greet guests and seat them at tables or in waiting areas.
  • Maintain contact with kitchen staff, management, serving staff, and customers to ensure that dining details are handled properly and customers' concerns are addressed.
  • Assign patrons to tables suitable for their needs and according to rotation so that servers receive an appropriate number of seatings.
  • Speak with patrons to ensure satisfaction with food and service, to respond to complaints, or to make conversation.
  • Inspect dining and serving areas to ensure cleanliness and proper setup.

Skills

  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Service Orientation
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Monitoring

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You get energy from helping other people move forward.
  • You like taking the lead and making the call.
  • You want to start work after a short stretch of training.
  • You are comfortable relying on active listening and speaking.

May not suit you if

  • You find a full day of dealing with people draining.
  • 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 SEC takes the three highest, and Social 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

  • Buffet Hostess
  • Dining Coordinator
  • Greeter
  • Host
  • Host Coordinator

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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.