Food Preparation and Serving · Holland code CRS
Fast Food and Counter Workers
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.
Also called: Cafeteria Worker, Counter Worker, Food Service Worker, Server, Cafe Server, Cafeteria Server, Deli Worker (Delicatessen Worker), Dietary Aide.
O*NET 35-3023.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $31,200
- Middle half earn $27,700 to $36,070. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma
- 56% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
- Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.
- Perform personnel activities, such as supervising and training employees.
- 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.
- Add relishes and garnishes to food orders, according to instructions.
- 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 and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.0 / 5
- Monitoring2.9 / 5
- Speaking2.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking2.5 / 5
- Reading Comprehension2.4 / 5
- Writing2.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service3.8 / 5
- English Language3.5 / 5
- Food Production3.4 / 5
- Mathematics3.0 / 5
- Computers and Electronics2.7 / 5
- Administration and Management2.6 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic64
- Investigative0
- Artistic8
- Social41
- Enterprising41
- Conventional66
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- railway sales agent · DE Reiseberater im Bahnverkehr/Reiseberaterin im Bahnverkehr · FR agent commercial en gare/agente commerciale en gare
- waiter/waitress · DE Kellner/Kellnerin · FR serveur/serveuse
- barista · DE Barista · FR barista
- club host/club hostess · DE Gästebetreuer Club/Gästebetreuerin Club · FR animateur de club/animatrice de club
- market vendor · DE Marktverkäufer/Marktverkäuferin · FR vendeur sur les marchés/vendeuse sur les marchés
- street food vendor · DE Straßenverkäufer von Lebensmitteln/Straßenverkäuferin von Lebensmitteln · FR cuisinier de rue/cuisinière de rue
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Market and street traders and assistants (7124)11,700 employed
- Fishmongers and poultry dressers (5433)4,900 employed
- Travel agents (6212)27,200 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Elementary occupations”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €29,579 |
| Sweden | €28,305 |
| Austria | €27,215 |
| Netherlands | €24,577 |
| Ireland | €24,331 |
| Germany | €22,430 |
| Italy | €22,101 |
| France | €21,664 |
| Spain | €17,502 |
| Portugal | €9,424 |
| Poland | €7,534 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
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