Food Preparation and Serving · Holland code SEC
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
Welcome patrons, seat them at tables or in lounge, and help ensure quality of facilities and service.
Also called: Buffet Hostess, Greeter, Host, Hostess, Dining Coordinator, Host Coordinator, Private Dining Coordinator, Seater.
O*NET 35-9031.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $31,200
- Middle half earn $27,570 to $36,250. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma
- 42% 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.
- 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.
- Operate cash registers to accept payments for food and beverages.
- Supervise and coordinate activities of dining room staff to ensure that patrons receive prompt and courteous service.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.5 / 5
- Speaking3.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
- Monitoring2.9 / 5
- Critical Thinking2.8 / 5
- Active Learning2.6 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.5 / 5
- English Language3.7 / 5
- Food Production3.0 / 5
- Psychology2.5 / 5
- Computers and Electronics2.4 / 5
- Personnel and Human Resources2.4 / 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.
- Realistic37
- Investigative0
- Artistic12
- Social71
- Enterprising57
- Conventional52
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)
- customer experience manager · DE Kundenerfahrungsmanager/Kundenerfahrungsmanagerin · FR responsable de l’expérience client
- hospitality establishment receptionist · DE Empfangsmitarbeiter in einem Beherbergungsbetrieb/Empfangsmitarbeiterin in einem Beherbergungsbetrieb · FR réceptionniste d’établissement hôtelier
- hotel concierge · DE Hotelpförtner/Hotelpförtnerin · FR concierge d’hôtel
- restaurant host/restaurant hostess · DE Restaurantwirt/Restaurantwirtin · FR hôte d’accueil dans un restaurant/hôtesse d’accueil dans un restaurant
- club host/club hostess · DE Gästebetreuer Club/Gästebetreuerin Club · FR animateur de club/animatrice de club
- escort · DE Escort · FR escort boy/escort girl
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Travel agents (6212)27,200 employed
- Waiters and waitresses (9264)259,800 employed
- Leisure and theme park attendants (9267)45,900 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 “Service and sales workers”. 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 | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
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.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.06. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (35-9031).
Related careers
Is it a fit for you?
Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.
Take the career interests test