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Fast Food and Counter Worker resume example

A resume for a Fast Food and Counter Worker needs to show the work itself: perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Day to day that means work like this: communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints; scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Cafe Server
  • Cafeteria Server
  • Food Service Assistant
  • Food Service Worker
  • Concession Cashier
  • Deli Worker
  • Delicatessen Worker
  • Food Server
  • Food Service Aide
  • School Cafeteria Cook
  • Snack Bar Attendant
  • Deli Associate
  • Deli Clerk
  • Deli Cook
  • Deli Team Member
  • Prep Cook
  • Bakery Associate
  • Bistro Team Member

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints.
  • Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment.
  • Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
  • Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary.
  • Balance receipts and payments in cash registers.
  • Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper.
  • 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.
  • Prepare daily food items, and cook simple foods and beverages, such as sandwiches, salads, soups, pizza, or coffee, using proper safety precautions and sanitary measures.
  • Clean and organize eating, service, and kitchen areas.
  • Monitor and order supplies or food items, and restock as necessary to maintain inventory.
  • Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with requested beverages.
  • Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.

27 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Aldelo Systems Aldelo for Restaurants Pro
  • Compris software
  • Eclipse Jersey
  • Facebook
  • Foodman Home-Delivery
  • Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale
  • Menu and nutrition database software
  • MICROS Systems HSI Profits Series
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Windows
  • NCR Advanced Checkout Solution
  • NCR NeighborhoodPOS
  • Plexis Software Plexis POS

18 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Automatic dicers
  • Automatic peelers
  • Automatic slicers
  • Barcode scanners
  • Blenders
  • Broilers
  • Can openers
  • Cappuccino makers
  • Carbonated beverage dispensers
  • Cash registers
  • Chefs' knives
  • Coffee makers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • clean tableware

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Service Orientation
  2. 02Active Listening
  3. 03Social Perceptiveness
  4. 04Coordination

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Food Production
  • Public Safety and Security
  • English Language
  • Sales and Marketing
  • Production and Processing
  • Mathematics
  • Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 54%Less than a High School Diploma
  • 27%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 15%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Little or No Preparation Needed”. Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.

Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.

Common questions

What does a Fast Food and Counter Worker do?
Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Day to day that includes work like communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints and Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment.
What skills should a Fast Food and Counter Worker put on a resume?
O*NET rates Service Orientation, Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Fast Food and Counter Worker list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Aldelo Systems Aldelo for Restaurants Pro, Compris software, Eclipse Jersey, Facebook, and Foodman Home-Delivery. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Fast Food and Counter Worker work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Cafe Server, Cafeteria Server, Food Service Assistant, and Food Service Worker. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Fast Food and Counter Worker need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 54% reported their level of education as "Less than a High School Diploma". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Fast Food and Counter Worker role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.