hospitality1-3 years experience
Updated April 8, 2026Indeed Flex Career Hub
A free server / waiter resume template with a complete worked example — summary, skills, certifications, and work-history bullets. Pick a style below, download the Word document, and customize it for the job you're applying for.
Choose a style
[Your Name]
Server / Waiter
[City, State] • [phone] • [email]
Personable and efficient server with 3 years of experience in fine dining and casual restaurant environments. Proven ability to manage high-volume sections while delivering attentive, personalized service. Skilled in menu knowledge, wine pairings, and creating exceptional guest experiences.
Bella's Italian Kitchen • Nashville, TN
May 2023 - Present
Downtown Grill • Nashville, TN
January 2022 - April 2023
[Your Name]
Server / Waiter
[City, State] • [phone] • [email]
Personable and efficient server with 3 years of experience in fine dining and casual restaurant environments. Proven ability to manage high-volume sections while delivering attentive, personalized service. Skilled in menu knowledge, wine pairings, and creating exceptional guest experiences.
Bella's Italian Kitchen • Nashville, TN
May 2023 - Present
Downtown Grill • Nashville, TN
January 2022 - April 2023
[Your Name]
Server / Waiter
[City, State] • [phone] • [email]
Personable and efficient server with 3 years of experience in fine dining and casual restaurant environments. Proven ability to manage high-volume sections while delivering attentive, personalized service. Skilled in menu knowledge, wine pairings, and creating exceptional guest experiences.
Bella's Italian Kitchen • Nashville, TN
May 2023 - Present
Downtown Grill • Nashville, TN
January 2022 - April 2023
Grab this template
Modern Professional — Server / Waiter resume
Free · No sign-up · No watermark · pre-filled with the example above
Applying online? A single-column style downloaded as Word (.docx) is what hiring software reads most reliably.
Your Word download uses a clean single-column layout (the most ATS-reliable format) even though this style previews in two columns.
No upgrade-to-download, ever — from Indeed Flex.
Why Modern Professional?
Modern Professional adds a single color accent and a clear visual hierarchy without sacrificing ATS compatibility — recruiters get a fast scan path, software still parses the content. The two-column layout puts skills next to experience so a recruiter scans both in one glance, but a few older ATS parsers still mishandle multi-column resumes — pair this template with the .docx download (not PDF) when applying through a corporate portal. A server / waiter resume on this template reads well to bar managers, restaurant operators, and hotel HR — the formats they see most often on incoming applications.
About the template
A clean, contemporary design with subtle color accents. Perfect for hospitality and customer-facing roles where you want to stand out while remaining professional.
ATS compatibility
High
Layout
Two Column
Export
.docx · PDF (via editor)
What this template includes
Best for
Three short rules of thumb. Tap one to swap the preview above.
Applying through an online ATS or a large employer's careers portal
Pick Classic Professional — single column, standard headings, parses cleanly on every ATS in production.
Walking the resume into the venue or applying through a referral
Pick Modern Professional — clean structure with a color accent, easy for a manager to skim in 6 seconds.
Applying to a brand-led employer where personality matters as much as experience
ATS-Optimized works as a balanced fallback when the role doesn't fit the first two situations cleanly.
Create a polished, ATS-friendly resume in minutes with our free AI-powered tool.
Include any of these on your resume that match your real server / waiter experience — ATS scanners look for exact wording.
Most hospitality employers prefer or require at least one of these — list active ones near the top of your resume.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter.
The same AI tool we built for workers on Indeed Flex. Free, no signup, ATS-friendly. Opens in a new tab.
The AI Resume Builder is a free product from Indeed Flex, the staffing platform that publishes this Career Hub. We don't take a fee for resumes built here and we don't share your data, but you should know about the relationship.
Use the sections below as a checklist. Each one mirrors a section in the sample above so you can see the pattern, then copy it into the downloaded template.
Every server / waiter resume starts with clean, scannable contact details so a hiring manager can reach you in seconds. Include your full name, a phone number you'll actually pick up on, a professional email address, and the city + state where you live (no street address needed). If you have a LinkedIn profile that's up to date, add it — recruiters use it to verify experience.
A two- to three-sentence pitch sits at the top of the resume and tells a hiring manager why you're worth a closer look. For a server / waiter, lead with your experience level, the kinds of environments you've worked in, and a measurable achievement. Mirror keywords from the job description so your resume both passes ATS screening and reads as a match at a glance.
Related: Bartender resume example
List your jobs in reverse-chronological order — most recent first. For each role include the job title, employer, location, dates, and 3-5 bullet points. Lead each bullet with an action verb ("Served", "Trained", "Reduced", "Managed") and quantify the impact whenever you can: number of guests served per shift, dollar value of transactions handled, percentage improvement in a metric you owned. The bullets below are from the sample above and follow this pattern.
Follow these four steps after you download the template. They turn a generic example into a resume tailored to the specific job you're applying for.
If you have 2+ years as a server / waiter, use a reverse-chronological format and lead with work experience. If you're new to hospitality, lead with skills + certifications and put work history below. Most ATS systems handle both — what matters is that the strongest signal is at the top.
Open the job posting in a second tab and copy the 5-8 phrases the employer repeats — typical ones for a server / waiter include the keywords above. Use those exact words in your skills section and weave them into your bullets. ATS keyword matching is literal: "POS system" and "point-of-sale" score differently.
Recruiters skim each resume in 6-10 seconds. Numbers stop the eye. "Served 150+ guests per shift" beats "Served many guests"; "Reduced bar waste by 12%" beats "Cut waste". If you don't have a precise number, estimate a defensible range — most server / waiter achievements have a quantifiable side once you look for it.
For anyone with less than 5 years of experience keep the resume to a single page. Read every bullet aloud — if it sounds like filler, cut it. Use a 10-12 pt body font, 1-inch margins, and stick to standard section headings ("Work Experience", not "Where I've Been") so the ATS parses correctly.
Browse more resume samples in hospitality and adjacent roles. Each one comes with the same one-click downloads.
List 6-10 skills relevant to a server / waiter role, mixing hard skills (specific tools, systems, certifications) and soft skills (communication, conflict resolution, teamwork). Match the exact wording of the job listing so ATS keyword scans pick you up. The sample above uses the most-searched hospitality skills: Table management (6-8 table sections), Menu and wine knowledge, POS systems (Toast, Micros, Aloha), Upselling and suggestive selling, Allergy and dietary accommodation.
Related: Line Cook resume example
Many server / waiter roles either require or strongly prefer specific certifications. List the full title, the issuing body, and the current status (active vs. expired) for each. Common server / waiter certifications include Tennessee ABC Server Permit, ServSafe Food Handler Certification.
hospitality · 0-1 years
