Restaurant host/restaurant hostess to waiter/waitress
A restaurant host/restaurant hostess already meets 42% of what the waiter/waitress role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.
66.3/ 100
1 How much of what a waiter/waitress is expected to do is already part of a restaurant host/restaurant hostess’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the waiter/waitress role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A waiter/waitress role treats 14 of its required skills as things a restaurant host/restaurant hostess already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise guests on menus for special events
- arrange tables
- assist VIP guests
- assist clients with special needs
- assist customers
- check dining room cleanliness
What stands in the way is 15 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 15 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A waiter/waitress role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a restaurant host/restaurant hostess background worth leading with.
- already held welcome restaurant guests assisting and caring
- already held present menus communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held check dining room cleanliness information skills
- already held arrange tables assisting and caring
- already held assist VIP guests assisting and caring
- already held advise guests on menus for special events communication, collaboration and creativity
All 15 carried skills, including the 14 the waiter/waitress role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 28 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn prepare the restaurant for service required
- still to learn prepare alcoholic beverages required
- still to learn prepare hot drinks required
- still to learn serve beverages required
- still to learn serve food in table service required
- still to learn serve wines required
- still to learn supervise food quality required
- optional, not held prepare service trolleys optional
- optional, not held decant wines optional
- optional, not held prepare flambeed dishes optional
- optional, not held detect drug abuse optional
- still to learn maintain personal hygiene standards required
- still to learn process payments required
- still to learn identify customer's needs required
- optional, not held educate customers on coffee varieties optional
- optional, not held educate customers on tea varieties optional
- optional, not held recommend wines optional
- optional, not held apply foreign languages in hospitality optional
- still to learn alcoholic beverage products required
- optional, not held sparkling wines optional
- still to learn attend to detail regarding food and beverages required
- optional, not held use food cutting tools optional
- still to learn measure customer feedback required
- optional, not held maintain incident reporting records optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a waiter/waitress role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 food and beverages on the menu study this
- 02 prepare the restaurant for service practise this
- 03 attend to detail regarding food and beverages practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 15 skills that carry over
- already held advise guests on menus for special events skill
- already held arrange tables skill
- already held assist VIP guests skill
- already held assist clients with special needs skill
- already held assist customers skill
- already held check dining room cleanliness skill
- already held clean surfaces skill
- already held comply with food safety and hygiene skill
- already held maintain customer service skill
- already held maintain relationship with customers skill
- already held present menus skill
- already held take food and beverage orders from customers skill
- already held welcome restaurant guests skill
- already held work in a hospitality team skill
- already held process reservations skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn food and beverages on the menu required
- optional, not held local area tourism industry optional
- still to learn dietary regimes required
- optional, not held laws regulating serving alcoholic drinks optional
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held laws regulating serving alcoholic drinks optional
- optional, not held prepare service trolleys optional
- optional, not held decant wines optional
- optional, not held educate customers on coffee varieties optional
- optional, not held educate customers on tea varieties optional
- optional, not held local area tourism industry optional
- optional, not held prepare flambeed dishes optional
- optional, not held recommend wines optional
- optional, not held sparkling wines optional
- optional, not held use food cutting tools optional
- optional, not held apply foreign languages in hospitality optional
- optional, not held detect drug abuse optional
- optional, not held maintain incident reporting records optional
5 held skills the waiter/waitress role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accommodate special seating skill
- not needed by the target role assist guest departure skill
- not needed by the target role devise special promotions skill
- not needed by the target role handle customer complaints skill
- not needed by the target role seat customers according to the waiting list skill
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn food and beverages on the menu required
- still to learn alcoholic beverage products required
- still to learn dietary regimes required
- optional, not held laws regulating serving alcoholic drinks optional
- optional, not held local area tourism industry optional
- optional, not held sparkling wines optional
Other moves recorded from restaurant host/restaurant hostess
Common questions about this move
Can a restaurant host/restaurant hostess become a waiter/waitress?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A restaurant host/restaurant hostess already covers 42% of what a waiter/waitress is expected to do: 15 skills carry over, 14 of which the waiter/waitress role treats as required.
What skills does a restaurant host/restaurant hostess need to become a waiter/waitress?
15 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is food and beverages on the menu.
How hard is the move from restaurant host/restaurant hostess to waiter/waitress?
Its learning distance is 66.3 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.