Waiter CV example (senior waiter, fine dining)

What a restaurant manager looks for first

Most managers read a waiting CV standing up, often between lunch and dinner, and they are asking three questions. Can this person cover the shifts I have open? Have they worked somewhere with a similar pace and style? Will they be safe and pleasant with guests on a full Saturday? If the page answers those in the top third, you usually get a call or a trial shift. A trial shift is normal for waiting jobs, so the CV only needs to earn you that, not the job itself.

That is why a waiter or waitress CV looks different from an office CV. It is short, it names the venues and the kind of service, and it gets to specific numbers quickly. A long profile about your passion for hospitality does less work than one line saying you ran a six-table section on a 150-cover Saturday.

Your availability line

Rotas are built around evenings, weekends and bank holidays, so say plainly which of those you can do. One line under your contact details is enough: "Available evenings and weekends, including bank holidays. Full time from June." If you are a student, give term time and holiday availability separately. If you drive or live close enough to walk in for a late finish, that helps too, because last buses and closing time do not always line up.

Only promise what you will keep. A manager who rotas you for Sundays because your CV said you could do them will remember if you cannot.

Covers, sections and pace

Covers are the number of guests served, and every restaurant manager thinks in them. For each job, give the size of the room or the covers on a busy service, and the number of tables or guests in your section. Add how many times tables turned if it was a fast venue, or the length of the menu if it was a tasting menu. These numbers let a reader picture you on their floor without having to ask.

Selling without sounding like a salesperson

Managers care about spend per head, but they do not want a waiter who pushes. Write about selling in terms of knowledge: you know the specials, you can suggest a wine by the glass for a dish, you offer dessert and coffee at the right moment. If the restaurant tracked it and you know your own figure, add it, for example the most bottles of wine sold on the team in a month. If you do not have a figure, describe what you did rather than inventing a percentage.

Wine knowledge is worth its own line when you are moving towards fine dining. Say what you can actually do: describe the house list, open and pour at the table, suggest pairings for the set menu. A recognised course such as a WSET Level 1 or Level 2 award belongs in a short training section.

Allergens, tills and card payments

GOV.UK lists 14 allergens that food businesses must manage, including milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, sesame and gluten, and says staff should be trained to answer allergen questions and to check the information before they reply. A guest asking whether a dish is safe is one of the highest-stakes moments on a shift. One bullet saying you take allergen orders by the house procedure, check with the kitchen and flag them on the ticket tells a manager you will not guess.

Name the tools you have used. Most restaurants run an EPOS till with handheld ordering devices and card terminals, and some add online booking and table management systems. You do not need the brand names, but "EPOS and handheld ordering, card and contactless payments, splitting bills and cashing up at close" shows you can start without long training. If you have handled the float or the end-of-night cash-up, say so.

Casual dining against fine dining

The same four years can be written two ways. For a busy casual or chain restaurant, lead with speed and volume: covers, turns, big groups, keeping a section calm at peak. For fine dining, lead with the service itself: the steps of service you follow, clearing and resetting between courses, crumbing down, presenting dishes, knowledge of the menu and wine, and remembering regular guests. Hotel breakfast and banqueting work count in both cases, because they prove you can work early and at scale.

If you are applying for a senior waiter or head waiter role, as in the example, add the extra responsibilities that come with it: training new starters, running a section of juniors, taking over the pass on the floor side when the supervisor is busy, handling a complaint before it reaches the manager.

A first waiting job with no experience

Many people start waiting tables with no restaurant history at all, and managers expect that. Lead with your availability, then anything that shows you can deal with the public and stay on your feet: a shop job, helping at a café or club, volunteering at events, carrying plates at a family party. School or college comes after. A short line saying why you want this job, such as liking a fast shift and meeting people, is enough for a profile.

A food hygiene certificate is not a legal requirement for food handlers, according to GOV.UK, but employers must show that staff have the right training for their role. A short online Level 2 food safety course can still be worth doing before you apply, because it shows you have thought about the job.

Handing your CV in at the door

Walking in still works for independent restaurants and cafés. Go between services, often mid-afternoon, never at 1pm or 7pm on a Friday. Ask for the manager by name if you can find it, keep it to a minute, and leave a printed one-page CV with your phone number clearly at the top. Chains usually want the online form instead, so check their careers page first and use the same details in both.

Pay, tips and service charge

The National Careers Service gives average pay for waiters of about £17,000 a year when starting and £27,000 with experience. Most jobs are advertised by the hour. From April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, the National Minimum Wage is £10.85 for 18 to 20 year olds and £8 for under-18s and apprentices, and the rates change every April. GOV.UK says that by law all tips must be given to workers without deductions, and employers need a written tipping policy.