What does a Cafeteria Worker do?
A cafeteria worker is responsible for taking and processing customer orders, ensuring the correct foods are served, providing them the satisfaction of their dining experience. Cafeteria workers maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the facilities, manage the adequacy of inventory stock supplies, coordinate with suppliers for deliveries, process payments, and help out the customers with their inquiries and concerns. A cafeteria worker should also assist the management in developing marketing techniques to boost revenues and increase profitability.
Cafeteria worker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real cafeteria worker resumes:
- Prepare food, operate dishwasher, manage salad bar, and cash out students, teachers, and faculty.
- Clean grills, ovens, and stoves.
- Help prepare food, set-up salad bars.
- Set up and break down fryers and slicers.
- Sanitize and clean equipment according to HACCP standards.
- Sell food to student and operating the POS system.
- Collect and stack cafeteria trays, run trays through dishwasher
- Operate oven, stoves, grills, microwaves and fryers.
- Work in scullary cleaning plates and spoons and stocking up for next day
- Experience on slicers, grills, and all facets of the industry.
- Prepare burgers and sandwiches using ovens and steamers, serve fries, pizza and tacos.
- Receive, measure and prepare ingredients using commercial mixers, slicers, steamers, ovens and kettles.
- Handle and prepare food for mass amounts of children and adults, handle cash and run POS at times.
- Order bulk of food from a service company but also run shopping trips for local items 2-3 per week.
- Provide excellent customer service to all patrons and ensure the cleanliness of the cafeteria serving, dining, and preparation areas.
Cafeteria worker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Cafeteria Workers are proficient in Food Handling, Kitchen Equipment, and Food Preparation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Cafeteria Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Handling, 22%
Cleaned and sanitized all food prep areas to support safe food handling habits and provide protection from food borne illnesses.
- Kitchen Equipment, 20%
Operated and maintained various kitchen equipment of a New Jersey City University cafeteria.
- Food Preparation, 16%
Prepare food and beverage items according to standardized recipes and established food preparation procedures.
- Customer Service, 4%
Provided friendly customer service to cafeteria customers in a friendly and efficient manner.
- Dishwashers, 4%
Operated dishwasher ;ensured dishes, utensils; cookware; trays were rinsed; washed and dried properly
- Nutritious Meals, 3%
Prepared and served nutritious meals to students.
Most cafeteria workers use their skills in "food handling," "kitchen equipment," and "food preparation" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential cafeteria worker responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a cafeteria worker to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen to customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared as requested." Additionally, a cafeteria worker resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "cleaned in the kitchen, various tasks involved in closing up the business * communication skills/customer service skills. "
Customer-service skills. Many cafeteria worker duties rely on customer-service skills. "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry," so a cafeteria worker will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways cafeteria worker responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "offer suggestions to customers with potential allergies to certain foods. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of cafeteria workers is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday cafeteria worker duties, as "food and beverage serving and related workers need to be able to lift and carry stock and equipment that can weigh up to 50 pounds." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "multitasked and arranged food orders in an organized sequence supervised and strengthened fellow culver's employees"
Physical stamina. For certain cafeteria worker responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of a cafeteria worker rely on this skill, as "food and beverage serving and related workers spend most of their shift doing physical tasks such as standing, carrying trays, and cleaning work areas." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what cafeteria workers do: "monitor lunch lines and students' verbal and physical actions to ensure an orderly and efficient delivery of lunch items. "
The three companies that hire the most cafeteria workers are:
- SLA Management40 cafeteria workers jobs
- LLancaster General Health20 cafeteria workers jobs
- Publix13 cafeteria workers jobs
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Compare different cafeteria workers
Cafeteria worker vs. Food service associate
A food service associate performs fundamental functions in the food industry. Food service associates prepare and serve food items. They cater to special events, which involve facility preparation, food presentation maintenance, and setting up tables. Their duties include cleaning preparation and service equipment. They restock the work stations for the essential supplies. The skills they need to perform their job include customer service, teamwork, work with diverse cultural, ethnic, and academic backgrounds, and learn safety and health regulations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, cafeteria worker responsibilities require skills like "nutritious meals," "spoons," "food service facilities," and "food stations." Meanwhile a typical food service associate has skills in areas such as "patients," "excellent interpersonal," "cleanliness," and "math." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Food service associates earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $33,477. On the other hand, cafeteria workers are paid more in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $29,244.On average, food service associates reach similar levels of education than cafeteria workers. Food service associates are 1.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Cafeteria worker vs. Bus boy
The job of busboys is to assist other staff members at a restaurant by doing varied tasks. These include greeting customers, cleaning and resetting tables, and removing dishes after customers leave. Other tasks include cleaning furniture, fixtures, and kitchen equipment, and tidying up any spills and mopping the floors. Busboys are also responsible for ensuring the availability of clean dining materials such as flatware and glasses. The requirements needed for this role may include a high school diploma, previous work experience, and excellent communication and customer service skills.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that cafeteria worker responsibilities requires skills like "food handling," "kitchen equipment," "food preparation," and "nutritious meals." But a bus boy might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "bus tables," "ice water," "drink orders," and "food service."
Bus boys earn a lower average salary than cafeteria workers. But bus boys earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $26,928. Additionally, cafeteria workers earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $29,244 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Bus boys tend to reach similar levels of education than cafeteria workers. In fact, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Cafeteria worker vs. Server and hostess
A server and hostess is an employee who plays the dual role of both a hostess and a server. As implied by this, a server and hostess is in-charge of welcoming guests as they enter the restaurant, ensuring that the guests' tables are ready before leading them to their assigned tables, handing over the menu, and waiting for the guests to finalize their order. Once the guests are ready to order, the server and hostess takes on the server role by bringing the guests' order to the kitchen, waiting for the food to be ready, and bringing the food to the guests' table.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a cafeteria worker is likely to be skilled in "food handling," "kitchen equipment," "dishwashers," and "nutritious meals," while a typical server and hostess is skilled in "customer orders," "drink orders," "to-go orders," and "seat guests."
Server and hostesses earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $26,585. Comparatively, cafeteria workers have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,244.When it comes to education, server and hostesses tend to earn similar degree levels compared to cafeteria workers. In fact, they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Cafeteria worker vs. Busser
Busser, also known as dining room attendants or bartender helpers, is an entry-level position in the restaurant and dining industry. The bussers help in preparing the dining areas before guests arrive and decorating tables with a set of candles, napkins, linens, flowers, or other ornaments, especially if with a special theme for the day, usually when it's a national celebration or holidays. Also, they assist in cleaning the tables, clearing plates, used utensils, drinkware, and other dishes to the kitchen to be washed, refilling diners' glasses with water, and make the tables ready for the next set of service.
Types of cafeteria worker
Updated January 8, 2025
