How To Become A Captain Waiter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a captain waiter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a captain waiter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.16 an hour? That's $31,534 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 197,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCaptain WaiterUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,534

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.2

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.84%

Asian 9.68%

Black or African American 9.38%

Hispanic or Latino 26.46%

Unknown 6.10%

White 47.53%

Gender

female 18.37%

male 81.63%

Age - 25

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 25

Stress Level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a captain waiter

Explore captain waiter education requirements

Most common captain waiter degrees

Bachelor's

59.5 %

Associate

19.6 %

High School Diploma

13.7 %

Start to develop specific captain waiter skills

Skills	Percentages
Wine	39.03%
Fine Dining	26.82%
Food Service	4.71%
Bartending	4.26%
Guest Satisfaction	3.21%

Complete relevant captain waiter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New captain waiters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a captain waiter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real captain waiter resumes.

Research captain waiter duties and responsibilities

Manage department service standards, POS system, schedules and labor / beverage costs.
Communicate additional meal requirements, allergies, dietary needs, and special requests to the kitchen.8.
Maintain records of liquors, beers, wine, and sundries to ensure bar stock is maintained.
Direct bartending operations, overseeing seamless beverage service, scheduling inventory management and customer service.

Prepare your captain waiter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your captain waiter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a captain waiter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Captain Waiter Resume templates

Build a professional Captain Waiter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Captain Waiter resume.

Apply for captain waiter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a captain waiter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do captain waiters rate their job?