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Hiring profile for:

Server

HighMatch’s team of workplace psychologists break down the critical qualities, skills, and knowledge Servers need to be successful.

Employment Outlook

10%+
avg Growth rate

1.9M+
job openings annually

$26K+
median pay

Role Snapshot

Servers take orders and serve food and beverages to customers in dining establishments. Servers ensure that customers have a satisfying dining experience, although specific duties vary by establishment.

Before and between waiting on customers, servers usually prepare tables and work stations, and in fine-dining restaurants, they may set tables. Servers also may prepare some foods and nonalcoholic drinks.

common work activities:

Greeting customers, explaining specials, and answering questions
Taking orders from customers for food and beverages
Relaying orders to the kitchen, such as via a point-of-sale system
Carrying trays of food or drinks from the kitchen
Clearing tables after customers finish dining, or as needed
Preparing checks, taking payment, and returning change
Setting up dining areas and stocking service areas

Common Challenges

equality

Women make up 68% of Servers yet earn only 97% of their male counterparts.

Diversity

The majority of Servers are young (avg. age: 28) and White (54%).

retention

Most Servers stay at their job for less than a year.

Personality Measures

There are several personality traits that often align with success in this role, however every role is unique.

Our workplace psychologists personalize the assessment to your role, adjusting the weighting and target ranges of each trait to align with your needs.

Priority measures:

Dependability: being reliable, responsible, and dependable
Attention to Detail: being careful and thorough in completing tasks
Cooperation: being pleasant and good-natured with others
Self-Control: maintaining composure even in difficult situations
Stress Tolerance: dealing calmly with high-stress situations

They Trust HighMatch:

The HighMatch Restaurant Assessment

HighMatch’s Restaurant Assessment, personalized to your specific role and company culture by our I-O psychologists, is the modern alternative to legacy off-the shelf assessments.

HighMatch’s highly configurable assessment solutions are delivered on our fast, mobile-first platform for the ideal candidate experience.

With HighMatch, you get relevant insights into what matters most in your roles and culture, in your preferred language.

Ready to take our Restaurant Assessment for a spin?

VIDEO TESTIMONIAL

Wayne Homes uses HighMatch to Identify Qualified Applicants

Hear from Michael Luckie-Ewing, former VP of People and Culture at Wayne Homes, a custom home builder serving 5 states for over 40 years.

Michael and his team used HighMatch to better filter applicants for the qualities and skills that contribute to success across every role in their organization.

Cognitive Measures

Our workplace psychologists have identified several cognitive measures that help identify if a candidate has the ability to be successful in this role.

Our workplace psychologists personalize the assessment, adjusting the weighting and target ranges of each ability to align with your needs.

Priority measures:

Oral Comprehension: understanding verbal communication
Oral Expression: verbally communicating information
Speech Clarity: speaking clearly so others can understand you
Speech Recognition; identifying and understanding speech
Near Vision: seeing details at close range

Situational Judgement Assessments

Servers will come face-to-face with many stressful situations that must be handled with care when dealing with difficult customers. Having the ability to examine a situation and come up with a peaceful resolution is a crucial skill for servers.

A situational judgement assessment, which asks candidates to react to real-life client scenarios they are likely to encounter, can help hiring managers understand how they are likely to react to similar situations when on the job.

Skill & Knowledge Measures

Our workplace psychologists have identified several cognitive measures that help identify if a candidate has the ability to be successful in this role.

Our workplace psychologists personalize the assessment, adjusting the weighting and target ranges of each ability to align with your needs.

Priority measures:

Microsoft Excel: a quick, mobile-friendly assessment designed to test a candidate’s knowledge of MS Excel
Computer Literacy: This fast, mobile-friendly test assesses candidate’s understanding of basic computer use
English Fluency: This fluency test assesses a candidate’s understanding of the English language

HighMatch can also quickly create short, personalized skills tests covering topics like Cash Handling, Listening Skills, or Counting Skills, all powered by our modern, mobile-first assessment engine and tailored to your role and organization.

Gen Z is Changing Talent Acquisition

Generation Z is changing the way we think about recruiting. These youthful employees aren’t as similar to millennials as talent acquisition professionals would anticipate.

To understand how to recruit Gen Z’ers effectively, we surveyed talent acquisition professionals to learn their proven tactics.

Our report reveals what talent acquisition professionals have done to recruit and retain Generation Z employees successfully.

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