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Waiter/​Waitress

Kaitiaki Tēpu Kai

Alternative titles for this job

Waiters/waitresses serve food and drinks in restaurants, hotels, clubs and other eating places.

Pay

Waiters/waitresses earn an average of

$24 per hour

Source: Restaurant Association, 2023

Job opportunities

Chances of getting a job as a waiter/waitress are good due to a shortage of workers.

Pay

Waiters/waitresses earn an average of $24 an hour.

They may also receive tips from customers, but the cafe/restaurant manager decides if the tips are kept by individuals or divided equally among staff.

Source: Restaurant Association, '2023 Hospitality Industry Remuneration Survey', 2023/

(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our pay information)

What you will do

Waiters/waitresses may do some or all of the following:

  • serve food and drinks
  • set and prepare tables for customers
  • hand out menus and wine lists
  • answer questions about the menu and take orders
  • clear tables and clean the restaurant
  • clean and polish cutlery and glasses
  • restock food and drinks.

Skills and knowledge

Waiters/waitresses need to have:

  • knowledge about menu items and wine
  • food and drink service skills
  • knowledge of food health and safety
  • selling skills.

Working conditions

Waiters/waitresses:

  • work full or part-time hours, and may work evenings and weekends
  • work in the dining areas of restaurants, hotels, clubs and other places where food and drink is served
  • spend a lot of time on their feet, in environments that can be noisy and stressful.

What's the job really like?

Head Waiter video

Kristen Tay talks about life as a head waiter – 2.43 mins.

My favorite wine glass is this one cuz it looks like a giant
fishbowl.
Like a goldfish can live in there very happily. My name is Kristen Tay and I'm a
head waiter.
My job basically includes looking after guests. I take the drink orders,
food orders sometimes I make drinks, some coffees or cocktails,
bringing food from the kitchen to the floor,
and I look after the rest of the waiters to make sure that they're on top of
their sections.
I just provide support and kind of teach them how to reach
that level of service. So fine dining,
you're looking at the fine details of everything.
I will sit down at the office and look through the bookings,
look through any allergies or any celebrations that are going to be
happening. I like organiaing everything.
I feel like I'm a little robot, beep beeping, beeping around the restaurant,
making sure everything is consistent. So I am getting some
wine glasses for service.
We have different shapes of wine glasses for different types of wine as well.
For example, we have this big and fat wine for big red wines.
This is the kind of details that we're after in fine dining and all these little
tiny details can seem a bit daunting at first.
But I learned all of these on the job. So I went to the New Zealand School of
Food and Wine to get my wine qualifications.
But a lot of skills that you learn in hospitality,
you kind of learn on the job. The most difficult thing I would say
is the hours. So from 5 to midnight,
those are my hours every day. And even though I enjoy the job a lot,
it does wear on me a little bit. I learned how to make
cocktails here as well because part of my job is to be
able to do every single aspect of the restaurant,
just so whenever somebody needs support somewhere,
I'm able to jump in and kind of help them out.
It's that kind of support and camaraderie that I love when we're working in
this kind of industry.
{talks to Chef}
Chef, it's very fancy coffee today.
Cappuccino. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.
All right. Oh, I love you too.
[Stops talking to Chef]
I'm here because I'm passionate about food.
I'm here because I'm passionate about wine and I want to share that passion with
the people that come in.

Entry requirements

There are no specific requirements for waiters/waitresses as training is done on the job.

Waiters/waitresses can also study towards a New Zealand Certificate in Hospitality (Food and Beverage) (Level 3) while working.

You can also train to be a steward (similar to waiter/waitress) with the Defence Force.

Secondary education

No specific secondary education is required for this job, but home economics (food and nutrition) and English to at least NCEA Level 1 are useful.

Personal requirements

Waiters/waitresses need to be:

  • friendly, helpful and polite
  • good at serving people
  • good at remembering things
  • able to work well under pressure
  • quick, efficient and organised
  • reliable and punctual
  • able to communicate and work well in a team.

It’s really, really important to be organised. You have to prioritise the things you have to do first.


Photo: Catalina De Mendoza

Catalina De Mendoza

Waitress

Useful experience

Useful experience for waiters/waitresses includes:

  • restaurant, cafe or catering work
  • work involving customer service
  • retail work.

Physical requirements

Waiters/waitresses need:

  • to have a clean and tidy appearance
  • to be reasonably fit and healthy as they are on their feet all day.

Find out more about training

Hospitality New Zealand
(04) 385 1369 - info@hospitality.org.nz - www.hospitality.org.nz
Restaurant Association of New Zealand
0800 737 827 - info@restaurantnz.co.nz - www.restaurantnz.co.nz
ServiceIQ
0800 863 693 - info@serviceiq.org.nz - www.serviceiq.org.nz
Check out related courses

What are the chances of getting a job?

Strong demand for waiters/waitresses

Job opportunities for waiters/waitresses are good because low unemployment and an increase in job vacancies means there is a shortage of people available to do this role.

According to the Census, 21,171 waiters/waitresses worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Types of employers varied

Waiters/waitresses can work for:

  • cafes
  • restaurants
  • bars and pubs
  • catering companies
  • hotels.

Sources

  • Bamber, I, special projects manager, Wellington Hospitality Group, careers.govt.nz interview, July 2018.
  • Clearwater, M, senior adviser, Service IQ – Workforce Development, careers.govt.nz interview, June 2020.
  • Reed, C, 'High-flying Auckland Restaurants Battle to Get Visas for Best Staff', 3 November 2018, (www.nzherald.co.nz).
  • Restaurant Association of New Zealand, '2018 Hospitality Report', September 2018, (www.scoop.co.nz).
  • Stats NZ, '2018 Census Data', 2019.
  • Waldren, N, general manager, Restaurant Association of New Zealand, careers.govt.nz interview, September 2018.

(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our job opportunities information)

Progression and specialisations

Waiters/waitresses may progress to senior roles, such as cafe/restaurant manager or maitre d'hotel.

A male waiter brings another plate of food to a table in a restaurant where two women sit eating

Waiters/waitresses take orders and serve food

Last updated 7 August 2024