Counter Service Assistant careers guide

What is a counter service assistant?

What is a counter service assistant? It’s the person who greets you, serves you and takes your money when you’re standing at a counter buying food or drink. It could be the barista serving your skinny iced mocha-chocca Frappuccino, a Crew Member at youth-friendly employer McDonald’s, or the aproned staff at the cheese, deli, fish and meat counters in a large supermarket.Sometimes a neat and tidy appearance is key. Sometimes it’s your invididual personality that matters most! Each role is different, but your top priority is to be helpful.

Getting into counter service careers

As a counter service assistant you could also be known as a crew member, fast-food service assistant, or food and beverage server.

Counter service builds your customer-facing skills, your hygiene and presentation skills, and shows you can be trusted with money. Not only that, you’ll also get the opportunity to know your produce inside-out so you can advise customers on taste, dietary recommendations and anything else they need to know.

Useful skills to put in your CV for counter service jobs:

• Great communication skills – you’ll set customers at their ease, and be able to answer their food-related questions with authority.
• Keeping calm under pressure – you’ll keep your counter ship-shape and the service flowing smoothly even during busy periods
• Good self-management skills – you can be organised and serve customers without your manager always telling you what to do.
• Good presentation skills – you’ll keep the counter area clean and neat and tidy, just like you.

How do you get these skills?

Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.

Build Your Skills With the FREE Young Professional Programme

School, College And Training

You don’t need any set requirements for this job. A positive attitude and good time-keeping matter more than qualifications for getting your foot in the door. This can be a great role for anyone looking to build their CV and earn money at the same time.

You’ll pick up loads of life and work skills valued by a huge range of employers, too. Customer service and handling money? Check. Sticking to health and safety standards? Check. Good personal presentation? Check. Getting familiar enough with a product or service to offer knowledge and advice that customers will value? Check.

Apprenticeships

You can enter the hospitality and catering industry with an apprenticeship. This will give you structured training while you work and earn, and industry-recognised qualifications.

There are lots of catering apprenticeships available to meet your level of work experience and learning, from basic and intermediate apprenticeships to ones specialising in catering management.

Learning and earning as a catering trainee or catering apprentice will get you a good grounding in the industry, and you can build work experience and further education learning to work towards a management position.

Example catering apprenticeships include:

• Hospitality and Catering Apprenticeship
• Food and Beverage Catering Management Apprenticeship
• Hospitality Management Higher Apprenticeship

While at school or college, speak to your careers advisor about useful training and/or courses for you to take and find out more about the types of career routes available.

College, University and Degrees

Useful subjects to study at HNC/HND or degree level if you want a hospitality and catering career that’s a full feast, not just a starter:

• Hospitality management
• Hotel and catering management
• Hospitality, leisure and tourism

Hospitality Management Training

If you are currently working in a crew member role you could develop your future management skills by taking a relevant hospitality qualification such as:

• Level 3 Diploma in Hospitality Supervision and Leadership
• Level 4 Diploma in Hospitality Leadership

Hospitality Graduate Schemes

If you are interested in joining a graduate recruitment scheme you will need a degree. These schemes are usually available with large restaurants and fast-food chains. Having a degree in the following subjects could be beneficial when applying; business or management, hospitality management or hotel and catering.

Structured management training schemes for graduates generally last between 12 and 18 months. During this time, you could expect to gain practical experience within each function of the restaurant and be assigned a mentor to help you during your initial months.

Who Can Help?

Many professional bodies also offer a range of training opportunities, including activities that count towards continuing professional development (CPD). Find out more below:

• Hospitality Guild – lists training courses including college-based qualifications and apprenticeships, regulation and licensing courses, and CPD options.
• Institute of Hospitality – offers a range of hospitality-related qualifications, professional development workshops, webinars, online courses and networking events.
• UKHospitality – hosts various events across the year and provides publications and resources for members.

Career Progression

With time and experience you could have the opportunity for promotion to team leader, supervisor or manager.

Work Experience Tips

• Look for part-time or seasonal work (you could do shift work, a few days a week, or seek summer jobs when UK tourism is at its height)
• Seek work experience in a range of venues including fast food chains, coffee house chains, local shops (like the grocer, butcher or newsagent) and supermarket chains.
• Experience with handling money, serving customers or working with foodwill help your CV shine more brightly than a freshly-cleaned marble counter.

Volunteering Tips

Many charities who help the homeless put on big Christmas feasts for those who have no homes to go to. If you ever want to prove you’ve served lots of people behind a counter – and you’ve got a big heart – why not volunteer to help out with a homeless Christmas feast next Christmas?

This could also be your chance to muck in with food preparation so you can say you helped make Christmas dinner for 100+ people!

• Handling food in a safe and healthy way (that includes raw and cooked food)
• Working quickly (but without making mistakes with orders) to build sales
• Handling a till to make payments

• Keeping the work area clean and tidy
• Handling customer queries (like food content and menu choices)
• Handling customer complaints (always be polite, and keep calm!)

• Hospitality apprenticeships
• Counter staff vacancies
• Catering apprenticeships

• Catering assistant jobs
• Food service worker jobs
• Restaurant crew member jobs

These employers all carry our Youth Friendly Employer Mark. We work with them to make sure that they are providing great support and opportunities to young people.

Click on an employer to find out more about them and the youth-friendly opportunities they offer, from work experience and apprenticeships through to graduate schemes.

These employers all carry our Youth Friendly Employer Mark. We work with them to make sure that they are providing great support and opportunities to young people.

Click on an employer to find out more about them and the youth-friendly opportunities they offer, from work experience and apprenticeships through to graduate schemes.

What would you like to know about catering & hospitality careers? Maybe we can help!

• Front of House vs Back of House – what’s the difference?
• Interview tips for hospitality & catering jobs
• What hospitality & catering apprenticeshps and degrees are there?
• 5 hospitality & catering career myths busted
• What types of jobs are there in the hospitality & catering industry?

See all