Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
Serve food to individuals outside of a restaurant environment, such as in hotel rooms, hospital rooms, residential care facilities, or cars.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Time Management
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Food Production
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Public Safety and Security
- Mathematics
- Psychology
What the work involves
- Monitor food distribution, ensuring that meals are delivered to the correct recipients and that guidelines, such as those for special diets, are followed.
- Clean or sterilize dishes, kitchen utensils, equipment, or facilities.
- Examine trays to ensure that they contain required items.
- Place food servings on plates or trays according to orders or instructions.
- Load trays with accessories, such as eating utensils, napkins, or condiments.
- Take food orders and relay orders to kitchens or serving counters so they can be filled.
- Stock service stations with items, such as ice, napkins, or straws.
- Remove trays and stack dishes for return to kitchen after meals are finished.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (48.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (38.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (54.3%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Food Servers, Nonrestaurant is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 56% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 60% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 57% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 77% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 88% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 55% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 91% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 67% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 1.72%
- Occasional contact with others: 17.03%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.99%
- Contact with others most of the time: 9.52%
- Constant contact with others: 70.73%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 12.48%
- Fairly important: 13.97%
- Important: 19.7%
- Very important: 2.95%
- Extremely important: 50.91%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 7.87%
- Important: 11.87%
- Very important: 16.21%
- Extremely important: 64.04%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 7.97%
- Limited freedom: 31.08%
- Some freedom: 36.37%
- A lot of freedom: 24.58%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 4.85%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.99%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.5%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.74%
- Every day: 71.92%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 25.71%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.49%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.19%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.44%
- Every day: 16.17%
n = 27, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 6.4%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.84%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.04%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.95%
- Every day: 39.77%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 28.14%
- Fairly serious: 27.75%
- Serious: 18.24%
- Very serious: 3.59%
- Extremely serious: 22.29%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 35-3041.00 · SOC 35-3041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8