| Important Core Job Duties (in order of importance) For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints. |
| Importance: 97 (%) | Description: Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with requested beverages. |
| Importance: 95 (%) | Description: Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food. |
| Importance: 92 (%) | Description: Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary. |
| Importance: 91 (%) | Description: Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: Clean and organize eating, service, and kitchen areas. |
| Importance: 87 (%) | Description: Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping, mopping, and washing dishes, to keep equipment and facilities sanitary. |
| Importance: 86 (%) | Description: Scrub and polish counters, steam tables, and other equipment, and clean glasses, dishes, and fountain equipment. |
| Importance: 83 (%) | Description: Wrap menu items such as sandwiches, hot entrees, and desserts for serving or for takeout. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | Description: Prepare and serve cold drinks, frozen milk drinks, or desserts, using drink-dispensing, milkshake, or frozen-custard machines. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | Description: Set up dining areas for meals, and clear them following meals. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Monitor and order supplies or food items, and restock as necessary to maintain inventory. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Prepare daily food items, and cook simple foods and beverages, such as sandwiches, salads, soups, pizza, or coffee, using proper safety precautions and sanitary measures. |
| Importance: 78 (%) | Description: Collect and return dirty dishes to the kitchen for washing. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Request and record customer orders, and compute bills, using cash registers, multi-counting machines, or pencil and paper. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Deliver orders to kitchens, and pick up and serve food when it is ready. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Balance receipts and payments in cash registers. |
Educational Paraprofessional Careers and Jobs
Select, Find and Prepare for Educational Paraprofessional Careers and Jobs - all on one page
For people who want classroom experience and a faster path into schools than a full teaching credential. Use the tools below to see which educational paraprofessional roles fit your background and goals.
This role supports classroom teachers directly and typically requires less formal education than a teaching credential, making it a faster entry point into schools. Use the tools below to explore Educational Paraprofessional-related job titles sorted by growth rate, salary, or required education. You can start with entry points like Teacher's Aide, or look ahead to advanced roles such as Lead Paraprofessional or Program Coordinator. Along the way, you will see specific certifications, such as Paraprofessional Certification (state-specific), that can help you move up the career ladder.
Here is a short Helper Video 
This page will take you through 4 steps to (1) Select from Educational Paraprofessional careers/jobs, (2) Find Educational Paraprofessional job listings, (3) Prepare for Educational Paraprofessional careers, and (4) Provide Educational Paraprofessional career-specific resources.
Step 1: Select a Career/Job: This page starts with 4 ways for you to identify and select from listings of Educational Paraprofessional careers/jobs:
A) Fastest Growing Educational Paraprofessional Careers - 2025 to 2035 (est.)
These listings are based on job growth estimates and helps you to identify the fastest growing and evolving Educational Paraprofessional careers. Some careers may not initially seem related to Educational Paraprofessional, so relevant Educational Paraprofessional jobs are listed alongside each listing. This can also help us to identify which careers (bottom of the listing) may have negative growth - perhaps due to automation or planned obsolescence.
B) Median Annual Salary U.S. Educational Paraprofessional Careers
These listings are sorted (descending) by median annual salary in the U.S. This may help us to identify our ideal career. We may not qualify at this time for the desired career, but this listing and the results provided can help us to explore job details, as well as learn how to appropriately prepare for the career.
C) Educational Paraprofessional Career Ladders (Educational Requirements)
These listings will help us to identify Educational Paraprofessional careers sorted by educational requirements (with the most difficult to obtain listed first). This may help us to identify career ladders (as we scroll down the list), and help us to get jobs that we qualify for now.
D) Select From a Listing of 38 Educational Paraprofessional Jobs.
The list may be quite long. There are two ways you might like to use this list:
1) Filter - As you enter a word, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
Once you have identified a job title of interest, simply click on it.
Step 2: Find a Job: After you have selected a career/job title above, you will see a form asking for your location. You will see several radio selection choices to utilize the job search site of your choice.
Step 3: Prepare For a Career: In this section you will gain access to detailed information to help you prepare for the chosen career. Information may include (not every career choice includes all of the elements below - updates occur quarterly):
Core Duties: Lists the primary worker-related tasks performed in this occupation
Supplemental Duties: Lists additional tasks that are performed but are secondary to the core duties
Work Activities: Summarizes the broad types of behaviors and actions related to this career
Specific Work Activities: Provides more granular day-to-day activities tied to the work performed
Essential Skills: Provides foundational skills that are core to performing this specific occupation
Transferable Skills: Provides career-portable skills that can be applied across multiple occupations and industries
Day-in-the-Life Summaries: Provides a snapshot of the key activities performed on a typical workday in this career
Knowledge Required: Provides the requirements regarding the acquisition of facts and principles
Software Skills: Lists software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized by category and priority
Preparation Required: Provides a summary of the required experience and education
Education Required: Detailed breakdown of the education required
Training and Experience Required: Detailed breakdown of the training and Training and Experience Required
Local Salary Information: Provides national and local salary ranges
Certifications: Provides appropriate government and private-sector certifications and/or credentials that may be required
Professional Associations: Provides professional associations that are related to the career selected
Job Listings: Provides links to active current job listings for the selected career, along with multiple similar job titles to explore. All information appears on this page without navigating away.
Related Careers to Consider: Lists up to 20 careers that might be of interest to you (related to your initial choice - what they do, what they know, and what they're called), ranked by best fit.
** If you clicked on a link from section D (as described in Step 1 above), you will see one or more links to an occupation that is usually a bit more general than your initial job selection - the link(s) is directly related to the specific job you identified through your prior selections.
*NOTE: It is possible that there may not be a career path identified for the specific job you selected in Step 1. If this is the case, scroll up the page and click on a different career/job.
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that provide detailed (updated) links specific to the career you selected. This information includes:
Videos: Provides a listing of video links related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes: Sources for resume materials and techniques. This can help to get you started.
Job Description: Sources that provide job descriptions, which are vital to resume and interview preparation.
Interviews: Provides links that can help you to prepare for and successfully complete the job interview. Can also assist with coffee chats.
Step by Step: Provides links to resources that can help to organize the career search process.
LinkedIn: One of the best professional social media sites that provides links, opportunities, and networking specifically for careers and career development.
Step 1 of 4: Select a Career/Job
6 Educational Paraprofessional careers are listed below (sorted by Percentage Change in Total Job Openings - 2025 to 2035 est.). Educational Paraprofessional-related jobs specific to each career are also provided. This shows which careers are emerging and growing the fastest. Please Scroll and Select below:
| Occupations | U.S. Job Openings 2025-2035 (% change) | Educational Paraprofessional-Related Jobs |
7 Educational Paraprofessional careers are listed below (sorted by U.S. National Median Salary). Educational Paraprofessional-related jobs specific to each occupation are also provided. Please Scroll and Select below::
| Occupations | National Median Salary | Educational Paraprofessional-Related Jobs |
9 Educational Paraprofessional careers are listed (sorted by Education/Preparation Requirements - descending) to provide career ladders. Educational Paraprofessional-related jobs specific to each career are also provided.
|
Education/Preparation Categories: 5 = Usually requires graduate school (e.g., Master's degree, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.) 4 = Usually requires a four-year Bachelor's degree 3 = Usually requires vocational training, related on-the-job experience, or Associate's degree 2 = Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, but not always Please Scroll and Select below: |
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| Occupations | Education/Preparation | Educational Paraprofessional-Related Jobs |
Scroll through the picklist (below). There are 38 specific Educational Paraprofessional job titles listed. Select those that may be of interest - you will get active job listing links, along with detailed resources to help you prepare for a career related to that job.
You can use this form two ways:
Filter - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles below
Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title (Scroll and Select) :
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Find Job Listings:
Fast Food and Counter Workers.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
Fast Food and Counter Workers
Description: Perform duties such as taking orders and serving food and beverages. Serve customers at counter or from a steam table. May take payment. May prepare food and beverages.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Fast Food and Counter Workers":
U.S. Total Employment (2025):
3,855,900U.S. Total Employment (2035 est.):
4,079,100
Employment Change (2025-2035 est.):
223,300 (5.8%) Average Annual Job Openings (2025-2035 est.):
827,400
Core Duties
Supplemental Duties
| Important Supplemental Job Duties (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 67 (%) | Description: Distribute food to servers. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Select food items from serving or storage areas and place them in dishes, on serving trays, or in take-out bags. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Notify kitchen personnel of shortages or special orders. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Wash dishes, glassware, and silverware after meals. |
| Importance: 59 (%) | Description: Plan, prepare, and deliver meals to individuals with special dietary needs. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Perform personnel activities, such as supervising and training employees. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Take customers' orders and write ordered items on tickets, giving ticket stubs to customers when needed to identify filled orders. |
| Importance: 46 (%) | Description: Replenish foods at serving stations. |
| Importance: 43 (%) | Description: Add relishes and garnishes to food orders, according to instructions. |
| Importance: 39 (%) | Description: Arrange tables and decorations according to instructions. |
Work Activities
| Important General Work Activities (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Performing for or Working Directly with the Public: Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests. |
| Importance: 67 (%) | Description: Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others: Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. |
| Importance: 67 (%) | Description: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Assisting and Caring for Others: Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
Specific Work Activities
| Important Specific Work Activities
How can you begin to build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. Specific Work Activities appear below: |
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| Add garnishes to food. | |
| Arrange food for serving. | |
| Arrange tables or dining areas. | |
| Balance receipts. | |
| Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment. | |
| Clean food service areas. | |
| Clean tableware. | |
| Collect dirty dishes or other tableware. | |
| Communicate dining or order details to kitchen personnel. | |
| Communicate with customers to resolve complaints or ensure satisfaction. | |
| Cook foods. | |
| Deliver items. | |
| Manage preparation of special meals or diets. | |
| Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations. | |
| Operate cash registers. | |
| Order materials, supplies, or equipment. | |
| Package food or supplies. | |
| Prepare foods or meals. | |
| Prepare hot or cold beverages. | |
| Process customer bills or payments. | |
| Serve food or beverages. | |
| Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies. | |
| Take customer orders. | |
| Train food preparation or food service personnel. | |
Knowledge Required
| Knowledge Required (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 74 (%) | Description: Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Food Production: Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques. |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications. |
Day-in-the-Life Summaries
| Day-in-the-Life Summaries These summaries show the main types of activities you are likely to perform on a regular basis in this occupation. How can you imagine your typical workday — using these examples to see if this type of work fits you? |
| Activity: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. |
| Activity: Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects. |
| Activity: Communicate with others about operational plans or activities. |
| Activity: Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures. |
| Activity: Execute financial transactions. |
| Activity: Move materials, equipment, or supplies. |
| Activity: Package objects. |
| Activity: Prepare foods or beverages. |
| Activity: Provide food or beverage services. |
| Activity: Purchase goods or services. |
| Activity: Reconcile financial data. |
| Activity: Respond to customer problems or inquiries. |
| Activity: Stock supplies or products. |
| Activity: Train others on operational or work procedures. |
Software Skills
|
Software Skills These are examples of software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized from most to least important for your career preparation. How can you start learning or practicing the highest-priority tools so that you feel confident using them on the job? |
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| Emerging Tech Skills | ||||||||||
| Office suite software: | ||||||||||
| Microsoft Office software | ||||||||||
| Operating system software: | ||||||||||
| Microsoft Windows | ||||||||||
| Spreadsheet software: | ||||||||||
| Microsoft Excel | ||||||||||
| Web page creation and editing software: | ||||||||||
| General Software Tools | ||||||||||
| Computer based training software: | ||||||||||
| Quizlet | ||||||||||
| Data base user interface and query software: | ||||||||||
| Menu and nutrition database software | ||||||||||
| Point of sale POS software (scroll table below): | ||||||||||
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Preparation Required
| Preparation Required - How much preparation is needed to obtain this type of job? |
| Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed |
| Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training. |
| Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. |
| Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training. |
| These occupations involve following instructions and often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include dishwashers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, counter and rental clerks, dental laboratory technicians, and security guards. |
Education Required
| Education Required - by frequency of educational attainment This shows you details about the level of education most commonly held by workers in this occupation. How can you begin planning the educational pathway that will prepare you best for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Education |
| Frequency of Attainment: 56.3 (%) | Level of Education: Less than a High School Diploma |
| Frequency of Attainment: 24.0 (%) | Level of Education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 17.2 (%) | Level of Education: Some College Courses |
| Frequency of Attainment: 2.6 (%) | Level of Education: Post-Secondary Certificate |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.1 (%) | Level of Education: Bachelor's Degree |
Training and Experience Required
| Training and Experience Required - by frequency of training and work experience attainment This section shows you how often different types of training and work experience are required for this occupation. How can you start gaining the kinds of experience and training that are most common for this type of work? |
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| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience |
| Frequency of Attainment: 74.3 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
| Frequency of Attainment: 14.2 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 5.1 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 2.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Up to and including 1 month |
| Frequency of Attainment: 2.2 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.3 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.2 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months |
Local Salary Information
Select a State (scroll and Select) :
Please select a State to see State and National Salaries
Certifications
| Certifications These are examples of certifications that may be important for this occupation. How can you begin exploring which certifications fit your goals and what steps you would need to take to earn them? |
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Certified Restaurant Server
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Professional Associations
| Professional Associations These associations connect people who work in this occupation or related fields. How can you start using these associations to learn more, build your network, or find mentoring opportunities? |
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Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA)
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Job Listings
| Job Listings and Similar Occupational Titles - scroll and click to identify common requirements, keywords, and skills in current job listings |
Related Careers to Consider
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources
This section contains detailed external resources appropriate to "Fast Food and Counter Workers". Explore these resources to start learning more. Links are constantly updated, so bookmark this page.
Videos
Here is a listing of videos related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes
Here are resources that allow you to see example resumes for this occupation. It may be helpful to see examples from others who have this type of experience.
Job Description
Here are resources that provide job descriptions, which are vital for resume and interview preparation.
Interviews
There are many great resources that can help guide you through the interview process. These links provide help in preparing and performing an effective interview, specific to this occupation.
Step-by-Step
Here are links to help guide you, step-by-step, to become a(n): Fast Food and Counter Workers
LinkedIn®
Here are links to various posts and groups from LinkedIn ® that relate to this occupation. Great way to start building professional contacts in the field that might be most appropriate for you.
Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus of Business Management at Mt. San Antonio College and author of the Harvard Business Impact article "What to Do When Students Ask You for Career Advice." - Full bio. © 2026 About This Page
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