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Date: 11/18/2025

Food Service Managers

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of an organization or department that serves food and beverages.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Schedule and receive food and beverage deliveries, checking delivery contents to verify product quality and quantity.
    • Organize and direct worker training programs, resolve personnel problems, hire new staff, and evaluate employee performance in dining and lodging facilities.
    • Assess staffing needs and recruit staff, using methods such as newspaper advertisements or attendance at job fairs.
    • Monitor compliance with health and fire regulations regarding food preparation and serving, and building maintenance in lodging and dining facilities.
    • Keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies.
    • Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.
    • Establish standards for personnel performance and customer service.
    • Monitor budgets and payroll records, and review financial transactions to ensure that expenditures are authorized and budgeted.
    • Create specialty dishes and develop recipes to be used in dining facilities.
    • Schedule use of facilities or catering services for events such as banquets or receptions, and negotiate details of arrangements with clients.
    • Perform some food preparation or service tasks, such as cooking, clearing tables, and serving food and drinks when necessary.
    • Monitor employee and patron activities to ensure liquor regulations are obeyed.
    • Greet guests, escort them to their seats, and present them with menus and wine lists.
    • Create specialty dishes and develop recipes to be used in dining facilities.
    • Assess staffing needs and recruit staff, using methods such as newspaper advertisements or attendance at job fairs.
    • Organize and direct worker training programs, resolve personnel problems, hire new staff, and evaluate employee performance in dining and lodging facilities.
    • Order and purchase equipment and supplies.
    • Review work procedures and operational problems to determine ways to improve service, performance, or safety.
    • Record the number, type, and cost of items sold to determine which items may be unpopular or less profitable.
    • Take dining reservations.
    • Take dining reservations.
    • Coordinate assignments of cooking personnel to ensure economical use of food and timely preparation.
    • Estimate food, liquor, wine, and other beverage consumption to anticipate amounts to be purchased or requisitioned.
    • Schedule and receive food and beverage deliveries, checking delivery contents to verify product quality and quantity.
    • Count money and make bank deposits.
    • Schedule staff hours and assign duties.
    • Plan menus and food utilization, based on anticipated number of guests, nutritional value, palatability, popularity, and costs.
    • Schedule use of facilities or catering services for events such as banquets or receptions, and negotiate details of arrangements with clients.
    • Maintain food and equipment inventories, and keep inventory records.
    • Maintain food and equipment inventories, and keep inventory records.
    • Arrange for equipment maintenance and repairs, and coordinate a variety of services, such as waste removal and pest control.
    • Establish and enforce nutritional standards for dining establishments, based on accepted industry standards.
    • Review work procedures and operational problems to determine ways to improve service, performance, or safety.
    • Review menus and analyze recipes to determine labor and overhead costs, and assign prices to menu items.
    • Test cooked food by tasting and smelling it to ensure palatability and flavor conformity.
    • Monitor food preparation methods, portion sizes, and garnishing and presentation of food to ensure that food is prepared and presented in an acceptable manner.

    Skills

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    5
    Workplace Documents
    5
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    Knowledge

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • 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.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • 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.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 60650/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 29.16/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 17,200
    • Yearly Projected Openings 1890

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Leadership
    • Cooperation
    • Dependability
    • Adaptability/Flexibility
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Self Control

    Tools

    • Cash registers
    • Laser printers
    • Notebook computers
    • Personal computers
    • Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers

    Technology

    • Accounting software
    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Calendar and scheduling software
    • Cloud-based data access and sharing software
    • Communications server software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Desktop publishing software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Financial analysis software
    • Human resources software
    • Inventory management software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Point of sale POS software
    • Presentation software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Time accounting software
    • Web page creation and editing software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

    • InDemand occupations are considered a priority by the state of Ohio.
    • Apprenticeships are available for this occupation. These programs can help you get hands-on experience and build your skills.
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