How to become a restaurant host
Official title: Restaurant host
Also called: Front of house worker, Maitre d'hotel, Senior waitperson
Restaurant hosts welcome customers and seat them at tables in restaurants and cafes.
Main tasks
- Welcome guests and make them comfortable
- Help guests find a table
- Explain menus and specials
- Answer guest questions
- Communicate orders to kitchen staff
- Take bookings and reservations
- Help solve guest problems
- Process bills and payments
How to become one
You usually need experience to become a restaurant host and a qualification may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job, but Level 2 may be useful. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a New Zealand Certificate in Hospitality (Level 2 or 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Food and Beverage Service (Level 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Food and Beverage Service (Level 4); to be over 20 years old; a Licence Controller Qualification (LCQ); a Manager's Certificate.
Ways in
- Certificates and diplomas: Entry certificates in hospitality. TEC links this job to study in food tourism and hospitality. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Hospitality. Usually 4 months. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $38,000 a year one year after study and $51,000 five years after; 32% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).
Pay · Past change
- Median pay: $54,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $88,000 a year
- TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $25.96 an hour.
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Who does this work
- About 4,700 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
Related jobs
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Questions people ask
How do I become a restaurant host?
You usually need experience to become a restaurant host and a qualification may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job, but Level 2 may be useful. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a New Zealand Certificate in Hospitality (Level 2 or 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Food and Beverage Service (Level 3); a New Zealand Certificate in Food and Beverage Service (Level 4); to be over 20 years old; a Licence Controller Qualification (LCQ); a Manager's Certificate.
How much does a restaurant host earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $54,000 a year, before tax.
Has the number of people working as a restaurant host grown in New Zealand?
It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026