The Skills Needed to Work in an Ice Cream Shop

I’m willing to bet that you’ve probably had the fantasy of  working in an ice cream store at some point in your life. That’s pretty understandable, given how enjoyable working there is. However, there are particular skills you need to have—just like in any job—to work for an ice cream business, and here they are. 

The skills required to work at an ice cream shop are a know-how in customer service, food preparation and customer orders, good communication skills, and the capacity to stand for extended periods of time. These hard and soft skills may change based on the position being applied for. 

General Skills Needed

Basically, you’ll need to have abilities to cover customer service, food preparation, communication skills, and the capacity to stand for lengthy amounts of time if you want to work at an ice cream shop. Here’s why. 

Every career and sector needs the knack to provide excellent customer service since it has a direct influence on customers. It is mostly necessary for ice cream stores because it is listed as the most important skill in 22.4% of ice cream server resumes, as per research.

It makes perfect sense that one needs to have skills in food preparation as part of their job involves making and serving ice cream. Some other duties that would require food preparation skills include cleaning, sanitizing, and storing and unloading supplies.

As ice cream store employees will be interacting with and accepting orders from different customers, good communication skills are also necessary. Employees that are unable to communicate effectively and establish a rapport with customers are unfit for an ice cream shop.

Last but not least, an ice cream worker needs to be able to stand for extended periods of time. This is only because lines that appear to go on forever are typically expected in this business due to the high volume of customers they receive each day. Employees often stand and move around while taking orders, scooping ice cream, and serving customers for long periods of time—sometimes for the whole day.

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Skills of an Ice Cream Scooper or Server

An ice cream scooper or server needs the ability to stand for lengthy periods of time, as well as skills in communication, food preparation, and customer service. These skills are crucial since an ice cream server must also do the following tasks:

• Extending a warm welcome to each and every customer
• Completing orders and requests from consumers
• Recognizing consumer problems or concerns and taking the appropriate actions to address them
• Ensuring that the ice cream store has all of its supplies on hand
• Arranging and cleaning the ice cream shop, as required

Ice cream servers in the US make an average of $25,676 per year, or around $12.34 per hour, according to Zippia. Additionally, 42.1% of ice cream servers have a bachelor’s degree and the majority of resumes for ice cream server applications emphasized skills for verbal and written communication, and in customer service and physical endurance.

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Skills Needed for other Positions 

Now that you are aware of the qualifications for the post of an ice cream server, let’s discuss the qualifications required for the roles of an ice cream store manager and an ice cream taster. I’ll categorize them according to the requisite skills, usual tasks, and average pay.

1. Ice Cream Shop Manager

The average yearly salary for an ice cream shop manager in the United States is $33,987 per year, according to ZipRecruiter’s statistics from the previous year. It comes to roughly $16.34 per hour. The following is a summary of the skills and usual responsibilities of an ice cream store manager. 

Needed Skills: Leadership skills Communication skillsProblem-solving skillsCapacity to stand up for extended periods Customer service skillsA keen eye for detailMultitasking skills

Usual Tasks: defining and assigning duties to employeesaccountable for new hire development and trainingkeeping the shop’s atmosphere pleasant for both visitors and personnelupholding appropriate health and safety standardsextending a warm welcome to all customers while greeting them

2. Ice Cream Taster 

According to 2021 statistics from Glassdoor, the average salary for an ice cream tester in Canada is $46,897. Additionally, an ice cream tester at Ben & Jerry’s earns an average of $32,484 per year. The needed skills and typical duties of an ice cream taster are listed below.

Needed Skills: Superior and refined taste budsBroad understanding of ingredients and cuisinesWritten and verbal communication abilities

Usual Tasks:making inventive ice cream combinationscreating or designing flavor ideasPerforming quality control inspectionsbeta-testing botched ice cream flavorsdistribution of ice cream samples

Conclusion

In conclusion, customer service, food preparation, taking customer orders, good communication skills, and the ability to stand for lengthy periods of time are the general abilities required to work at an ice cream store. Depending on the employment position you are looking for, these skills may vary.

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Frequently Asked Questions

To learn more on how to start your own ice cream/gelato business check out my startup documents here

This blog post is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained is not intended to constitute legal advice or to substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney.