Learn to Bartend

Looking for a bartending job can become a frustrating experience. There are many myths about what it takes to get a bartending job. If you really want a bartending job, there are truly only 2 requirements, a warm personality and a great attitude. Everything else can be taught. So don’t believe the widespread myths below.

You can’t get a job without bartending experience. There are many situations in which a bar owner or manager would actually prefer to hire someone without bartending experience. If you can show that you are responsible and a good employee you have a chance to get the job. Many owners are tired of bartenders with a bad attitude and worse habits. Teaching the details of the job is easy compared with trying to teach a good attitude.

You need to know hundreds of drinks to apply for a bartending job. This is another one that bartenders love to keep going. Once you know the 20 basic drinks you will be able to make almost anything. No bartender has sat with a recipe book and memorized all of the drinks. They get familiar with drinks because they have made them. Once you make a drink it is hard to forget. Making drinks on the job is the best way to remember them and you can always keep a recipe book behind the bar for the times you get stuck.

You have to work in a busy bar to make lots of money. Some of the best bartending jobs I have ever had were in small neighborhood bars. It wasn’t just the laid back atmosphere that made them great, it was also the money. Really busy bars have so many people on duty that by the time you chop the tips there isn’t much left. When you are alone behind a smaller bar there is a greater opportunity to make tips.

You have to serve or barback before you can bartend. It isn’t written anywhere that you must serve tables or barback before you can bartend. Bar owners will sometimes insist on this but it is only because you haven’t convinced them that you will make a great bartender yet. Take them up on the offer and immediately begin to show them what an excellent bartender you will be.

You have done your duty if you fill out the job application. Don’t stop with the job application. Have a relevant and compelling cover letter and resume ready to go also. Getting a bartender job is about getting the owner to consider you a friend. Use a cover letter and resume to put your best foot forward and display your personality. Then the interview will be a whole lot easier.

You need to graduate from bartending school. This myth gets me really fired up. In over 16 years in the bar business I have yet to even meet a bartender who went to bartending school. Most bartending schools are just looking to take your money. They will promise job placement and give you a list of outdated phone numbers to call. Always ask for references. If they can’t give dozens of names from happy graduates then proceed with caution. They are probably overpromising and will most certainly under deliver.

You need a friend in the business to get a bartending job. While a friend in the business certainly won’t hurt your chances it is no guarantee either. Getting a bartending job is about getting in front of the right people, as in bar owners, and charming them into hiring you. If you make them feel like a friend during the interview, your chances of getting the job go up exponentially. Don’t worry about who you know, just use your cover letter and resume to get an interview and get the owner to like you. It sounds really simple and you’re going to be surprised how simple it really is.

Before you will be able to get a bartending job, you will need to stop believing the above myths. This myths are told because people secure in their positions want to keep them and getting people to believe they are hard to get is one way of securing your position. I have hired dozens of bartenders with no experience and helped hundreds more find jobs with no experience. Stop believing the myths and start believing in you. You’ll have a bartending job in no time.