People are always looking foe ways hoe to become a bartender. Men and women are often interested in bar tending jobs for many good reasons, but they appear horrified when they do not possess past experience. There are lots of ways to secure a job no matter how much or how very little experience you have.
One large delusion regarding looking for a bar tending job is that you must be certified. False!!! I won’t bang all these schools but, I am absolutely certain they won’t help much. I’ve truly never taken 1 and I have been employed everyplace from four star resorts to hole-in-the-wall gin joints. That directs me towards the 1st, and sometimes the simplest way, to secure a bar tending job. Just get a job in a bar. This was my way in. I had been working in a country club for a year when I was twenty years old. A bartender took a trip and I offered to take a few of his morning shifts. These were shifts that began at 10 o’clock in the morning. These shifts just didn’t generate much revenue and consequently no one really wanted these early shifts. I was more than willing to fill in. This was my way in, and yes, it even altered my entire life. When the bartender that went on the vacation returned, I continued to bar tend and I also haven’t gone back to being a waiter since then. This information gets us to the purpose.
There are lots of positions you can take in a restaurant or bar that will lead to a position. Don’t get me wrong; I know there was a lot of luck in my situation, but it happens. People call in sick and no call-no show all the time. Step up to the plate and show your boss that you’re the man, or woman, for the job. If being a waiter isn’t your thing, it wasn’t mine, try bar-backing. If I had to be a waiter for one more week I probably wouldn’t have ever had a career change. But bar-backing is the best way to get a bar tending job. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how many bar-backs I hired to be bartenders. I would tell my manager that they need and deserve the chance. Bar-backing is also a great way to get to the know the bar. You won?t be dealing with the customers as directly but you will certainly be busy. Its not an easy job, you have to hustle, but just like bar tending you will make great money. There have been nights when myself and three other bartenders would tip out the bar-back and they wound up making more money than we did. In short, get out there and get your foot in the door.
Something I always here, as to why people don’t get bar ending jobs is because it’s hard and you have to know hundreds of drink recipes. Again, Not True. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, but I’ve certainly had harder jobs that didn’t pay nearly as much, and were not even close to the same amount of fun. Try landscaping in 100 degree weather and then tell me bar tending is hard. You have to hustle but 9 times out of 10 you’ve had a blast doing it.
If a drink is ordered that you don’t know there is no shame in asking the customer what it is or looking at a book. Every decent bar in the world has a cocktail recipe book behind the bar. I’ve looked at this book thousands of times. In this day and age of bar tending there are so many obscure shot recipes, unless you are Will Hunting, you can not possible remember them all. People are constantly coming up with new recipes too and until the name and drink catches on it is hard to remember.. This is why I tell you not to worry. The best bartenders in the world do not know every drink.
Do not be intimidated by your lack of knowledge or experience. Everybody has to start somewhere. Like I said earlier, start out on the day shift. You may not make tons of cash in the beginning but it is a great place to learn. Please trust me too that 99% of the bars in America struggle to find day shift bartenders. Most of the time they are just happy to have someone show up. They could care less about experience. Show some initiative, learn a lot and you?ll be tending bar at night and making lots of money in no time.
People get jobs all the time that they have little knowledge about, and bar tending is no exception. I completely understand the nervousness but it is something you will have to get over. Hopefully this post gives you the confidence to push forward and go out and get a job. Thanks for reading it and if I haven’t convinced you to go look for a job yet, be sure to check out thebartendingexperience.com.
If you want the best bloody Mary recipe check out thebartendingexperience.com. I’ve been perfecting this recipe for years and can also show you the bartending basics.
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