Seems like it would be easy but I was wondering if you guys have first hand advice

any advice?

is it hard?

If you don't know all the drinks going in is that something you learn on your own and have to know or something you learn in school?

Is getting a job hard. Do they have skill tryouts/do you have to be highly skilled to get a job.

5/14/2008 10:14:53 PM

the school is bullshit, dont pay for that

just apply to some places..most people order such common stuff that you'll learn enough to get by really quick then go from there.. everytime i go out i see somebody order a weird ass drink that the bartenders dont know, they don't have the huge books memorized or anything

i mean, maybe some of them do.. but you dont need much to get started

5/14/2008 10:17:20 PM

I have always heard its hard to get a decent job with no experience and that the bartending school is a scam.

5/14/2008 10:18:17 PM

waiter for a year or so---> bartender

barback for a few months ---->bartender

bartending school----->moron

5/14/2008 10:48:36 PM

Quote :

"Is getting a job hard. Do they have skill tryouts/do you have to be highly skilled to get a job."

hahahaha. if you call memorization having skills...

5/14/2008 10:51:41 PM

any idiot can pull drafts & memorize a few recipes. to do the job well, you have to have a great short term memory and work well (and quickly) under pressure. oh, and you have to like working with the public. very important.

5/14/2008 10:57:31 PM

and you have to like drinking

5/14/2008 11:01:44 PM

^^well of course, but I wouldnt really call that "skills" or something you'd have tryouts for haha. Its a job that most people could do if they wanted it to. i just thought it was funny the way she worded that

[Edited on May 14, 2008 at 11:02 PM. Reason : ]

5/14/2008 11:02:19 PM

From what I've seen (I don't really bartend at least not yet but bartenders I work with), they just gained experience usually as said from serving and then barbacked and then becoming a bartender. Barbacking you learn a lot of what you need to and as far as drinks go, most bartenders have a deck of cards with drink recipes they refer to. Of course, it would help to have them memorized to move faster but that just takes time and memorization. School isn't a scam, but it's not worth it.

5/14/2008 11:03:15 PM

Quote :

"is it hard? "

Depends on where you are bartending (a bar or a food joint that has booze). A bar requires you to know more drinks, spot regulars/big tippers, horrible hours, faster pace during peak times, more socializing with customers in slow times, etc.

Quote :

"If you don't know all the drinks going in is that something you learn on your own and have to know or something you learn in school? "

You should know most of the common drinks and shots going in, as stated above most people order very common drinks especially in your average run of the mill bar. The bartending school is a joke, it will teach you how to make drinks you should already know if you've been to college. Employers at "real bars" will laugh at it especially if you have no experience.

Quote :

"Is getting a job hard. "

Yes it is pretty hard at a place that is a bar. It's one of the few jobs that almost anyone can do, yet is pays an assload. Hence, you have to typically serve your time (and be good) at waiting tables or barbacking (it's about loyalty, hard work, etc.). In addition to waiting tables/barbacking you probably need to know someone already working there to move up quicker.

[Edited on May 15, 2008 at 1:21 AM. Reason : .]

5/15/2008 1:18:42 AM

Quote :

"The bartending school is a joke, it will teach you how to make drinks you should already know if you've been to college. Employers at "real bars" will laugh at it especially if you have no experience."

I tended bar for a few years. One time, a manager hired a girl who had gone to a bartending "school". Her first shift with me, I put her on service bar (make drinks for the waiters according to the tickets that come out of the printers). Half an hour in, I notice her holding a ticket, looking over the liquor shelves. The ticket says:

GUINNESS 16OZ

And she was having trouble finding the bottle of guinness among the liquor bottles. Never mind the huge tap right behind her. Actually I kind of understand not knowing that guinness is a beer, but what the hell did she think someone was ordering 16 ounces of liquor for?

----
Bartending jobs generally come from within - as people have mentioned, almost any idiot can perform the tasks, it takes some skill to do it quickly and efficiently, but it's very much about gaining management's trust, which is why people go from barback to bartender or waiter to bartender at the same place. In some restaurants with a small bar & service bar, waiting tables can make more money anyway.

At a place with more than a couple of bartenders, seniority will often determine who gets first crack at the good shifts. Also I've seen a lot of restaurants and bars have rules like if you work a money night, you have to work an off night.

5/15/2008 1:49:28 AM

hahah i gave a lengthy answer to a PM on this subject a little while ago


dude never answered, but you might benefit from my response. fyi, there's little in here that hasn't already been said more concisely:

Quote :

"It's a great job that's fun and pays well (assuming you're in the right area) and you only have to be 21. Bartending school is a load of crap and isn't required or generally even sought-after. Most serious bars look at that as a detriment to your resume because bartending is not about mixing drinks, it's about being fast, efficient, personable, and outgoing. Experience goes much farther, even a couple months experience is better than nothing but school. As far as getting a job, that's the difficult part. The only way you're going to get a job making good money is to either work your way up in a restaurant, or know someone running a bar that likes you and wants to hire you. You can find shitty little bartending jobs here and there on craigslist, but they'll likely be golf courses or hole-in-the-wall beer-only restaurants/diners. No money there, might as well wait tables at a big chain. If you can get a good position, more power to you. Have you ever waited tables or done any service industry work? If not, I wouldn't put too much hope in getting a job at a decent bar, but there's always that random right-place-right-time chance. What I would recommend is this: Go to a bar you think you'd like to work at and drink there for a couple weeks. Get to know the staff, be friendly, and tip well (i.e. don't worry about stupid shit like calculating a percentage. Never leave less than 5, even if you only had a couple drinks, and always remember: a good tip hurts). Ask about a bar-backing position. You'll be helping out the bartender(s) on the busy nights, keeping things stocked, cleaning/bussing, etc. and you'll learn the ropes and see how everything's done. Start by asking the bartender to show you how to pour a beer properly, showing some interest. Then when it's busy you might work your way in by helping out and pouring a beer or few for customers that are waiting a while for the bartender. Eventually get them to show you how to pour liquor, always ask them "what was that you just made? what are you making? what's in it?," and learn the common drinks. Get them to show you the cash handling processes, and all the other stuff involved. Once you've been doing this for a little while, some people pick it up faster than others, you might ask to open up a lunch/morning shift or something that won't be too busy and kick your ass. From there you just do it more and more and BAM! you're a bartender. Most places pay a barback a decent hourly wage (7-10/hr or so) plus get a cut of the tips from the bartender, as an incentive to bust ass and truly help. There's decent money in it, I know my barback tonight worked from 8pm-4am and made 200 bucks. Anyway, that's a lot of words but hopefully it helps. Let me know if you have any more questions, mang"

5/15/2008 6:36:57 AM

I think the saying goes the same way for most jobs...but you're either a bartender or you're not. If you have the skill set to be a bartender, then I think its pretty easy.

Memorization is a big key. Working at a busy bar you need to be able to take multiple orders at a time, keeps tabs in your head, and remember people's names and what they drink.

And duh, you have to be pretty social.

After that, the only "skill" you need is the ability to count your pours. Everyone has different counts (I use a 4-count) to do 1.5 oz (or something different depending on the bar...I worked at one that had 1.25oz, but the majority do 1.5oz).

As far as becoming a bartender...

Best way is to work your way up. If you've never waited tables, then you're basically screwed unless someone will do you a favor. It's best to work your way up from waiting tables or barbacking. Even then, everybody wants to be a bartender, so you'll probably have to wait unless you get lucky. I got pretty lucky and got a sweet bartending gig before I turned 23 (but I had put some decent time into waiting tables and barbacking before that). 4 months later I'm bartending at the busiest bar in downtown Charleston and paying my way through law school.

I absolutely love bartending. I've met great people, made a lot of friends, and saved up a ton of money working behind the bar. It's one of the few jobs where you can make a large sum of money in a short amount of time without a special degree. Add to the fact that it's also one of the most enjoyable jobs. People use to ask me, "well when do you go out?" And I would reply, "well it's pretty much social time when I'm working."

That's about it. I recommend it, but not everyone is cut out for it.

5/15/2008 9:05:39 AM

i forgot how much i liked it. im back at ruckus

and oh yeah

Quote :

"the school is bullshit, dont pay for that"

and ive seen people throw away job applications if it says they took bartending school. a lot of places don't like it at all.

5/15/2008 9:12:55 AM

Quote :

"I worked at one that had 1.25oz"

wtf?

5/15/2008 11:35:20 AM

Quote :

"and ive seen people throw away job applications if it says they took bartending school. a lot of places don't like it at all."

I've seen that quite a few times as well. It goes to show you are just generally not a smart person, so the managers I used to work with back in college just threw those applications out as soon as the person left from dropping it off... Not really legal, but whatever.

5/15/2008 12:17:52 PM

Quote :

"Not really legal, but whatever."

Sure it is. You can toss an application for someone being stupid. It's only illegal to discriminate based on a very few things, stupidity isn't one of them.

5/15/2008 12:23:25 PM

Quote :

"and ive seen people throw away job applications if it says they took bartending school. a lot of places don't like it at all. "

truth!

I don't really have anything else to add because everyone pretty much said what I wanted to say. There's a lot of good advice in the above posts and I definately reccomend being a barback first.

5/16/2008 5:31:36 PM

If someone orders a complicated drink, chances are they want you to ask them how to make it.

5/17/2008 1:33:47 PM

and you cant really fuck up a drink too bad... if you do.. just throw in some extra alcohol and give it to them on the house.

5/17/2008 2:09:20 PM

^^^^^^

Bar in Wrightsville Beach. Owner was pretty greedy and tried to squeeze every penny out of every drink. Working well for him though. Has been making bank on that bar for about 4 or 5 years now.

Recent personal story: just quit a bar that I've been working at for the past two years because the owners have gotten too corporate and started weighing our liquors and make us sign ridiculous contracts. Thursday night was my last shift and a bunch of friends and regulars came in and bought me shots all night. I blacked out at midnight, left the bar around 12:45/1am, walked down King St, and ended up at this girl's place with no shirt and my tie still around my neck. Drank my way out in style...

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 4:29 PM. Reason : .]

5/17/2008 4:24:02 PM

^ nice



Getting the bartending gig I have was fairly easy for me. I lucked up and applied at the right time (literally caught the Food & Beverage director walking in as I was applying), and although I was a seasonal hire, I busted my ass and basically made them make space for me despite my only prior bartending experience being from pouring 'em up at some friends' house parties. In my case, it's not nearly as hard because I work in a slot facility

Not three months later and they've asked me about becoming a supervisor, but I likely won't do it because I like my current position so much... though I'd take the significant hike in hourly pay if they let me run the place from my bar post at least some of the time.

5/21/2008 1:49:27 AM