How to Become a Bartender with No Experience

Article: How to Become a Bartender with No Experience Written by Brian Williams

*I agree with most of this article, MOST. Read my two cents below:

"You can’t get a job without bartending experience."
I agree with the author. There are some bars out there who only want experienced bartenders. There are also plenty of bars out there who want new blood. Bars want the new blood so they can train them how to be the bartenders they want them to be. There are some bartenders out there who have plenty of experience, but have lots of bad habits and shitty attitudes. New blood is excited to just get behind the bar and are usually anxious to learn.

"Bartenders need to know hundreds of drink recipes."
I agree with the author again. Don't get overwhelmed and discouraged if you don't know every single drink out there. News flash: No one knows all of the drinks out there. It's impossible. There are new drinks created all the time. How could one possibly know them all? Besides, as long as you have the basics down, you can pretty much make any drink out there. If I get customers who order drinks that I have no idea what they are (trust me, it happens every now and then), I just ask them. Customers are always more than happy to tell you exactly how they want you to make their drink. Some bartenders will fake it because they are too embarrassed to admit that they don't know how to make the drink. I call nonsense. I would much rather know how to make the drink correctly than to guess and have it sent back. When in doubt, look it up in a recipe book or Google the recipe on the computer in the office. That is if you are really worried about it.

"The money is in the Nightclubs."
Agreed again. I know this from personal experience of working in a nightclub myself for three years. It all depends on the club you work in. In some clubs, bartenders can make bank (Hello Vegas!). In some clubs, you might have 15 bartenders on each night and have to split the tips evenly. That means if you have a customer who tips you a hundred dollar bill, you would have to throw that bill in the tip jar and split it up 15 ways. Sad, but true. Hey, if you don't like it, find another bar to work in. It's that simple. Every bar has a different policy on how tips are split up and distributed. Find a bar that makes you happy and wealthy!

"You have to serve or barback before you can bartend."
Once again, I totally agree with the author. I have never barbacked a day in my life. In fact, I learned how to bartend, on the job, behind the bar. I think if I would have went to bartending school, my life would have been a while lot easier. But hey, some of us have to learn the hard way. That's just the way it is.

"You don’t need a resume for a bartending job."
Hell yes you need a resume, for any type of job you apply for. I agree with the author on this one as well.

"Bartending requires certification."
This is where the author and I differ. Having a bartender certification is usually never required in order to bartend, but the author of the article totally discredits bartending schools. I disagree. I am an instructor at a bartender school and I feel like the information we provide to our students is invaluable. I wish I would have began my bartending career with the information that is provided to our students during the two-week course. It would have saved me a whole lot of heartache. But to each his own. There are some people out there who really dig bartending schools. There are also people out there who snub their noses at bartending schools and insist that everyone must learn on the job. In my mind, knowledge is power. I take it anyway I can get it, school or on the job. I aim to learn something new everyday.

"You need to know somebody in order to get a bartending job."
Eh, this depends. You know the saying, "it's all about who you know." This is true in some cases. Bar owners and managers would much rather hire someone they know and trust, but there are plenty of qualified people out there who make wonderful bartenders. You just have to present yourself as a ready and able bartender during your interview. I always tell people, bartending is 10% drinks and 90% personality. If you can charm a bar owner or manager with your personality, you can probably charm customers into coming back to the bar over and over again. That alone will get you a job behind any bar. Any monkey can make a drink. Monkeys can't talk to or charm customers. Food for thought.

Overall, I liked the article. What do you think?

Is It Obvious?

The other day I was waiting at the bus stop to go to work and I was talking about the bus line to the other people who were also waiting. I was blabbing on and on about how the stupid bus (and it only seems to be this particular line) is always early. In the MUNI system, a bus being early is usually unheard of, but not the 19. This bitch always comes early and it drives me nuts.

Anyways, this older lady piped up and told me thanks for the information and that it was good to know. Now she knows to get to the stop 10 minutes early. Then she asked me if I was a teacher. I told her yes. When she asked me which grade, I laughed and told her that I teach at a bartending school. I teach people how to make drinks. She said that it sounded like a really fun job. Then she told me she knew I was a teacher and a good one at that because she is old and could hear me perfectly clear.

Does that really mean I am a good techer? Maybe I am just a loud mouth? Or maybe it's from all of those years and having to communicate with a hard-of-hearing grandma.

RIP Grandma Disney. She is the reason why I write...

How Do You Remember All of Those Drinks?

People ask me all the time how I am able to remember the drink recipes for all of the drinks I make. At the bartender school, I teach my students over a hundred different drink recipes in two weeks. Those are just basic recipes. Then once a bartender gets out in the real bar world, they might have to work with a specialty cocktail menu that would require them to memorize even more drink recipes. And if that bar changes their drink menu with each season, then that's more drink recipes to memorize. A new bartender could easily become overwhelmed with all of those recipes.

Repetition is key. The more you do something over and over, the greater the chance you will have of remembering it. When I first started bartending, I got an address book that had a tab for each letter in the alphabet and wrote all of the drink recipes I learned on each of my shifts into my book. The address book proved to be an excellent resource whenever someone would order a drink and I couldn't remember the recipe. I would just look up the recipe in my book. If I stumbled upon a drink I had never made before, then I would ask the bartender I was working with how to make it. Sometimes I would even ask the customer.

Some new bartenders are too embarrassed to ask the customer how to make a drink they don't know the recipe for. Put yourself in the customer's shoes. If you ordered a drink that the bartender didn't know how to make, wouldn't you rather tell them how you would like your drink made rather than have the bartender just guess and make the drink all wrong? Why waste the time and alcohol?

I have found in my years behind the bar that customers love it when you ask them for their input on making drinks. Granted, if you are working a busy Saturday night in a nightclub and ask the customer what's in a Long Island Iced Tea, you probably wont get a very positive reaction. But if you are working a dinner shift and a customer orders something out of the ordinary, use the situation as a learning opportunity. With bartending, there is always something new to learn, no matter how long you have been working behind the bar.

What Kind of Bar Should I Work In?

As a bartender school instructor, the question my students ask me most is:

"What kind of bar should I work in?"

There are so many types of bars out there to work in: nightclubs, dive bars, sports bars, hotels or restaurants, just to name a few. Living here in the city by the bay, you could even bartend on a party boat if you wanted to. There are so many options out there for a bartender. Whenever my students ask me what type of bar they should work in, I always tell them that it really is up to them. What kind of bar would make them happy? What kind of environment do they want to work in? What time of the day do they want to work? What type of crowd do they want to be around? What kind of cocktails do they want to make?

Your first bartending job is rarely going to be your ideal place to work. I have been bartending for five plus years and I am STILL learning what my perfect bar to work in might be. I have a pretty good idea nowadays, but with each job, you are always learning what you like and what you absolutely wont tolerate.

In my younger days, I worked late nights in a busy nightclub. I worked in a busy college bar right by where I was going to school. I worked in a uber sexy lounge located smack in the middle of a highly populated tourist area, surrounded by stripclubs. I have worked in small lounges and I have worked in restaurants. I have even worked in a live music venue. I think it's safe to assume that I have a pretty good idea of all the different types of bars one can work in. What I have grown to love over my years of bartending might not work for the next person. But we all want to make money and have fun while doing it. So if you find yourself asking this question, look inside and ask yourself what kind of environment would make you happy and then seek out those type of places.

Bartending isn't rocket science. It's a little bit of who you know, being at the right place at the right time, having a good attitude, being flexible and always having fun no matter where you are. Just remember, your customers are there to have fun and so should you.

Doing vs. Teaching: A Big Difference

It's one thing to work behind a bar for five years. It's another thing entirely to get back on the other side and teach people how to do it. I spent a solid week shadowing multiple instructors at the bartending school. I feverishly took notes on the topics they covered, how they presented their ideas and questions students asked. But nothing really can prepare you for the real thing.

The night before I taught my first class, I thought I was going to throw up. I was scared shitless. Even though I know the material, it's still a bit scary doing anything for the first time. Just like working your first shift at any new bar is always a bit scary and stressful.

Now I am coming up on my second week of teaching. I have to admit with each class I teach, it gets less scary. I still have the school's director leaning over my shoulder critiquing me. But I hear that he doesn't critique me as much as he has some instructors in the past. So maybe I am doing something right? I spent the last two nights researching material and putting together my lessons plans for class. I have one more class to teach tomorrow.

Whoever thought I would become a bartender school instructor? Not me, but I am glad that I have. It's sad, but I am making more money now as an instructor than I am bartending. Either I work in a really slow spot or the economy really sucks. At least people are still signing up for the bartending school.

Nervous!

I just completed a whole week of training to be a bartender school instructor. When I say training, I mean shadowing the current instructors during their classes. I have been following both the morning and afternoon instructors because I wanted to observe the different teaching styles. I have been taking notes like crazy.

I am nervous!!

They want me to start teaching next Monday morning. Oh my goodness. I am excited and scared all at the same time. I am sure I will be fine. I know the material. I know the flow of the classes. It's just I am nervous doing anything for the first time. Why would getting in front of a crowd and teaching them something be any different?

I have always wanted to be a teacher of some sort. Well, here is my chance.

Bartender Instructor

I am in the process of training to be a bartender instructor at a local school with a really good reputation.

How cool is that? They want to pay me to share my bar stories and spread the bartender knowledge to you folks. I am beyond excited. It's really fun so far.

Stay tuned for stories. I am certain that I will have plenty of stories to share here in regards to the classes I teach.

How I Became A Bartender

A customer asked me the other night if I went to bartending school. I told her that I didn't, but people do go to bartending school to learn the industry. I didn't have time to break down the pros and cons for her. I only had time to tell her what I did. My training was all on the job. That's usually how most people start in the industry.

I was very fortunate in that I had an "in" from the get-go. I had a friend who owned a few places and was willing to take me under his wing. This is the best way to get into the bar industry, in my opinion. You not only become well versed on the technical sides of things, but having an "in" like that also sets you up for future networking opportunities abound. Sometimes, it really only comes down to who you know, not exactly what you know. Sad, but very true.

I got my start in bartending over six or seven years ago. At the time, I was going to college full-time and really wasn't digging my job. It just didn't make me feel happy or very good about myself. I called up my friend one day out of the blue (who owned a few bars in the city I lived in) and told him that I wanted to learn how to bartend. The next week he had me on the schedule at one of his bars. To this day, I still can't thank him enough for helping me like that.

I fell in love with bartending immediately. I had never been a real big drinker. In fact, I knew next to nothing about all of the spirits. I was a fresh, clean slate and eager to learn. The first bar I worked behind was on the restaurant side of a restaurant/nightclub venue. I worked there for a year learning all about the bar and restaurant industry, building up my repertoire of regulars and developing my specialty cocktails and shots. Once my friend felt that I was ready, he moved me on to one of his more busier bars.

I worked at the busier bar (which had a large college crowd and lots of late, crazy nights) for almost two years. This is where I continued my education on beers (we had several beers on tap) and spirits (we had a healthy selection of everything). We even made blended drinks! This is also the bar I really started to focus on my speed and taking numerous orders at once.

Once I graduated from college, I headed to the big city. Here, I had hit my bartender prime by scoring a bartending gig in a very busy, two-leveled nightclub, three nights a week. In addition to pouring the standard cocktails, shots and bottled beers, I also became well-versed with working with cocktail waitresses and taking care of the bottle service at the bar.

I had a lot of fun in those earlier bartending years, not only discovering a new profession in a new industry, but discovering myself as well. After five years, I decided that I couldn't bartend for the rest of my life. I had reached a form of bartending burnout. Now that I had my college degree, I fely like I had to grow up and get a day job that required me to work 40 hours a week, behind a desk, in an office downtown.

The job was fine, but I had never been more miserable in my life. I gave it a go for two years until I took the time to do some serious soul searching and realized that I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. I opted to come back to bartending so that I could have my days free to do the things I really wanted to be working on.

Now, I am happy to be focused on what's important to me and to be working behind a bar again. I was fortunate enough to have another friend who recommended me to the current bar I am working at. See, sometimes it really is all about who you know. This time around bartending, I am expanding my horizons even further with working in a restaurant/lounge that encourages me to learn, in detail, about all the the different spirits and liquors we carry and to try the extensive wine list while pairing it with the foods we serve from the kitchen. I am even encouraged to develop my own drink recipes for our specialty cocktail menu. And here I thought I had learned all that I could about bartending. I hadn't even begun to scratch the surface!!

To the customer who asked me about bartending school the other night-I honestly have no idea. Some people in the industry are strongly against people going to bartending schools and others don't seem to mind at all. I am neither for or against the schools simply because I have never gone myself. How could I possibly recommend something I have never even tried personally?

What I tell anyone who is thinking about becoming a bartender is that 10% of the job is knowing the drinks and 90% of the job is your personality. It takes a strong personality to conduct a bar and entertain patrons. Just keep that in mind.

Bartender School Instructor?

I am thinking about becoming a bartending school instructor during the day, three hours a day, five days a week. I have a friend on the inside and he told me I should do it. I am seriously considering it. Sounds like it could be a fun gig in addition to the bartending.

Hey, I have always wanted to be a teacher. At least this way, I don't have to go through the lengthy procedure of getting certified. My work experience seems to be good enough. Plus, this would help me network more in the San Francisco bar industry as well. Not bad. Not bad at all.