How to Become a Bartender

Meeting the Requirements

Check the minimum age to become a bartender in your area. The minimum age to be a bartender varies, but it’s usually between 18 and 21. Look up the age requirement in your area. If you’re old enough, then get started on your job search! In the United States, you don’t have to be legal drinking age in many states to be a bartender. If you’re not old enough to be a bartender yet, you can still work on your skills. Start learning drink recipes. You could also start working in a restaurant or bar as a barback or server to get experience.

Take a bartending course to learn the skills and boost your experience. This isn’t always a requirement, but it’ll make you look much better to potential employers, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience. There are many bartending programs you could take, and most last a few weeks before completion. When you complete a program, you’ll get a certificate to make your skills official. If you’re in the US, try to find a bartending program licensed by your state’s Department of Education. This shows that a program is legitimate. If you're considering bartending school, schedule a visit before paying. See the school and meet some of the instructors to decide if they're professional and knowledgeable about the industry. They should also use a professional textbook and class materials. This way, you can avoid getting scammed. There are also many online bartending programs, but be careful with these. Investigate them thoroughly to make sure they aren’t scams. If possible, try to talk with people who completed the program to make sure they were able to get a job afterward. Bartending school usually costs a few hundred dollars, whether in-person or online.

Get a bar kit so you can practice at home. The only way to get better at being a bartender is to practice, so make the most of your time at home. You can get a cheap bar kit with a cocktail shaker, tongs, whisk, spoon, and all the tools you'll work with behind the bar. If you practice at home, you'll be all set to impress bar managers with your skills. Don't just practice making drink recipes. Work on learning how to make garnishes for the drinks as well. This is important for cocktails, especially at fancier bars.

Memorize common drink recipes. You might think that you need to memorize hundreds of drink recipes to land a bartending job, but this isn’t true at all. There are only a handful of popular drinks that people order, so focus on memorizing these. The rest you can learn on the job, especially if certain bars have unique recipes. Some of the most common cocktails are a dark and stormy, old fashioned, negroni, daiquiri, martini, whiskey sour, margarita, and Moscow mule. If you commit these recipes to memory, you’ll probably have all the necessary knowledge to land a job. It’s easy to find recipes online to study. You can also get a bartending book full of recipes. Remember to look up common bar terms too, like "neat" and "on the rocks," so you know what customers are asking for.

Work on your communication and customer service skills. Remember that there's more to being a bartender than just mixing drinks. It's overall a service position, so you'll have to interact with people a lot. Some great ways to impress your customers include recommending different drinks, making small talk, listening carefully so you get orders right, and overall show all the customers a great time. If you don't feel like you're naturally outgoing, you can always practice this skill. Try setting up a mock bar at home and serving friends and family to improve. You also might make a mistake while you're working. This is completely normal. Just get ready to apologize to the customer and fix your mistake. Remember that you also have to be firm sometimes. Customers who have been drinking can get rude or rowdy. Be ready to cut them off if they're drunk, or kick them out of the bar if they're acting inappropriately.

Earn a state bartending license. In the US, some states require a liquor license from the state regulation board to work as a bartender legally. This usually requires a short course on the safety and ethics of serving alcohol. In most cases, the course is only a few hours. After that, you’ll have your state license. Common skill these courses teach are checking IDs, spotting fake IDs, recognizing when someone is drunk, and other issues that might come up while you’re working. Not all bars require this license, but it could make you a stronger candidate if you have it. Some states also offer more comprehensive bartender certifications, which are similar to a certificate from bartending school. Some higher-end bars might require these credentials.

Start out as a barback to gain experience. Unfortunately, it can be tough to land a bartending job without any bar experience, even if you have all the licenses and certifications. A good way to get your foot in the door is by working as a barback first. Barbacks do all the manual work behind the bar like filling ice buckets, collecting and washing glasses, keeping the refrigerators full, and any other tasks the bartenders need you to do. It might not sound as fun as being a bartender, but it’s a great way to start working your way up to a bartender job. You can usually start working as a barback without any experience or certifications, so consider getting this job while you’re working on your bartender certifications.

Looking for Work

Put together a strong bartender resume. Just like with any other job, you need a resume to apply for bartender jobs. A bartender resume is like any other resume, so make it short and easy to read. Be sure to highlight your experience, certifications, and licenses at the top so bar managers can see that you’re qualified to be a bartender. Always remember to include your contact information on your resume! This seems so simple, but people sometimes forget. If you don’t have specific bartending experience, be sure to highlight any customer service jobs you’ve had. Being a server, cashier, host, or helpdesk worker can show that you know how to work with people and take care of customers. Remember that the average person will spend less than a minute looking at your resume. Make sure that someone scanning it quickly can see all of your experience.

Try checking out bars that you’re already a regular at. Bars and restaurants get a lot of bartender applications, so it can be tough to stand out. If you’re a regular at a few bars in town and already know the workers there, you can get a leg-up on the competition. Go in and mention that you’re looking for bartending work and would love to chat with the manager. If the workers already know you, the manager might be more willing to hire you. Remember to have your resume handy in case the manager asks for it.

Search online job sites for bar openings in your area. Many bartender jobs are posted online, just like any other job. You can check websites like Indeed or Glassdoor by typing “bartender” into the search engine. You’ll probably come across plenty of postings that you can apply to. Remember to adjust the location settings to the area you want to work in. Otherwise, you’ll have to sift through a lot of postings nowhere near you. Since applying online is easy, you’ll probably have a lot of competition for these postings. You should combine this method with applying in person as well.

Visit local bars to submit your resume. Not all bartending jobs are officially advertised, and pounding the pavement and applying in person is still popular in the bartending world. Make a list of bars in the area and visit in person to ask for a bartending job. Have your resume handy and be ready to sell yourself to the manager. Be prepared because the manager may want to interview or test you right there. Try to visit the bar at a less busy time, like mid-afternoon. If you come it any a busy time, the manager won’t have any time to talk to you. If you know anyone that works at a local bar, let them know you’re looking for work. They could put in a good word for you with the manager.

Landing the Job

Dress well for the interview. You always want to impress the manager interviewing you, and showing up well-dressed is a huge part of making a good impression. Even if you’re only interviewing for a casual sports bar, you can never go wrong with a nice pair of pants or a skirt with a clean dress shirt. Remember that this might be different if you’re interviewing at an upscale bar. Bartenders in these places often wear ties and dress pants, so dress appropriately for the interview. A good rule of thumb is to try and dress a bit more formally than the bartenders working at the bar.

Be friendly and enthusiastic throughout the whole interview. Your personality matters a lot if you’re trying to get a bartender job. Managers usually want someone who is personable, but also shows good judgment and responsibility. Show the manager that you can fill these roles. Shake their hand, make eye contact, smile, sit up straight, and speak confidently so they can see that you’re a good fit for the job. Try to make the interview with the manager conversational. This will make them like you as a person and they’ll be more willing to hire you. If the manager asks why you want to work at this bar, say something like "This is just the perfect atmosphere that I work well in. I can tell that the customers and staff are all people that I can get along with, and I can really do my best work here." The manager might try to make the interview tough or stressful for you. This is probably a test to see how you handle pressure, so remain calm and friendly throughout the whole process, even if it’s stressful.

Emphasize your past experience working with customers. Even if you know how to make drinks well, one of the most important parts of being a bartender is interacting with the customers. The manager will probably ask about your previous experience in customer service, whether it was at a bar or not. Be ready to emphasize your people skills and comfort in dealing with the general public. This is a good way to impress the manager. The manager will probably ask you how you’d handle some hypothetical scenarios, like remembering drink orders for a very large group or spotting a fake ID. Try to anticipate all of the situations you might come across on the job and have good answers for them. Have a few stories ready about when you had to resolve conflict, like needing to kick a drunk patron out of a bar. These are situations that will probably come up on the job, so the manager wants to know you can handle it. Say something like, "I remember once a customer came into the bar stumbling, and I could tell he was already drunk. It wouldn't be right at all to serve him, so I told him he had to leave. When he wouldn't, I let the bouncer know so he escorted him out."

Follow up after the interview. You're making a mistake if you don't follow up after a job interview, no matter how well you think it went. A day after the interview, send the manager an email or call them to thank them for their time. Take the chance to reiterate your interest in the job. If they were on the fence about hiring you, your interest could push them in your favor. You don't have to be very wordy when you follow up. Just say, "I wanted to thank you again for your time yesterday. I'm still very interested in the job, and I'm hoping to hear back from you soon."

Nail your trial shift. If you pass the interview, then the next stage is probably a trial shift. This is standard practice to make sure you can actually handle the job. The manager will schedule you to work a real shift under their supervision. This is the final test, so do your absolute best to nail it! Come prepared and bring anything that the manager tells you to bring, like pens or bottle openers. Also, dress exactly like they tell you to dress. Stay calm while you’re working your shift. It’ll probably get stressful, and the manager may have scheduled you at a busy time on purpose to see how you perform. Just remember all of your skills and experience to work through it. Remember to work well with everyone else on shift at that time. Being a bartender means being part of a team, so contribute to that team as much as you can.