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Chapter 16 - Time to get to the Party… I mean, to work!
How to land the ideal bartending job

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the course and completed the homework, yes? Well then make yourself a drink (tip yourself well), sit back, take a breather and give yourself some recognition, as you’ve already completed one of the most difficult tasks in becoming a bartender !

You say you haven’t done these things!? If you’ve already made yourself a drink, empty it out, by all means! Of course, we jest, however cannot be serious enough in stating that the information contained in this course has been designed to prepare you with the necessary skills to get bartending as soon as humanly possible, however we would never recommend trying to get a job somewhere without your passing grade and the confidence in your own abilities as a bartender. We know how that this course will deliver, but you need to participate as well. If you haven’t successfully obtained a passing grade and don’t feel confident enough to enter the world of bartending, then we strongly recommend reading through the course again. We know that at times, this will seem like work, because it is! But remember the benefits that will come at the end of your efforts—this should hold you through. We know you can do it!!!

Your Future

As a FreeBartendingSchool.com student, we know you’re serious about this fun, exciting and rewarding line of work, however the worst thing you could do would be to apply for a job with sub-par, un-practiced bartending skills. Below, we’ll provide some on-going tips for you to get that dream job, but if you land it and management soon discovers that your ability to make drinks is not as you’d indicated, then it will be the quickest job you’ve ever had, and you’ll have ruled out a viable opportunity for when you do hone down your skills in the future! If by this point you still think that bartending is a breeze of a position, you are both right and wrong. Bartending is, in fact, hard work, the hardest part being learning how to do it, and chances are you’ve already figured that out! That’s half the battle! The second hardest part is to land the job you want. After that, it’s money and fun with a job where the party comes to you (and your only working part time)!

Time to Get That Job!

Right now you’ve got the stuff that management is looking for, you just have to find the management that’s looking for you and prove it to them! As diligent as you have been in learning the craft of bartending, you must be equally diligent when seeking out your dream job. Here are some tips to get you there!

Breaking into the bartending world will take commitment on your part and you should be prepared for this. The most lucrative bartending positions are also the hardest to get and are typically the most fast paced. Even armed with the knowledge contained within the course, we still would not recommend you to apply to one of these fast paced bars immediately, as you’d be better advised to learn your skills and get some resume experience by starting out in one of the easier to get bartending jobs, then working your way up with more on the job skills and confidence. Loosing a job at your dream location would be heartbreaking and could very well happen if you weren’t properly prepared. If you do have the ideal, fast paced bar that you’d like to work for, we’d recommend to first find another position within the bar as either a waiter, a bar-back (an assistant to the bartenders), or whatever is available. We’d only recommend this if you are dead set on working nowhere else, because that passion will come across to your new boss. However for the majority of you, we’d recommend to seek work doing what you want to do, bartending! There are a variety of establishments that hire “first time” bartenders and still pay well. Here, you won’t waste time in a position other than the one you’re seeking out, and when you do arrive at your ideal place of work, you’ll already have the know-how necessary to cut it in the fast paced world of bartending.

Your Employment Options

Airports

We all know how busy airports can get, and to boot, how anxious people feel before getting on the plane. Airport bars get a lot of activity from people looking to take the edge off, people waiting for a connection, or kicking off a vacation. With such a wide cross section of people coming through from businessmen to weekend fliers, you’ll get a good opportunity to deal with different personality types and experience different tipping philosophies, all the while better learning how to read your customer. Knowledge that will pay off. Literally.

Catering Services

Similar to an airport, a catering service will get you experience with just about every type of person there is, from company sponsored events, to weddings, to bar mitzvah’s. A brief look on the Internet or through your local yellow pages will put you in touch with the most popular catering services in your area.

Concession Companies

Companies that service concerts, fairs, sporting events or similar are as fast paced as nightclubs, but much easier for you to get your foot in the door. Here, you’ll have little one on one time with your clientele, but you will get the chance to deal with a high volume of customers and an equally varied degree of personalities. These jobs can be well paid due to the number of people you’ll serve.

Cruise Ships

If you have the luxury of getting away for an extended period of time, here’s a nice way to see the world and benefit from the liberal tipping philosophy of the typical vacationer. This certainly is not an option for everyone, but nonetheless should be included. Hotels Hotels typically have restaurants and you could get the opportunity to service business people entertaining clients on expense accounts (good tips), or people enjoying a vacation of some sort, more prone to tip well to the friendly bartender willing to spend some time with them and answer a few questions they may have about your part of the world.

Restaurants

Restaurants are a good place to start as a bartender, where the bar may or may not be extremely crowded all the time, and management could justify taking on a certified bartender such as yourself. Depending upon the restaurant, you’ll have the opportunity to service customers waiting for tables, and maybe others who wanted a quieter place to get a drink.

Local Pubs or Beer & Wine Bars

Your basic neighborhood tavern, the environment in these types of establishments is often like that of Cheers, where everybody knows your name, and the locals will get to know you, like you, and tip you as regularly as they come to visit. Typically, these establishments are looking for a person who can fit in with the local culture and “speak their language” so chances are, if it’s local to you, you’ve got the qualities they’re looking for.

Nightclubs

We list this last, because in the way of money to be earned, nightclubs are the crème de la crème when it comes to tipping. A fast paced nightclub is filled with upwardly mobile party goers who like to spend money and make sure others can see it. (This is good for you, too, as tipping well is a sought after quality for many who frequent these bars). The patrons are typically very discriminating in their taste and want what they pay for. Like what you may have seen in “Cocktail” or “Coyote Ugly”, these establishments can be fast-paced and give you the opportunity to serve a lot of drinks, however you must know your stuff. Unless you know someone at the club, in management or otherwise, we would not recommend this venue as your first approach when seeking out a bartending job, even if it is your desired goal. We’d highly recommend finding a job at one of the other establishments listed above and honing your skills. All the while, you might find a clever way to get to know the owner of the club you’d like to work at by attending the club, getting a feel for how they operate, and even coming in early when you know the owner will be there to let him know your intent. These are highly paid jobs and you must be aggressive and know your skills to land them.

Wherever You Apply, You Must do this…

Resumes

As with any job, we would highly recommend creating a resume, and most definitely feature your training from FreeBartendingSchool.com on that resume. While we would recommend you create a resume, do be mindful of when you should include it. Most places of employment will want you to fill out an application that covers much of the standard information contained on your resume. With that said, you may very well be able to simply staple your resume to their application, save yourself time and also demonstrate a level of professionalism to your prospective boss by ensuring that your resume is printed on a nice bond of paper and structured in a neat and orderly fashion.

Meet with Management

In the same breath, we would also recommend always getting a face to face meeting with management. If you can sell them on yourself and your abilities before providing a resume that shows no prior experience with the exception of your FreeBartendingSchool.com schooling, then you will have a dramatically better chance of getting the job. Remember, bartending is 90% attitude and personality! If you can convey your enthusiasm to your future boss, your chances of getting that job rise exponentially. Much like you will be reading your customers on what they want, and how and when, you will read your prospective employer.

If You Can’t Meet with Management

If you’ve tried everything and can’t meet with management, you MUST ensure that your resume / application is at least left with them. The competitive field that it is, if you approach the working bartender about a job opening, chances are better than not that they will tell you they are not hiring. Most ideally, try to set up an appointment with the manager. After all, they are very busy and you must respect that. Setting the tone with this type of professionalism will get you noticed.

Appearance

As with any job or any human interaction for that matter, first impressions are extremely important. In meeting with potential employers you should be very well groomed, smell nice and if at all possible, wear neat, conservative clothes. The only exceptions to this would be if you were applying at a surfing themed bar and knew that all the employees wore Hawaiian shirts, etc., then it might be a good idea to show that you already fit in with the overall feel of the bar. Again, this might sound like common sense, but it’s subtleties like this that could make the difference in you getting the job or not.

When to go

In order to make best use of your time, we’d suggest visiting several bars in one day, and even going to the places you’d rather not work first, just to get comfortable in the new environment of interviewing for a bartending position. If you can get an appointment with the manager, fantastic, but if not, you’ll have to “pop in”. From your phone work, you should have learned the times when the manager is working, however, try to speak to that manager directly, and schedule a time for an appointment. If you can’t get the manager on the phone, go to the bar between 11am-4pm. If it’s a restaurant, adjust this time to 9:30am-11:30am or 2:30pm-5pm. The goal here is to find a time when your prospective boss is going to be there, but not in the mad rush of dealing with busy periods (night time for bars, and meal time for restaurants, etc.). Where to go Go somewhere that you’d like to go if you were looking to relax at a bar yourself! Go to the type of bar where you automatically fit in and not only will you have a better chance of getting the job, you’ll better relate to the customers. Wherever you work, you must be prepared to encounter and professionally serve people of every variety. Second to a New York City taxi driver, I can’t think of any other job where you’ll meet all walks of life and some whom you’ll wonder whether or not they even are.

Always be bold!

You must be prepared for the fact that as a FreBartendingSchool.com trained bartender, you have the skills it takes to serve drinks, but you are still entering a highly competitive field. When meeting the manager of the establishment where you’d like to work, you’re going to have to stand out in that person’s mind. Most importantly, make sure that you bring out your personality and enthusiasm for working for him in the interview or even a brief meeting. Having completed the FreeBartendingSchool.com course and having thoroughly practiced your skills, you ARE an experienced bartender! You just haven’t had experience behind HIS bar. You might just have to fight your way in and the only way to do this is to be bold! Should anyone ever look at your resume and state the above, tell them that you ARE experienced. Ask them what their favorite virgin drink is. When they give you the answer, tell them that you’d like to make this drink for them “on the house”, to show them how fast you work and to demonstrate your abilities. Make sure you ask them if this is okay before walking behind the bar (we said bold, not stupid), then get to it! If they don’t want you behind the bar getting in the way of others, tell them you’ll recite the ingredients and how to make it, tell them about the FreeBartendingSchool.com shortcuts for drink making and how it saves you time and leaves more room for you to memorize any house specials they may have. Tell him that you will work for free for 2 nights to show how good you are. Be bold and be aggressive! Much of how far you want to take this will be up to you and your evaluation of the circumstances at hand, the disposition of the manager, etc., and we certainly wouldn’t recommend these tactics at the airport (probably not necessary), but when you are applying to the more competitive establishments that will earn you a more competitive salary, YOU MUST BE BOLD! YOU NOW HAVE THE SKILLS, SO GO AND GET THAT JOB!

You are beyond the point of test questions, so there are none for this chapter. Now it is time for you to apply the knowledge you’ve already learned to the active pursuit of getting behind the bar! Do take a moment and make yourself your favorite drink and recognize how far you’ve come. By reaching this point, we know you have the necessary skills to become a bartender. Now is the time for you to make it happen! Most of all, it’s you that matters: Your skills that should be recognized and your commitment to quality and professionalism in the world of bartending. Keep this in mind as you embark on the search for your new career and when you find yourself behind the bar. The bartender’s code can’t be stressed highly enough by the Freebartendingschool.com and your living up to our standards is why we exist as an organization! As a final note, we always enjoy hearing from our students and you are no exception. Please email any stories or feedback you may have about your new career or our program. Like any good bartender, we’re always receptive to improvement.

BEST OF LUCK! WE LOOK FORWARD TO BEING SERVED BY YOU!

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