How to Become a Bartender
Cheerful clinks, convivial chatter, and skillfully-made drinks—here’s to the bartender, a job that took hold as a respectable and creative profession in the 19th century when American cocktail innovators like Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson legitimized the career with mixology guides, bartending manuals, and outfits exuding debonair-flair. If you’re both a self-starter and go-getter who’s willing to grind your way up—and can enable a team spirit and remain trustworthy—then you may want to learn how to become a bartender.
Once you’re behind the bar and you retain hours during lucrative shifts—while building a following of high-tipping regulars—you can potentially make some serious moolah. Plus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a promising future for bartender jobs, including a 32% growth rate over the next decade (much faster than the average for all occupations) and around 111,300 openings each year during that period. The field is expected to balloon as many workers switch establishments or change careers.
Make sure to memorize important recipes when you first start (even when you’re bar-backing), then work hard and take your own initiatives to absorb several tricks of the trade—and you’ll soon be on your way to slinging libations to thirsty patrons.
What Does a Bartender Do?
As the writer and great imbiber Charles Bukowski wrote: “There is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock.” Fortunately, the reliable bartender is there to appease, listen, uplift, and revive. So, might the calling to bartend be as clear to you as a clarion’s melody? Do you have an affinity for drink-making and being social?
Before getting into any bartender training—which you may or may not need—consider the duties below, which do involve more than serving drinks and lending an empathetic ear:
- Be welcoming, and extend an enjoyable and diverting experience for customers.
- Pour and serve beverages, as requested, then clean the bar and work areas, as needed.
- Maintain equipment and do inventory.
- Manage all bar operations, and put in new orders for alcohol and bar supplies.
- Create new recipes (if your venue encourages mixology), prepare garnishes, concoct your own bitters and finishing sprays, and practice your showmanship (à la Jerry Thomas, who’d artfully cast flaming whiskey between silver tankards for his famous Blue Blazer).
- Coordinate effectively with servers if you’re working in a restaurant.
- Check patrons’ identification for legal drinking age, let them know about any specials, collect payments, think on your feet, and keep track of overly rowdy or precarious inebriation.
Want to know more about what it takes to succeed in this career? Then review Monster’s bartender job description.
How to Become a Bartender
Right off the bat, the good news is that there isn’t any formal education required for the bartending vocation. In fact, many aspiring bartenders previously work as factotums (yes—another Bukowski reference!) or may do odd jobs or temp gigs, gain life experiences, explore their options as polymaths, or travel the world to soak in diverse cultures and customs.
If you haven’t bartended before, you may need to begin on a lower rung. That means bar-backing and paying your dues. You may have to sweep away broken glass, spray and scrub the counters, re-stock liquor bottles and mixers, replace empty kegs, and then accept those slow, enduring bartender shifts when there isn’t a single big spender in sight.
This field can be cutthroat. You’ll have to be scrappy and develop a thick skin. But if you’re resilient enough and show honest-to-goodness interest in the field, the managers will notice and you’ll find your way.
Your employer will also provide on-the-job training so that you get the hang of any specialized recipes, bar equipment, and point-of-sale (POS) systems.
Besides strong verbal communication skills, the following traits should give you an advantage:
- a sense of gregariousness
- knowledge of various drink recipes
- time-management and efficiency under pressure
- fine-tuned memory skills (remember your patrons’ names!)
- good judgment (e.g., when it comes to cutting off highly soused guzzlers or denying service to underage customers)
- excellent customer service skills
- physical stamina and strength
- continual situational awareness
Do You Need to Go to Bartending School?
Short answer: No. But it could help. However, as anyone in the industry will tell you: The best bartender training is hands-on experience. So if you find a job as a cocktail server, bar-back or bar porter, or even as host or hostess, take it and learn as you go. You’ll save money this way too, and you’ll truly grasp how to become a bartender by observing and internally registering everything. With time, you’ll be pouring beer without over-foaming, identifying common varietal wines, and integrating the most popular cocktail recipes into your repertoire.
Really, the main reason to pursue bartending school would be to fill in any blanks or expand your knowledge of, say, cocktail history and mixology. Many options are available online, including the affordable BarSmarts program, which runs through recipes and serving techniques. Created by Pernod Ricard USA, it ends with an exam and you’ll receive a certificate too. Then you can opt for an advanced course, which features top-notch industry experts, such as drinks historian David Wondrich and James Beard Foundation Award winner Dale DeGroff.
Other bartender training programs cover health, harassment, and safety issues—including how to deal with intoxicated and belligerent customers—but all that should be part of your onboarding process nonetheless.
Do You Need a Bartending License?
Not necessarily. Some states require that you are at least 18 years of age while in others you need to be 21, so you should ensure that you’re familiar with your state/local laws regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages. Each state has different requirements besides your age too, including obtaining a bartending license or training for alcohol awareness or responsible alcohol serving.
How Long Does It Take to Become a Bartender?
As you can see, learning how to become a bartender will depend on the individual, so the time it takes to get you behind the bar and running the show will vary. For instance, if you’re in California, you’ll have to get a certain type of bartender certification, which you can complete in one-and-a-half hours. This training is called the Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) certification, and then you’ll also need to pass an online exam within 60 days of your first date of employment.
But, typically, if you simply join a bar staff as a bar-back, you may have to do that gig for a minimum of two months or so and then do a few weeks of in-house training. After that, you may start off as a daytime bartender before progressing to the more profitable evening shifts.
In any case—before sending your applications—think about how to formulate a compelling objective on your resume and gather some cues from Monster’s bartender cover letter sample too. Lucidity, purpose, and decisiveness will help convince hiring managers that you really want to be in this industry.
How Much Do Bartenders Make?
The median bartender salary is $11.45 per hour, and it can range between $10.25 and $13.89. But you won’t make the bulk of your money from your hourly rate. Anyone trying to find out how to become a bartender knows that a substantial portion of your earnings is accumulated from tips. And the amount of tips you make will hinge on what shift and what kind of venue you’re working in. Additionally, search for location-specific salaries for bartenders by using Monster’s convenient Salary Tools.
Where Do Bartenders Work?
Bartenders work in any establishment that serves drinks—from fancy restaurants, cavernous nightclubs, and tiki resorts to special events, smaller bistros, and neighborhood dive-bars. You may be indoors or outdoors, but keep in mind that you’ll have to do shifts late into the night and on weekends (plus on some holidays too) in order to get the most bang for your labor. You may want to also look into the benefits of becoming a member of the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG), which offers everything from access to competitions and educational perks to professional networking opportunities.
According to the BLS, the top five states for the employment of bartenders are:
And the top five metro areas are:
Three Cheers for Your Bartending Career!
You’re now primed on how to become a bartender, but this is only the aperitif. After you create a free profile on Monster, you’ll be able to go a step further by applying to any bartender jobs that fit your needs and aspirations. And we’ll throw in a few shots gratis to pump you up, including customized alerts about openings in your area sent directly to your inbox. Bottoms up!