Bartenders are often glorified in television shows and in movies. These cool cats tend to make bartending look simple, though this could not be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that any position within the restaurant business is tough. Bartenders work long hours, put up with a lot of crap like unruly customers, drunk guys who dropped off their charm eight drinks ago, coke-head bar owners, and a lot more! On the other hand, bartending can be a great party, and financially rewarding.
Being a bartender may sound like the best job in the world, but these professionals have worked hard to earn a spot behind the bar. There’s a lot that goes into bartending. Learning how to mix drinks is just half of the bartending battle. If you want to be a professional bartender, you will have to know a lot about the bar business itself.
How Bartending School Can Help
Many hospitality schools across the world offer bartending courses. These schools teach prospective bartenders all about the hospitality business. Taking a course or two at a bartending school will give you the background you need in order to know what is expected of a bartender. You will learn about drink combinations, how to mix classic drinks, how to handle customers, all about money, and many other bartending tricks.
Bartending school also gives you the opportunity to practice mixing and serving drinks before you apply for any jobs. You may even find an employer or two who wants to hire people who have come straight from bartending school. Unfortunately, most employers are looking for a bartender who not only knows all about bartending, but who also has a great deal of experience.
What Bartending School Can’t Do
You can’t expect to graduate from bartending school and get a job right away. Unless the school that you are attending has a job placement program, you will have to apply for jobs like everyone else. You may also find that other prospective bartenders who don’t attend school have more experience than you do. Thus, while attending courses, try to find an internship at a bar in order to gain real experience.
Many hotels hire new bartenders, and you can work part-time until you finish your courses. That way, you will have the experience needed to find a job once you graduate. Even though bartending school may not help you land the best job available, you will find that courses offered through a hospitality program are highly useful. If you can’t afford to attend bartending school, you can always try to researching various bartending tips and tricks by picking up a bartender’s guidebook. Either way, it’s a wise idea to know how to bartend before you step foot inside of a bar for that first interview.
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