How to Get a Bartending Job - Dominate the Interview
After speaking with the hiring manager, you will probably receive a business card and a handshake, at best. The wait is worth it at the best clubs - so go back every weekend (if possible) at the same time on the same night to ensure the hiring manager will be there. I can remember going in 4 or 5 weekends in a row before I actually got an interview with the general manager! You need to show persistence.
A nightclub interview will be sometime in the afternoon. Take the entire day off to prepare yourself. If you really want the job, here is a winning strategy:
- Have a massive cup of coffee to kick up your energy (Starbucks has the most caffeine)
- Do some exercise to get the endorphins rushing, and clear your head
- Put on really nice dress pants (definitively no pleats!)
- Put on a dress shirt that fits really well (A tailored hugo boss shirt seems to do the trick every time…)
- Either undo the top button, or wear a tie. Play it by ear depending on the club
- Make sure everything is ironed!
- Remove all jewelry that can be considered as “bling” and cover any large tattoos
- Arrive 10 minutes early
These are the most common questions you will be asked. Make sure you’re prepared!
- What is your favourite type of music, or what radio station do you listen to?
- Why do you want to work at this nightclub?
- Why should we hire you?
- What activities take up most of your free time?
- Are you prepared to do promotional work for the club? What would you do?
- What is your favourite nightclub, and why?
- Describe responsibilities at your last job.
- Why are you leaving your last job
- Where do you see yourself in the next few years
Make sure you’re outgoing, polite, shaking hands, and smiling as much as possible. Most importantly, be confident in yourself. There are two reasons that confidence is key. First, confidence is one of the most important qualities in a good bartender. Second, when you are confident you are the best version of you. When you are unconfident or scared, you make mistakes, you stumble, you forget words and you come across as weak. Relax, and blow them away with your personality and preparation. Now is your chance to really sell yourself, so do it shamelessly and with confidence!
For further reading on this topic, check out how to get into the best nightclubs
-Tyson
How To Get A Bartending Job - Get Into The Best Nightclubs Part 2
Well… I promised that I would do this yesterday, but I didn’t. Sorry to anyone who is desperate to get a bartending job and couldn’t wait the extra day. I want to save your time (actually, I want to save my time) so I’ll get right into the second article about how to get a job at a top nightclub:
Before I forget, if you missed part 1 click here!
4. Confidence Is Key
One of the most important qualities in a bartender is that they exude confidence, and confidence is one of the first things a manager will be looking for when they are evaluating you as a potential employee. Confidence is important because you have to be able to control large crowds of customers who have a lot of money. You have to be able to perform your best and keep your cool when you are under pressure. And you need to be able to command respect from your customers and the people you work with. Trust me, if you lack confidence, you will be eaten alive as a nightclub bartender. However, I should add that if you do get in, being a nightclub bartender is one of the biggest confidence boosts you will ever get.
5. Make sure to talk to the decision maker
After you have figured out who the hiring manager is (it might even be the club owner) and you are looking your best, it’s time to assault the club. Arrive at the club before it gets busy and ask a member of the security staff if you could speak to (insert hiring managers first name here). It is better to ask a doorman than a bartender because if a bartender catches wind that you’re applying, he might see you as competition and make it difficult for you to talk to the hiring manager. Make sure you don’t leave the club unless you have either talked to the hiring manager or set up a time to talk to the hiring manager.
6. Get Your Foot In The Door
Many people think that they can take a bartending course and then get a job as a bartender. In my opinion bartending courses are a money making scam. To walk into a top nightclub and get a bartending job with little to no experience is almost impossible, and don’t ask me why, but a certificate from a bartending course almost diminishes your credibility. Bartending is a craft that is best learned through self-study and on the job training. And the best way to learn is to be in a nightclub atmosphere, not in a classroom.
The first thing you need to do is get hired by a nightclub. Take any job they’ll let you do, and let them know that your intention is to become a bartender and that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get there. This is why I had you choose a nightclub that has the potential to stay busy for years to come so that you will have time to work your way up to a bartending position.
The bad news is that to get your foot in the door at a top nightclub you’ll probably end up with one of the least glamorous jobs available. You’ll be a bar porter. You’ll pick up glassware from all over the place, clean up messes, stock the coolers, refill the ice etc.
The good news is that in great nightclubs, even the porters make excellent money. And bar porters get to learn the ins and outs of bartending in a nightclub and are generally considered next in line for bartending positions if they prove themselves.
7. Work Your Ass Off!
Once you have your foot in the door, you are so close to the bartending position you can almost taste it. In a good club, managers will be watching not only how hard you work as a porter, but also how you treat customers and if your personality is one that would be a good fit for a bartending position. Generally, you should be professional, yet you should also contribute to building a positive atmosphere in the club. Pay attention to what the managers are looking for in a bartender and make sure you excel in those areas. Your performance as a porter will determine exactly how long it takes for you to get your first shift behind the bar.
8. Be Prepared To Step In
Make sure that management knows you want to bartend, and then look for your opening.
Practice on your own: Memorize the recipes for popular drinks and work on pouring. Watch the bartenders to see how they operate (as a porter you’ll have a front row seat). Come in on your own time and learn how the computer and cash system work. The extra initiative will go a long way toward showing your enthusiasm.
Once you think you are prepared to step behind the bar, start looking for opportunities. Ask a manager if you could come in one night to shadow a bartender, or ask if you can show them your stuff on a slow night behind the bar.
Once you get the chance to bartend the ball is in your court. Good luck!
If you want to be one of the best, make sure you read every single frickin article on this site.
Cheers,
Andrew
How To Get A Bartending Job - Get Into The Best Nightclubs Part 1
Being a bartender anywhere is better than not being a bartender at all. But being a bartender at one of the best nightclubs in the world is like being a rockstar. If you’re going to go to the trouble of getting a bartending job. Why not aim for the top?
If you’re not convinced that it’s worth it yet, allow me to convince you:
- Great bartenders at top nightclubs can earn well over $3000 per weekend (yeah, that’s $3000 cash in two 4-8 hour shifts)
- Good bartenders at good nightclubs regularly earn well over $1500 per weekend
- Regular bartenders at regular nightclubs easily earn over $600 per weekend (That’s still around $50 per hour in cash for mediocrity… Not bad!)
- If you’re not earning over $500 per weekend - you need to find a better nightclub.
And if the money doesn’t convince you that it’s worthwhile how about this:
- Instead of paying to party, you get paid to party!
- Bartenders are automatically respected by everyone who comes into your club (as long as you’re not a huge dick!)
- There is something innately sexy about being a bartender. People are automatically attracted to you and members of the opposite sex will fawn over you all night long (I’m not really sure if fawn is a word, but you know what I mean)
- You only have to work a few hours a week to make more than most people do working full time. And it doesn’t even feel like work.
I could go on and on about why you should bartend at a nightclub, but I’m too lazy. Besides, by now you’re probably convinced and ready for me to get to the part about how to get a bartending job at the best nightclubs.
Here it is. Step by step:
1. Choose Your Target Wisely
The first thing you need to do is make a list of good nightclubs to shoot for. I would choose a nightclub that has a great reputation and has been busy for a long time over one that is the “best new club in town.” The problem with new nightclubs is that anyone can open one if they have enough money whether they are good at running them or not. If a nightclub is new and nice, people will come to it in droves for the first year or so just because it is new, but places like this open and close all the time. You don’t really want to put the time and effort it takes to get into a new club just to find that it dies down or even worse, closes after a few months.
Choose a place that has been around for a while, is well run, and that you think will be around for years to come.
Another important reason for getting your first bartending job at a well run, well respected nightclub is that once you have worked there, you will be able to get a job anywhere you want. You won’t have to “put the time in” at your next bartending job, you could walk in to almost any nightclub in town and they would hire you on the spot. Once you have reached that point, you can bounce around from one hot new nightclub to the other as much as you want and ride the wave at each one.
2. Prepare
Before approaching any of these clubs, make sure to prepare. Fortunately, preparation is simple:
Ask around and find out who is in charge of hiring at the club. Then find out what nights that person is around. That’s it, you’re done!
(actually step 3 kind of counts as preparation as well)
3. Look As Good As Possible
Nightclubs tend to hire people that are good looking. Is this fair? No. Is it true? Yes. That doesn’t mean, however, that if you are not classically good-looking you won’t be able to get a job. What it does mean is that when you are getting ready to approach the hiring manager (or owner) of the club you should look as good as you possibly can. Take a look at what the rest of the staff at the club looks like. That will give you some insight into their hiring practices.
If you are serious about getting a job, I always recommend getting into really good shape (especially if you’re a guy). But that takes time, and maybe you don’t want to spend 3 months working your ass off at the gym. So here are some super quick fixes that can help you look better when it’s time to walk into the club:
- Use some kind of tooth whitening system (crest whitestrips are good)
- Get a tan (tanning makes you look better. But don’t over do it!)
- Take care of your hair (get a stylish haircut, and make sure it is well styled) - I really hate using the words “styled” and “Stylish. I’m not sure why.
- Invest in some really nice clothes, nice shoes, and a nice watch. (This is absolutely essential!)
- Make sure you smell good (I don’t think this needs an explanation)
Okay… You’re done reading part 1. Here’s part 2!
Cheers!
Andrew
How to Get a Bartending Job – Is A Bartending Course Worth It?
Over the years I’ve had many people approach me and ask how I got my bartending job, and if I’d taken a bartending course. “A bartending course!?” I would ask… and then laugh my ass off. I’ve never heard of a bigger waste of money.
It seems that the only people that have good things to say about a bartending course are either people that are fresh out of the course looking for a job (they will most likely never find one) or the people that are teaching the courses. I have never seen a club hire someone straight out of bartending school. One guy at my nightclub actually teaches a bartending course – the only problem is that he has never been a bartender in his life. His job is to bus glassware at my club. I’ve had fat girls come up to me before and ask for some random cocktail I’ve never heard of. It always goes the same way – “Can you make me a “satin surf punch”?” I look at them confused and say I’ve never heard of it. Inevitably she is shocked because she recently learned that one in Bartending School, and thought any good bartender must know every fucking obscure cocktail made in the 80’s.
In bartending school, you tend to memorize a useless list of cocktails and shooters that you’ll forget the second the course is done. The truth is that different cocktails and shooters are popular at different nightclubs, and it is even rare that two different nightclubs make the same cocktail the same exact way. As a result, you have wasted an inordinate amount of time and money on your bartending course. The reason people recommend bartending courses is because they are an easy way for people like us to make a lot of money of suckers that are desperate for a bartending job. Fortunately, at frickin bartending we give you the straight goods! We’re not in it for the money… We’ll yeah we are, but at least we give you the best advice.
As an alternative to bartending school, read the article on getting a job at the best nightclubs. Follow it religiously. That way, instead of sitting in a boring classroom while wasting your time and money. You will be in one of the worlds best nightclubs and getting paid to learn! And to top it off, if you follow our advice, you are much more likely to get a job than if you took a bartending course
How To Get A Bartending Job
Bartending is the greatest job in the world. So Naturally, we get a lot of people who aren’t yet bartenders asking us how to get a job as a bartender. I don’t think this is a question that we can answer in one article, so we’re going to introduce a series of articles for those of you who are serious about getting a job as a bartender.
I’m not talking about bartending at a family restaurant either. I’m talking about getting a bartending job that you can buy a house with. The highest paying bartending jobs are at nightclubs, so why not shoot for the top? We’ll show you how to get in, if you’re willing to put in the time to read how.
Here are the topics we have covered:
- Is A Bartending Course Worth It?
- How To Get Into The Best Nightclubs Part 1
- How To Get Into The Best Nightlcubs Part 2
- How To Dominate The Interview
Stay tuned as we will cover these items over the next week.
Cheers!
Andrew