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
Speed and Efficiency in High Volume Bartending: Order Taking
When serving hoards of customers there are a few time saving tricks you can use to get faster, and please more people at the same time. I used to work at a bar where space was limited, there was only enough room for one or two people to lean up against the wood, everybody else lined up behind them. In a place like this you don’t have time to wait for the people at your bar to finish doing their shots before you move on to the next customers. I would constantly be waving up the next people behind these customers with my hand to take their orders before they’d even gotten to the wood. Whenever I spotted a regular in the line, I would have their drink ready for them the second they arrived at my bar and simply ask: “any shots or anything to go with that?” The third thing I would do was allow my high tipping customers to avoid the line entirely by coming around the side of my bar to place their orders. In this situation I wouldn’t ignore the next person in line, I’d just make both orders simultaneously, so nobody felt insulted.
At the bar I currently work at it is a little more difficult. I have sprawling bar space where 12 – 15 customers can line up around, and keeping track of who is there first takes a little practice. Generally, I serve in a sweeping motion from left to right, then start at the left and sweep back to the right again. That way if somebody has been waiting longer, they aren’t left out long. Starting at the very left, I take that persons order and begin putting it together. All it takes is to look at the next person to the right, and they are telling me their order right away. I place the drinks for the first person in front of them and tell them what they owe. As I tell them how much, I’m already getting the glassware ready for the next order. I process payment for the first person and take the third persons order, once again simply by looking at them. And so on the routine goes.
With practice this routine should flow and be effortless, allowing you to focus more on the fun you’re having with your customers. I should mention that I still maintain the practice of allowing my high tipping customers to come around the side of the bar to place their orders. Allowing them this prestige causes them to tip even more money, it’s a thing of beauty!