I am a 23 year old student in california and I would really like to land a barbacking or bartending gig… my question is in regards to my limited experience which was as a bartender in Sweden last year for nearly 10 months and roughly 4 nights/week… it was at the busiest student pub in the 4th largest city in Sweden… is international experience credible experience? i did have to speak Swedish (which i am fluent in but does me little good in california) the majority of the time.

what do u suppose my chances are with that sort of experience? in fact, is it even more interesting than if it were in the states? im not entirely confident in the matter…

thanks!

tristan

As a fresh http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com user i only wanted to say hi to everyone else who uses this forum 8-)

As far as slowly working my way into the industry, I’m not 100% sure that’s something I’d be capable of doing. Say I followed your general guide and worked late nights while keeping my 40 hours with my current employer. The big day comes and my new boss says, “hey, blablabla called off, we need you to fill in for her tomorrow afternoon.”

Obviously the new boss would probably already know I work full time elsewhere and probably wouldn’t offer such a shift to me to begin with, but I guess my point is, even if it was offered, what could I do? Call off sick from my main job to get a random Tuesday lunch shift?

This is where I was looking to bartending school. What I want is a good contact list, a little training, and an ice breaker in an interview. I don’t wanna work Friday nights to start, but eventually, sure. Something like a rung in my ladder when I talk to a manager and see if they know of anyone who has an open night of the week I could start would be what I’m looking for.

I guess what my view of this “debate” is…Is that bartending school is not for everyone, but surely it’s for someone. Reading the posted opinions here, do you think it’s something that may be for me? If not…what’s a guy to do to supplement his life with a decent part time gig as a bartender? Or am I maybe barking up the wrong tree?

I keep a small library of books behind my bar at all times, and feel that any bar that doesn’t stock at least three books on the subject of bartending isn’t worth a damn.

I would much rather see a bartender consult an expert than try to wing it with my drink any day.

If your not sure if bartending school is for you, let me ask you a question: What goes in a Vodka and Cranberry? If you can’t figure that out you need the school. I went, only because I didn’t know the diferent types of beer (I don’t drink beer) and the new shots or drinks….one major rule in bartending is that you’ll findout that one drink will have 5 different names. Don’t worry if you never heard of it, this is what you do:

#1) Ask you partner behind the bar if they heard of it (if “no” go to #2)

#2) If you have a bar recipe book (which I hate seeing someone use) look inside for the recipe (if “no” go to #3)

#3) Ask the customer whats in it. If they don’t know, I tell them they shouldn’t be drinking it.

Hope I put a light on things..Good Luck!

Thanks for writing.

I think what I really wanted out of the school was the confidence in making the drinks correctly and fast enough for my comfort. I got that.

The school was quite comprehensive, too. My instructor went over everything he can squeeze into two weeks/4 hours per day. The school requires their teachers to have Bachelors or a Masters Degree.

What really closed the deal for me was when they emphasized that I can always “come back” to review(retake the class) or master and practice mixing drinks.

I have 2 years part-time/full-time as barback in an upscale restaurant. Hopefully that will help in getting a job.

But I must say, if I owned or managed a bar/restaurant, I would take a graduate of the school in to serious consideration for a bartending position over someone who only had 6 months of barbacking or serving experience(although that’s a really big PLUS).

Thanks for the insight! You’re right, blanket statement regarding bartending schools is, in retrospect after meeting people like yourself, completely wrong. However, the current state of affairs suggests that bartending schools in this country are more often bogus than not.

I don’t know if there’s a direct correlation between that and the fact that bartenders themselves in this country are more often bogus than not.

I suppose the same could be said about the average American drinker. Anyway.

To answer your question, I think that putting the bartending school on the resume is probably a good thing, and hopefully you’ve already got some good experience under your belt to back it up.

My whole point is this: a resume with nothing but bartending school on it will more than likely get you sent home. Experience is king here.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

Jeffrey

First off, I love your website! The content of your site, more than anything else I’ve come across, has confirmed for me that mixology and bartending are a hell of a lot more than a job or a set of skills–that there’s an art and a science to it as well.

The bartending school issue seems to be a hotly contested one…having researched it a little now, I’ve seen everything from “bartending schools are just a bunch of bogus shysters trying to take your money” to “bartending school is crucial and necessary and anyone who knocks it is insecure or narrow-minded.” And all VEHEMENTLY argued, too.

I went to bartending school in Chicago. (Actually, the same one that Pam of comment #15 above went to, and I had that same fast-talking teacher, who I’m told has since left.) And I agree with what seems to be the general consensus: yes, you learn some things, but not everything, and regardless it is rarely enough by itself to get you a job.

In fact, the best response for the “how do you break in” question that I’ve come across is just that you have to be in the right place at the right time. After some time on that first break-in job, you’ve cleared the experience hurdle, so it only needs to happen once. And that can be anything from sheer luck, like walking into a place that desperately needs someone THAT NIGHT and will take the chance on you, to being hired despite not having much experience because you bring something else to the table.

Case in point: when I was looking for work I had the bartending school certificate, and about a month bartending at a seasonal beach restaurant which didn’t really have a full bar to begin with and closed for the winter soon after I started working there. In other words, almost no experience. But I got the next job because I had a background and some connections in theater and the management wanted to start a bunch of new promotions, including an improv/comedy night. They figured I could help with that, so I won out over other candidates who presumably had more experience.

So it seems to me like a job-seeker ought to use whatever they have at their disposal–time, talent, even just persistence–to land that first gig, because after that it’s much easier.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you a question as well: most people agree that bartending school isn’t always going to help get a job, but some even say that it’s detrimental to have it on the resume. I’m moving cities in a month or so, and as I’m applying for new jobs, do you think that even if I have some experience, listing bartending school might cast a bad light on my application?

It’s good to know that there are legitimate schools out there. I mean, I imagined as such, but finding a quality bartending school is about as touch as finding a quality bar. In this day and age, it’s still sketchy at best.

I disagree with this “bartender”. I am living proof that the RIGHT school, say one that has been in operation for 40 years,can get you a job.

I just finished barschool in New York City on 29th street. Four days after graduating, I was hired at Seven Bar and Lounge on 7th Avenue for a Thursday night shift, as well as the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and happy hour Monday through Friday.

How’d I get that?

Answer: I worked as a server for 5 years and headwaiter for 2 at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

If you are in the food industry and know the ropes of CUSTOMER SERVICE, take the bar class. Most times restaurants or bars will appreciate the fact that you went the extra step to learn how to bartend on your own; restaurants and co-workers of such establishments do not have time to train barbacks, or even walk-in hires from 3 weeks of coming to the same bar. Also, I have never seen a barback even come close to being a bartender in the method shown above; you bareback for at least 2-3 years in a PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT. No one wants to loose money or take the time to teach because then THEY loose money. THEY TEACH YOU THIS AT BAR SCHOOL.

If you are really serious about bartending, get involved with the indistry by serving first. Learn the drinks as you are serving them. Build your resume, becuase in the REAL world, you don’t slide in that easily by making “friends” with a bartender. If you do, you are working at a bar that doesn’t even come close to volumous bars and restaurants in the city that make you REAL money, like 1,000 to 2,200 dollars a week.

EXPERIENCE in the industry is KEY. Time spent learning about all aspects of the industry lands you a job as a bartender.

PS. It helps knowing how to SERVE and BARTEND because you can cover multiple shifts.

Hope this helps someone in Manhattan reading this.

Sincerely,

A Professional Bartender.