One of the most important aspects of serving drinks is being able to work quickly and remember several orders at once. However, the more efficient the bartender is the better the owner’s books look. Bartenders are human, so some degree of waste is to be expected. While a restaurant owner or manager shouldn’t fret over minute losses, sizable waste can lead to sizable financial losses over time. This helps save the business money since every drop of liquor spilled costs money. making drinks to the correct recipe and without waste, is a crucial part of bartending. Many experienced bartenders will tell you that’s a fun part of the job, anyway.īeing efficient while making drinks, i.e. In addition to what they already know, a bartender should be flexible enough to remember the bar menu and even create new recipes when asked to do so.
Bartenders need to know how to create and serve a wide variety of drinks beyond beer, wine, and simple mixed drinks like a gin and tonic.Ĭocktails are increasingly popular and a veteran mixologist will have a well-established arsenal of cocktail recipes memorized. The job title “bartender” implies that serving alcoholic beverages is the core of the job, which in many cases is true. However, some core skills stand out as most important: making and serving drinks, maintaining the bar area, interacting with customers, and working as part of a team. Skills for Job Descriptionīartenders often wear many hats in a business and need to be flexible. Drink recipes, laws regarding serving, how to use and maintain bar equipment, and requirements specific to the establishment can all be taught, even to novice bartenders. Check your state’s laws to learn what’s required in your area.Īside from formal training, bartenders learn most of their skills on the job.
Many states require a bartender to have certification or licensing to serve alcohol, and of course there are age requirements.
Courses like this can be a plus but are not strictly necessary for a bartender to be competent. However, some bartenders opt to take a course from a bartending school. Education and Backgroundīartenders don’t need any formal education or even a high school diploma to do their job. In addition, we’ll give suggestions for what to look for when hiring and provide a sample bartender job description. Knowing what to look for and how to vet a bartender can save a manager time and effort, and can ultimately lead to a good hire.īelow we’ll detail the tasks a bartender has to be able to perform.
While finding the right bartender can be a challenge, it need not be a chore. They act as one of the primary conduits for money to enter a business and often are the face of the business to a customer.īecause a bartender handles many roles, knowing who and how to hire can be tricky. An efficient, knowledgeable, and personable bartender can be a godsend for a business.
Although their jobs can vary significantly by location, bartenders essentially answer to two parties: their establishment and their customers.