✦ Hospitality Guides — Bar ✦
How to get a bartending job
Almost nobody is hired straight onto a good bar. The route in is the barback door, and it takes months, not years — provided you treat the barback shift as the audition it is.
Start as a barback
Barbacks stock, ice, cut fruit, change kegs and keep the bar clean through service. It is physical and unglamorous, and it is where every bar manager decides who they will train next. Six months of a well-run barback shift beats a bartending certificate almost everywhere.
Is bartending school worth it?
Rarely on its own — most managers know a certificate doesn't prove you can hold a rail on a Saturday. It helps if you have zero hospitality history and need something on the resume, or if your country requires a licence to serve alcohol. Where a licence or responsible-service certificate is legally required, get it before you apply; it removes the easiest reason to reject you.
What bar managers test for
- Speed with accuracy — a fast wrong drink costs more than a slow right one.
- Cleanliness during service, not just at close.
- Cash and till discipline. Every bar has been stolen from.
- Whether guests like being around you when the bar is three deep.
Learn these before your first trial shift
- Ten classics cold: Old Fashioned, Negroni, Margarita, Daiquiri, Martini, Manhattan, Whisky Sour, Espresso Martini, Mojito, Aperol Spritz.
- Standard pour counts and your local measure sizes.
- Beer line and keg basics — changing a keg mid-rush is a common test.
- Wine by the glass: how to open, pour and store it properly.
Getting the trial
Go in person, early evening on a quiet weekday. Ask for the bar manager. Say you're looking for barback shifts and you're happy to start on the worst nights — that sentence gets more people hired than any resume line.
I'm after barback work. I'll take Sundays and Mondays, I'm on time, and I want to learn the bar properly. Can I leave my number with you?
Cocktail bar, hotel bar, or high-volume?
- High-volume bars and clubs: fastest to get hired, best for building speed, hardest on your body.
- Cocktail bars: slower to get into, best for craft and for your long-term reputation.
- Hotel bars: steadier hours, better contracts and benefits, quieter tips.
If you're starting out, take volume first. Speed transfers everywhere; craft can be learned once your hands are quick.
What to ask before you accept
- How is the tip pool split, and do barbacks share in it?
- Who closes, and is close-down paid?
- How many hours are guaranteed versus offered?
Want bar shifts? Bar roles get posted inside the Lounge, and the Bar room is where members swap trial-shift advice and tip-split reality checks.