Bartending is an enjoyable, rewarding job that requires excellent customer service skills. Bartenders must greet customers, take drink orders, prepare and serve drinks according to recipes, while adhering to health and safety standards.
At an interview, it is essential that you can demonstrate how you handled various situations while working behind the bar. This will allow you to effectively respond to situational inquiries that might come up during your shift.
Restaurant Bartender
Restaurant bartenders are responsible for overseeing the bar area of a restaurant and serving customers directly or through wait staff. In addition, they prepare and mix alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages according to recipe or customer request; verify legal drinking age with ID checks; refuse service to those found to be underage drinking, intoxicated patrons; manage cash and credit card transactions accurately, clean the bar area according to company policies and health department requirements, among other duties.
Bartending jobs can be found at all kinds of establishments, from casual pubs to five-star hotels. Some require experience while others provide training programs for new bartenders; nonetheless, many require either a high school diploma or GED certificate and the ability to follow simple recipes as well as working under pressure and accommodating demanding customers.
If you’re starting your career as a bartender, restaurant chains that provide training and an encouraging atmosphere could be ideal. While restaurant bars might not have as glamorous of an atmosphere as lounges or nightclubs, they provide a solid foundation. Furthermore, restaurant bars typically open earlier and stay open later than club-only establishments.
As another way of entering the bartending profession, working as a barback or assistant for an established bartender may also be effective in building your experience and establishing yourself at the bar. You can use your experience from being an assistant bartender in higher-end restaurants as leverage when applying as a full bartender yourself.
Once you have experience behind the bar, it is time to search for bartending jobs in New York City. There is an assortment of part-time and full-time positions available here that may or may not match up perfectly with your skills and personality. By taking time for networking, research, and interview preparation before beginning your search process in earnest you may increase your odds of landing an ideal bartending gig in NYC.
Dive Bar or Local Bar
Dive bars are small, intimate drinking establishments where bartenders don’t discriminate when it comes to who they serve, often featuring unsanitary conditions with greasy spoons in the corner and packets of salty chips for snacks. Most dive bars only accept cash payments while some may even feature sketchy ATMs with limited services that would put anyone off. They have loyal patrons that come there just for watching sports teams they support while enjoying cheap cocktails made especially for them before entering.
At a dive bar, previous bartending experience is usually required – some places won’t let you in without this knowledge – in addition to having a high school diploma and knowledge of standard bar recipes and cocktails – such as martinis, sidecars, Manhattans, Negronis, Old-Fashioneds etc. plus being familiar with their POS system to manage inventory control effectively.
Your bar requires excellent communication skills and people skills, including being an efficient communicator with guests and keeping it clean and organized at all times. In addition, it must comply with health and safety regulations.
Restaurant bartenders differ from regular bartenders in that they serve both food and drinks to customers in an intense and fast-paced environment. A successful restaurant bartender must know all of their menu items, wine lists, cocktail lists as well as manage high volumes while multitasking smoothly in stressful situations. In order to secure employment in this field it is ideal to have previous bartending or customer service experience as this will increase chances of employment as a restaurant bartender.
Event Bartender
No matter if it’s for your birthday party, bachelorette party, holiday event, or anything in between; hiring a personal bartender is sure to add extra cheer and make your celebration even more exciting! With GigSalad it’s simple to locate local bartenders for hire to keep the drinks flowing at any event; simply browse their profiles, photos, service descriptions and pricing to learn more about each individual bartender!
Personal bartenders provide beverages to your guests by mixing, garnishing and serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in accordance with your event needs. In addition, they may be responsible for checking identification and refusing service to intoxicated individuals as well as setting up the bar before an event begins, cleaning barware and glassware after use and maintaining an inviting serving space. In some instances, flair bartending services may also be offered; these skilled professionals perform the service using entertaining flourishes while serving drinks to your guests.
When selecting an event bartender, it is essential to take into account how many guests will be in attendance and the types of beverages being provided. For instance, at a wedding reception guests often prefer cocktails over beer or wine – furthermore a private bartender can create customized drinks tailored specifically towards your event theme and complementing its overall atmosphere.
If you’re planning a festive celebration like Christmas or New Year’s Eve, it is advisable to secure your bartender early. Bartenders typically charge more during these holiday-season parties due to increased demand.
If you’re curious about becoming a bartender, there are various programs to assist you in becoming one. Some courses take an interactive approach to teaching the fundamentals of mixing and serving drinks while others focus on professional certifications or certificates in entrepreneurship and business development. Many online options make these convenient courses affordable options for busy professionals. Whichever route you take though, possessing strong work ethics and an eagerness to learn are vital ingredients of becoming a successful bartender; the more effort put in means that this career path can bring great rewards in return.
Bar Staffing Company
New York’s world-class dining scene means bars are in search of top bartenders. Unfortunately, however, for non-NYC residents attempting to gain entrance can make this challenging; but there are ways you can increase your odds by applying through staffing companies for positions at local restaurants – one such company might help connect you quickly with bartending opportunities!
Nightclub bartending may also be an option, which tends to be faster-paced and higher volume than its counterpart. If you want to become a bartender, nightclub bartending could be the way to go; you must be quick, accurate and know the fundamentals as well as be capable of creating specialty drinks if successful in this type of environment.
At last, there’s always the possibility of applying to work at a catering/event bartending company; these jobs typically require more experience than regular bartending jobs; yet can provide you with an invaluable opportunity to learn the fundamentals of bartending while gaining valuable experience before venturing onto other types of bartending jobs.
No matter which form of bartending you choose, passion and customer service must always be your goal. By doing this, you’ll find work anywhere from casual dive bars to five-star luxury hotels; as well as receiving some fantastic tips!
Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Apply for bartending jobs now – with some persistence, you could soon be making cocktails in one of the world’s most vibrant cities!
