How to Become a Successful Bartender

Learn how to make interesting drinks and create your own.

A successful bartender is much more than an educated bartender with a license to sell alcohol. A successful bartender knows every drink being offered at the bar and has an enjoyable and social personality that can interact well with other personalities. To become a successful bartender, you need to take some educational steps to become certified and study and master the different drinks you will be making.

Instructions

1. Apply to a bartending school or take a bartending course. These courses or schools will teach you about mixology and the discipline of making and serving cocktails and test your social skills in a bar setting.

2. Obtain your liquor license. You can obtain one through a bartending school or by taking courses. The license is obtained after passing an exam concerning what to do when people have had too much to drink and when to avoid serving more alcohol to intoxicated people. The license is proof that you know how to responsibly handle intoxicated people at a bar.

3. Buy a book that outlines the most common drinks and cocktails. Study and practice your drink list. Memorize what ingredients and alcohol go into what drinks and cocktails. Make and serve the drinks to adult friends and family.

4. Use the knowledge you have learned to create your own signature drinks. These drinks may be appealing to a bar looking to hire bartenders. Showing you take your job seriously can be an asset in getting hired.

5. Apply for bartender jobs at local bars, pubs and restaurants. Get to know the locals and regulars at the bar where you start working. Regulars will treat you with respect and be friendly if you show interest in their lives. This can also boost your tips.

6. Be friendly, sociable and always smile when people talk to you or order a drink. You want to have a pleasant personality and be approachable as a bartender.

7. Be willing to make fun of yourself if a regular asks for a drink you are not familiar with. Some regulars may poke fun at your bartending abilities, but play along and ask the regular for the recipe. Catering to your customers will make you an appealing bartender.

References

• Target Woman: Bartending Job
• Bartending Ed: Secrets to Becoming a Successful Bartender