Find a bartender job: Attitude vs. experience

July 8, 2:41 AMBartender ExaminerKathleen Neves

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There are a whole lot of people who want to be a bartender out there, but not everyone has what it takes to be a good bartender. It’s common for beginning bartenders to stress out over drink recipes. The thought of all of the different types of drinks their customers could ask them to make might be overwhelming for some. What if a customer ordered a drink that they didn’t know how to make? Honestly when it comes to bartending, ten percent of the job is drinks. The other ninety percent is personality.

The difference between an okay bartender and a really good bartender is personality. Bartenders make more than just drinks. They have to deal with customers, servers, management and owners all while remaining professional and keeping all of the patrons at the bar happy. A bartender should always have a good attitude while working behind the bar. Whenever a bartender is behind the bar, they are onstage and the bar patrons are their audience. Really good bartenders will always have their game face on at work. Really good bartenders always make bartending look easy even when they are stressed out or having a really bad day. In a service industry where one makes a bulk of their money from tips, there is no room for a grumpy bartender.

A bartender has to be able to read their customers. Does the customer want to engage in a conversation? If so, what would they want to talk about? Or maybe the customer just wants to come into the bar, have a quick beer or a nightcap and keep to him or herself as they ponder thoughts in their own head. Bartenders need to know when it’s appropriate to add their two cents into a conversation at the bar among customers. They also need to know when to keep their thoughts to themselves.

It’s always a good idea for a bartender to keep up on current events. If a bartender is having a hard time finding some common ground with their customer on something to talk about, current events is always a safe bet. Sensitive subjects like politics and religion should be avoided in bar discussions if at all possible. Bartenders are there to entertain and comfort their customers, not to offend them.

Bartenders should always be educating themselves on the job and outside of the bar on the products they stock behind the bar. Alcohol is always a fun topic to talk about with customers. This is a great opportunity to help educate customers on the different products and the different ways in which to serve them. For example, I had a couple of guys come into the bar one time and each of them order a Manhattan. After I made their drinks, I overheard one of the guys ask the other what the difference between whiskey and scotch was. Turns out, neither one of them really knew. Yet both of the men proclaimed to have been scotch and whiskey drinkers all their life. I piped in, brought down a bottle of whiskey and bourbon and discussed the differences with them. Then I pulled down some of the scotch bottles I had on the shelf and discussed some of the special features of scotch, what it’s made with and the four different geographic areas in which scotch comes from. These men were not only thankful, but also entertained and impressed with my knowledge. They reflected their appreciation through the generous tip they left me.

Bartenders should be able to handle any type of situation at any time in a professional manner. In any customer service related industry, it’s really all about taking care of the customers. Sometimes customers come in the bar in a bad mood, they don’t know what they want to drink or just want to vent to someone who will (or has no choice but to) listen. It’s up to the bartender to assess the customer and approach them appropriately. I had a group of bikers (as in Harley Davidson) who came into the bar one night. At first, I was a little scared because these guys looked pretty rough and I didn’t know how I was going to deal with them. I decided to put my initial concerns aside and give them really good of customer service, just as I would for any of my other customers. Turns out, these guys were on an annual ride and were staying at a nearby hotel for the night. Once I got talking with these guys, I discovered that they weren’t rough at all. Sure they looked a little rough around the edges, but they also had regular nine to five jobs during the week, were members of their kids PTA and just happy to be sitting on a barstool and off of their bikes for awhile.

Whenever alcohol is being served, bartenders might find themselves in a position to have to cut a customer off. It is illegal for a bartender to serve an obviously intoxicated customer. Dealing with these types of situations take a lot of care. Bartenders have to be confident in telling a person “no” and instead offering to call them a cab when they have had too much to drink.

As far as experience goes, having bartending experience is good, but it’s not required. It depends on the type of bar. For some bars, they might prefer a bartender with a lot of previous bartending experience because the types of drinks they make (labor intensive) and/or the type of clientele the bar attracts might require it (having a wide knowledge of spirits and know how to serve them). But there are plenty of bars out there that will hire a person based on their great personality and willingness to learn even if they have little or no bartending experience. Bars like these know that anyone can learn how to make a cocktail, but they can’t teach someone to have a personality.

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