How To Become a Certified Bartender
With anything in life, there are always two ways to accomplish something; the easy way or the hard way. Not to say that the easy way is necessarily the same thing as taking the easy way out, but going through the school or hard knocks is not always the smartest choice. The same concept applies to any skill or trade. Sure, anyone can learn how to do anything on their own, but why would you want to take months or even years to learn on your own when you can take a class or learn from someone else in 1 week and have the same level of skills.
There are two ways to becoming a successful certified bartender. Both ways will land you a great bartending job, but the question is; how long are you willing to wait to become a successful Bartender? One way is to get a job as a server and work as a server for six months while you watch the bartenders earn all of the tips. As a server you will be able to observe how the bartender interacts with the customers and watch the customers give the bartender $10 and $20 tips, but you will be so busy clearing tables and taking food orders that you will miss out on the good part of learning how to mix drinks. On the occasion when you do have a minute to catch a glimpse at how to make a martini, the next time you ask yourself, “now what did he mix to make that drink?”, you won’t be able to remember because you did not get behind the bar to actually see what brand or type of liquor he used. Then after your 6 months are up and if you’re still working for the same restaurant, you can go and ask your manager for a promotion to the bar. Your manager will tell you to get in line because there are 6 other servers who have been there longer than you who want to be a bartender too. Now you have to wait another 4 to 5 months before you even step foot behind the bar other than to grab a diet coke or glass of water. Now it’s been a year and you go back to your manager and demand that he put you behind the bar. Your manager finally agrees to put you behind the bar and just as you get excited to go back there, he tells you that you need to be a bar-back and observe the bartender for a few months. And even still, you don’t know how to mix drinks because you never had a chance to do it before. You still could be missing out on making great tips because you don’t know the trick of the trade like that bartender who has been actually bartending for that year. Do you really want to wait more than a year before you even touch a bottle of alcohol to mix your first drink? Do you really want to miss out on a whole year of making good tips because you had to observe someone else and lack the confidence because you don’t know what you’re doing? Not really smart….
The easier way to become a successful certified bartender is to take 1 or 2 weeks of your time and attend Bartending School. At an accredited Bartending School, you will learn hundreds of drink recipes and will learn from the experts in the industry so that you know what mistakes not to make when you start your bartending job. After you graduate, your school should have a great job placement assistance program to make it easier to help you find bartending jobs immediately upon graduation. Some Dallas Bartending Schools, such as JC Bartending Academy, go above and beyond just giving you job leads. They have partnered with many bar managers, large staffing companies and even own DFW’s premier bartending service company, JC Bartending, Inc. where many graduates can work Private Parties and Weddings to earn even more money! So ask yourself, which path will I take to become a successful bartender; the easy way or the hard way?
