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Thread: real bartenders HELP!!!!

  1. #1
    Veteran Member honeygymgirl's Avatar
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    Default real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Hi All,

    I don't think I ever posted in this loung before so either way I wanted everyone's input I put this same question in the Ladies Only but wanted to hear from men also...

    So here is my question...

    I am currently a dancer here in Sacramento and I am looking into being a bartender on the side as a back up. So I was looking around in the Bartending Schools and I found one that says that they have Job Placement and its only 200 its a special or something.

    However I was told to just go in to a hole in the wall bar and ask if they are hiring for a bartender and if they can teach me how to serve drinks and what not? So what did you guys do when you got hired? This school offers hands on training in a night club setting and they show you how to make drinks that every one makes and no bar or club let alone resturant will hire you without your certification??
    Love Yourself Like Nobody Else Could Then you will have that everlasting love we all search for!

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    Banned Blade's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Skip bartending schools, they are- for the most part- a rip off

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    Member stilettoweb's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Bartending schools aren't worth it.

    Only thing you need to know, 4 count pour = 1oz = 1 shot.
    Usually drinks have 1oz of the liquor.
    And you really don't need to know the drinks, most are self-explanitory (jack and coke, captan and coke) and you can always ask the customer whats in the drink or some bars have a bar book with the drinks.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    ^ That's how I learned. A lot of clubs/bars these days have "jiggers" which you use to measure the liqour.

    Bartending school is, IMHO, a waste of time. Places do not hire a "certified" bartender any faster than they'll hire someone who started in a whole in the wall bar learning in "real life".

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    God/dess Bunny's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    I have known quite a few people who bartended. NONE of them ever went to any school. I say just find some places that are sort of small and go in and tell them you'd like to learn to bartend. Most of my friends that do it/did it were waiting tables first or just happened to get the job through another friend.

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    Featured Member Prester_John's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Wow. I get to use my bartending experience here for the good of someone. Thats a nice change.

    Bartending schools are good for one thing and one thing only - learning drinks and terminology. In that, they are a positive thing. You can learn the difference between a collins glass and a jigger, or whats the basic things that make up a flip, manhatten etc etc. One should not discount that knowledge.

    However, bartending schools have two HUGE failings.

    One - You do not learn HOW to bartend until you ACTUALLY bartend. Only by being in the trenches do you know when where and why to multi-task and use time-managment to keep a three-deep bar drinking and happy. Only by bartending do you learn the tricks and habits that make the customers happy, which makes the boss happy and puts money in your pocket. Only by being behind an active bar do you know when and where to express your personality, and to whom. Bartending schools cannot possibly teach you even the rudiments of that, yet the actively encourage the perception that after two weeks with them you can walk into a busy bar on a Friday night and work like an expert.

    Two - They cannot place you in a bar job, no matter what they say. Usually they give you a list of places they are associated with, and it's up to you to contact them. Remember that bartending jobs are limited, and bar staffs are far smaller then wait staffs in restaurants, pubs and the like. Its very hard to crack into an established bar staff. Usually bartendin schools justify "job placement" claims by saying you are trained enough to be a steal for any job - i.e you have the skills - if you cant get hired, its your own fault.

    Like our Snork-loving friend VenusGoddess stated, "Certification" means squat to employers. Experience is what they want.

    What you should do is just what you suggested - find some place that is willing to train you. Because you are a young, goodlooking woman, you have a leg up on others with no experience (yeah, thats sexist to say, but thats the reality of the bar business. Most bar patrons are male). Be wiling to start as a waitress, and work your way up. If you happen to be tossed into a bar job right way, consider yourself very lucky. It happens, but not to often.

    Good luck to ya!

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    Veteran Member Celeste25's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Bartending school is a waste of money and time. A good bartender is not someone who knows how to make a Pink Lady (who drinks those anyway?) a good bartender is someone who can keep her custys coming back and KEEP them at the bar!

    I learned bartending in a very popular bar in NYC, had no experience whatsoever, but they hired me for my quick wits and because I fit with that place's atmosphere.

    Maybe try getting a job as a waitress in a pub, that's a good place to learn the tricks of the trade!
    You know the saying? ... Celeste is the best!

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    Veteran Member foxee555's Avatar
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Don't waste your money.

    1.There are only about 30 drinks in a bartender's bible (that's including all the frat party dumb-fuck shooters) that people order, you can learn them on your own for the cost of the $7 book.
    2. Without prior experience, you aren't going to be getting a job at a fancy-schmancy lounge or resturant. So you don't need to know how to make the perfect martini, or what the difference is between a gimlet and parfait glass.

    Every bar has a "cheat sheet" if you forget how to make a drink. Learn your pours (esp. free-pouring if you want to work a high volume bar). Learn margaritas, bloody mary's, B-52's ect. (rum and coke or vodka tonic, ect. are self explanatory). Learn your register and cash outs wherever you get a job (which is the hardest part of bartending if you ask me). And don't get drunk on your shift until you can handle a slammin' night with a blindfold on. You'll do fine!
    I am lazy and I like to party


  9. #9
    madmaxine
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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    foxee555 is correct. My biggest problem was dealing with the cash register, since I never had before.
    Being a cute girl with a nice personality will take you far. Drunks always get flirty and blabby. Just don't get too distracted.
    Oh, and "up-sell" drink specials in a cute way! Some of the skills you have in talking to people from dancing work well behind the bar.

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    Default Re: real bartenders HELP!!!!

    Skip the school and go pick up a drink manual like "Bartending for Dummies", before getting into this prof, I waited tables and ended up as a bar manager. Just show some interest and start on day shift.

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