How To Become A Bartender? Courses & Job Opportunities

On some occasions, like when you're catching up with friends after a long week, having fun is synonymous with indulging in alcoholic beverages. While this is true in the case of a majority of the population, the fact is that this trend is rising amongst the younger population. And this habit amongst the youth has indeed resulted in the birth of a number of new career options.

Among the host of such career options that are available, the most prominent one is that of a bartender. If you are someone who is interested in this career path, read on to know how you can make a successful career here.

. Job Role

The main job role of bartenders involves meeting and greeting customers and serving them alcohol. The alcohol that they serve may be simple beer, whiskey, vodka or rum or the bartender may have to mix them in correct proportions.

Verifying the identity of the customers in order to ensure that alcohol is not served to someone who is underage is also the responsibility of the bartender. Monitoring the intoxication of customers and managing the overall functioning of the bar is usually the responsibility of the bartender.

Thus, this is a pretty challenging job role and you must take to it only if you are absolutely sure of your passion for it.

• Educational Background

No formal education is required in this field. As per government requirements, a candidate has to be 18 years of age if they want to work as a bartender in India. Most bartenders start off in smaller establishments where an initial on-the-job training is imparted to the candidates.

With their professional skill set and work experience, they graduate to larger organisations. Academically, bartending is an elective subject in most hotel management courses. People may also choose to get their diploma in bartending. This will give them an edge over other candidates when it comes to seeking jobs in well-established institutions.

• Skill Set

The job of bartenders involves being on their feet for hours at end. Thus, a good amount of physical stamina will be required for the same. Physical strength will also be required for moving and transporting heavy crates of liquor in the bar itself.

Since this is a customer-related job, good people-handling skills and decent communication skills are an absolute must. It is often seen that people who have a pleasant personality tend to fare better as bartenders as compared to people who are grumpy. In fact, being an extrovert is an added advantage here.

• Salary

The starting salary here is about Rs 14,000 for freshers. In high-end restaurants and pubs, the salary is much higher. While considering the monetary compensation, it is important for us to note that bartenders are amongst the highest tipped people.

Thus, if you are good at your work and have the capability to maintain good public relations, then a major chunk of your monetary compensation will actually be in the form of tips that you will receive from satisfied customers.

• Work Conditions

As stated earlier, this is a highly taxing job and one needs to be physically strong in order to do justice to it. The working hours often extend for long. Most of the work is in the evenings and at night. Thus, you should be ready to compromise on your working hours.

The work pressure in this field is higher on the weekends and on holidays and you have to be prepared to deal with the same if you want to make it big here. However, if you put in the best of efforts, this is a field where you will get due credit for all the hard work that you invest.

The satisfaction of doing your job well knowing that what you are doing has helped someone seek happiness is what drives most bartenders to put their best foot forward even under such challenging conditions.

• Job Prospects

Due to some reason, it is often seen that bartenders tend to quit their job in a particular establishment after a certain number of years of service. This type of career growth is highly encouraged in this field. They either tend to shift to some other organisation or go for a complete shift of career altogether.

In either of the case, this is a positive thing for freshers as this creates ample employment opportunities for them. However, in order to rise in this profession, one needs to develop their own quirks and bring in some originality to it all.
Because of the low educational qualifications that are required and the high pay structure, there is intense competition in this field.

• Types Of Jobs

While pubs, bars and other places that specialise in serving alcohol do require the services of bartenders, there are many other career opportunities for bartenders. Most restaurants, amusement parks and travel accommodation and gambling places also require the services of such people.

In order to top it all, various social and civic organisations also require the service of these people. Thus, considering the number of organisations that hire bartenders, it will be fair to say that there is immense career potential for dedicated people in this field.

These days there are a number of clubs of housing societies and organisations that hire their own bartenders as well.