Countless people want to work in the fun and profitable occupation of bartending. As a bartender, I often had people come to me to find out how they could get a job. They always think it will be fun. While having fun and earning a lot of money is a definite possibility, the job is so much more than that. It would be in anyone’s best interest to learn the whole story and find out all the real nitty-gritty of bartending work. After spending 15 years as a bartender, I’ve had many experiences, some of which were fun and some of which weren’t at all. I could tell stories that would make your hair curl. With that being said, there are plenty of tips and tricks to make it a fun and profitable career. Anyone thinking of becoming a bartender needs to learn what the job is really about.

The not so glamorous side of the business is doing things like preparing, cleaning, washing, serving, dealing with waiters, dealing with bad customers, dealing with drunk customers, and much more. There are ways to make the night quieter, things to make work easier, how to get out of the woods, and much more you need to know to enjoy your work. Without those tips, you might end up thinking it’s the worst job in the world. Plus, you’ll need to know the different types of spirits, liqueurs, and mixers, and how to upsell to get a bigger check so your tip is bigger. You must learn special little things that make your customers happy, which makes them tip more. It will be amazing at first, but it really is possible to learn everything if you just pay attention and want to be a good bartender.

Anyone can mix drinks, but to be a great bartender, you’ll need to learn to be an actor, a psychologist, do manual labor, be a comedian, and most of all, a people pleaser. You also need to learn how to entertain during slow times and little tricks that impress your customers.

I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but I think you deserve to know the whole truth before you jump into the job. As you can see here, there’s a lot more to it than mixing drinks and flirting with your groupies. There’s also a lot of good things, like sometimes the bartenders actually have groupies, and sometimes you can really make tons of money. It takes a unique type of person to be a great bartender.