Bartender Job Description
In James Joyce’s Ulysses, Leopold Bloom said: “Good puzzle would be to cross Dublin without passing a pub.” The Irish Independent published a successful attempt to solve the conundrum in 2014, almost 100 years after Bloom uttered his immortal words! However, there is certainly a preponderance of pubs in the capital, and all around the country.
There is no shortage of bartender jobs for a qualified individual. Best of all, you don’t need to spend years studying at a university to reach the pinnacle of the profession. However, you do need plenty of experience and a desire to learn all there is to know about this sociable role. Continue reading this bartender job description to learn more about what it entails.
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Table of contents (skip to section)
What Is a Bartender?
Bartender Duties and Responsibilities
What Skills Does a Bartender need?
Positives and Downsides to Being a Bartender
Bartender Salary
Bartender Career Path
What is a Bartender?
A bartender job description is often rather sparse. It will state that you fill a customer’s drinks orders, take payment, and bring orders to tables. However, there is a LOT more to the position than that. Depending on where you work, you may also require specialist knowledge of cocktails. If you work in a hotel or a pub that serves food, you must learn all about how to handle and prepare food.
If you reach a high enough level, you will be in charge of training new staff, setting drinks menus, and determining the rotas. In a position of greater responsibility, you may also count the takings and store them in the safe, and place orders with suppliers.
Bartender Duties and Responsibilities
Make sure you mention your previous duties when filling in your bartender cover letter. In general, day-to-day responsibilities include:
- Welcoming customers, making recommendations, taking food, and drink orders.
- Selecting and mixing ingredients, garnishing glasses, and serving beverages.
- Ensuring the bar is adequately stocked at all times.
- Making sure you maintain a clean working environment by getting rid of rubbish, cleaning tables, and washing utensils, glasses, and other equipment.
- Dreaming up new cocktail ideas!
- Checking ID to ensure customers are legal age.
- Handling cash and card transactions.
- Planning drinks menus and informing customers about specials.
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What skills does a Bartender need?
In general, bartenders require the following skills as a minimum:
- An excellent short-term and long-term memory to remember drinks orders, the names of ‘regulars,’ and their favourite tipples.
- Reasonable numeracy skills.
- Attention to detail.
- Outstanding interpersonal skills; the most successful bartenders are usually extremely personable.
- The ability to work under pressure.
- Physical fitness because you will be on your feet for most of the day.
- Assertiveness, because the customer isn’t always right, or well behaved!
- Knowing when a customer has ‘had enough’ and the ability to use your Training for Alcohol Intervention Procedures.
There is a lot more to the role, and you can’t put certain traits on a bartender CV, although you can try! Here are a few additional tips from those with experience in the Irish industry:
- Greeting customers and saying farewell is essential. The bar’s clientele must always feel welcome. Remember, they have plenty of alternative options!
- The best bar staff knows how to muster up polite conversation and banter if appropriate. You don’t need to be loud, but it helps if you’re not a shrinking violet.
- It is essential to have initiative, the ability to think on your feet and understand the value of hard work.
- It is a cliché, but in Ireland, knowing how to pull a great pint of Guinness is essential!
- It is okay to be relaxed, but NEVER let anyone see you lean on the counter.
- Your observational skills are important. Occasionally, you will have to determine whether a customer is a potential troublemaker. You must also know when they are already drunk and be prepared to refuse service.
- If a customer has a lengthy or complicated order, always repeat it back to ensure you got it right.
Positives and Downsides to being a Bartender
One of the major plus points of becoming a bartender is that you get to meet people from almost every walk of life. Unless someone is ‘barred,’ they are welcome as long as they meet the legal age requirement. If you are a sociable person, you will enjoy the opportunity to talk with hundreds of people on any given day. Once you gain experience, you’ll find that time flies when working in a busy bar.
It is often a gruelling job because you work long hours. You’re unlikely to get many weekends off, and working at night is mandatory. Not every customer is pleasant, to begin with, and dealing with drunk individuals is often fraught with difficulty. Outside of break time, you are never off your feet, and there is always something to do.
Bartender Salary
For the most part, bartenders in Ireland are paid an hourly wage. You will only have the chance to earn a salary once you reach the management level. The rate varies depending on where you work. A bartender in Dublin, for example, can expect to make more than someone working in a small town. One website suggests that the average salary is €11.41 per hour. PayScale says it is €10.17. You may also earn tips; it is more likely if you work in a hotel or cocktail bar.
Bartender Career Path
Before you start answering bartender interview questions, it pays to learn how to become a bartender in Ireland. First and foremost, there are no formal qualifications necessary in most places. It is a role with an extremely high turnover. If you live in a city, there are always bartending jobs available.
If you are serious about pursuing bartending as a career, there are a host of courses available. The Dublin Bar Academy, for example, is ideal if you wish to advance your position in the hospitality niche. It is a four-week course that costs €1,650 and helps you learn all about the industry. Once you gain enough experience, you could apply for a bar management job. Alternatively, you can buy a license and open your own pub!
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