[d3traktion]

(08-03-2018 09:56 PM)a beer is enough Wrote:  

So a few questions about being barback.

1. What does it typically entail? Do you just stock drinks or do you have to clean stuff like tables too?

2. How long does it take to go from barback to bartender at most places?

In my opinion, a bartenders job is to make drinks, entertain guests, be good with people, and deal with money/computer system.. so the barback does everything else. cuts fruit, juices, washes glassware, change kegs, etc...

The barback is essentially the support for the bartender when he needs anything. generally lots of it is prepwork during the slow hours and helping the bartender during the busier hours. you also do alot of cleaning and stocking. some places i've worked the barbacks do the inventory as well.

theres not really a set time limit on when you advance, i've done it at a spot in a year, another spot never made me a bartender after two years. i've seen it after six months for some people. I would say at least a few months to a year and a half. but theres not really a definitive answer for this. they're not going to promote you if you're a shitty barback to bartender either. If you've been barbacking for months at a spot but have no social skills the management probably has already decided they're not going to make you a bartender before you even ask (or constantly pester them about it, sometimes this works)

[Biz]

(07-24-2018 12:13 PM)Rhyme or Reason Wrote:  

(07-24-2018 09:28 AM)Biz Wrote:  

(07-23-2018 02:24 PM)Rhyme or Reason Wrote:  

^ How close to the beach we talking? Right on the beach at an outside venue?

Right on a beach. It's a large spot with an inside and a huge outside deck perched up over the sand/ocean

That sounds ideal for poosy slaying. Whereabouts are you regionally?

Northeast

It's been a whirlwind of a summer, I wish I started doing this in my early 20's

[a beer is enough]

So finally landed a gig as a barback after a long time looking, its why I have not been as active on here, thought I'd share some experiences with you guys.

1. All in timing and what time of the year you look.

In my city, during certain times of the year they do not hire at all while at other times of the year they hire all the time. I notice that as you approach summer time, bars start hiring like crazy so keep an eye out. It frustrated me when around September or so that I was looking, all the bars seemed busy and full. Might just vary city by city and country by country but here on the east coast, that is what the standard is.

2. Come in early on a weekday or less than busy time and ask for the manager.

This should always be your go to for getting these positions, never ask the bartenders themselves. My thought is that bartenders see extra applicants as competition and would prefer to keep the headcount down, some classic Robert Greene shit going on there. I went to one of my favorite bars in town and asked the bartender if they are hiring, he said no and they are fully stocked. Then I went to the manager a week later and asked him when they will be hiring, get told that they are actually looking for barbacks and might have some openings at bartender soon. Always ask to speak to the manager, never to the bartenders.

3. You're better off not bullshitting them.

I know it is standard in the industry for guys with almost little to no experience to bullshit the managers about drinks and their past experience, fake resumes are definitely moreso of a thing in the service industry. For a while I thought about that but then realized you're better off not doing it. One guy I knew who also wanted an in while working full time as an engineer did that, actually managed to get one place to hire him but then was caught red-handed fast. A lot of people in the service industry have street smarts unless you are working at a corporate joint, they will catch you on your shit and word spreads real fast once you're caught as bar managers from different establishments talk to each other.

4. You most certainly will start off as a barback unless you have some serious experience or are a hot girl.

Most bars and nightclubs are going to offer the role of bartender to the hot girls with the occasional guy who has serious experience. Looks do not seem to matter as much when they are hiring guys compared to girls though, I've known quite a few bartenders in my area who... lets say could definitely use the status boost of a bartending gig! For what I see, I'll likely be barback for a year before I can even get a chance to bartend unless a miracle happens. I've talked to guys who have barbacked for a couple of years at prime establishments and just now get the occasional bartending shift.

5. It is damn tricky to make it work on top of a 9 to 5 like I am trying to do right now, luckily my situation is more relaxed.

My employer is more relaxed on my work hours now to where I am not strictly 9 to 5 but if they were not, I would be fucked. The typical bar opens at 4 or so and you have to help set everything up. Most people I know who bartend on top of their main job bartended for a while, got a full time job and now bartend on the side at the same place as a result of the amount of rapport they have built up with the establishment. I have never known a guy with a 9 to 5 who managed to finally work his way to a bartending gig on the side, trying to be that exception but definitely a long road ahead.

6. If you're in the United States, at least on the east coast, it is damn competitive if you want the decent places and not corporate chains and shitty dives.

Every bro from college who is trying to continue living out his frat boy party days, hot girl who is "aspiring" to something along the lines of model/actress, trust fund kid who is trying to get the party on, lifer who is trying to see the fruits of his labor and some relative to the bar owner is gunning for those shifts. You are competing against some of the most entitled yet pushy personalities out there who will use every trick in the book to get those shifts. I would have never thought it years back and it isn't the case if you are trying to bartend at an Applebees or family restaurant but if you want to bartend at places that might eventually get you access to hot girls and that high life, get ready to compete hard.

I don't want to give away too much about the bar I'll be working at given that I've exchanged PMs with forum members who know the city I am in.

I'll likely be moving cities soon anyways too so maybe get a couple months of working at a bar in and then apply the same method to the new city I am at.