How I Went from Barback to Bartender in 1 month
4 Simple Steps for advancement in the Workplace through the lens of bartending.
A quick synopsis of how I went from barbacking, with no prior serving or bartending experience, to bartending solo shifts in just over a month
Network
An old mentor once told me, “No one knows what you’re interested in, or what you want unless you tell them.” No truer word can be spoken when it comes to networking. If you think that someone is going to go out of their way to probe you with questions and figure out what you want or who you are, you’re mistaken. No stranger will do that, nor will most acquaintances, as they are busy working on their own projects, or stuck in their heads. The truth is, most people are simply out to get what they want. They might help you if they can, but that will only be possible if you let them know what you need help with.
So talk about your passions and dreams. Tell those stories about how you have wanted to bartend since you were 15. Explain how you’ve been mixing drinks since you were 17, even if it was behind your parent’s backs — and not just rum and cokes (c’mon, if you call that a drink you’re an amateur). Explain that you love the service, and what you are bringing to people — the experience you are creating. And tell the story of you, and how you will be successful in a role as a bartender.
This is all said with the caveat that you are not being intrusive or asinine about it, but creating the right opportunities to share this with your managers, coworkers, and guests. You want it to get to the point that if anyone ever has a question about who wants to be the next best bartender, or any role really, they turn to you.
Become competent
Never talk the talk unless you are willing to walk the walk. Better yet, just make the walk without talking about it. Becoming competent is all about mastering your craft, which can be broken down into two parts — What happens in and outside of the Workplace. Getting good at what you are doing at work and investing in yourself outside of work.
During my month of barbacking, I asked endless amounts of questions about anything and everything, such as: Why do we do things the way that we do? What makes our food so great compared to others? Why do we use these specific ingredients in this drink? What different techniques are we using here?
I showed unabated curiosity in the subject. I created an efficient process to washing dishes, through organization and diligence. Whenever I was completing a task, I would ask myself the question: Is the most efficient way? And if not, then how can it be improved?
The thing about becoming excellent at anything is that it is all about the process and the internal drive. Those above you know this, and they know that if you become excellent at one thing, then you can become phenomenal at another.
Next: Invest in yourself. During this first month, I read up to 5 different books on bartending, bartending techniques, various spirits, how they were made, their origins, and how to use them properly. I also studied the menu to the point where I could answer any question about it to a “t.” Knowing that this knowledge and information would accelerate my development and make me more competent and dependable. To the point that I knew more about base spirits, and how they were made than all but one other bartender, and I had only been doing this for just under a month.
Do the dirty work
Be willing to show up early, stay late, and do everything in between. Most opportunities come from exposure. By doing the dirty work, you are exposed to a vast assortment of environments. For example, take the initiative and clean and organize your coolers. Find out when the alcohol deliveries come and be there to put them away. Nothing is beneath you, and you are willing to give anything and everything your all.
I’ve met a lot of people who look down on this attitude, thinking that certain work is beneath them, but they could not be more wrong. What they don’t realize is that while you are willingly organizing the cooler, you are also familiarizing yourself with the product. You are reading every label and building your knowledge base. This allows you the opportunity to absorb more information and become a more reliable source. It also demonstrates your work ethic and exhibits your excitement and drive to improve.
Doing the dirty work shows those above you that you are adding value, and saving your managers time. If you aren’t doing the cleaning and organizing, chances are your bar manager is, and he, or she, has better things to do with their time. Your initiative allows her to pursue those better things. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. In fact, this feeds into the law of reciprocity, which, according to google, states,
“That something… Some event, condition or circumstance is received back at all times without fail based on what it is that is broadcast. This process of reciprocating, although it does pertain to our physical actions as well begins from a deeper unseen place, at the level of cause which is the energy that we choose to project through our thoughts, feelings, and emotions which in turn determine our physical actions as well as the kind and quality of the results that are reciprocated back to us,”
Meaning that by helping your manager and those around you, they are more likely to help you in return.
Create an Opportunity
All this funnels into this final step here. Creating an opportunity. I say “create” and not “wait for” because your actions will facilitate such an event. If you work hard and build those relationships, eventually, and sooner rather than later, you will produce an opportunity. Either you will step in when someone doesn’t show up, or you can approach your manager and request to shadow on the slowest shift. There are countless ways for you to create this opportunity, but more often than not, by doing all the above, one will manifest itself to you.
Once you’ve gotten this far, you’ve created an opportunity, and you are now an official bartender, you will undoubtedly hear people label this success as luck. They will say that you were lucky that you just came across an opportunity or that it was all a stroke of luck. This happens to every successful person, and in every success of life. There will always be doubters, nay-sayers; never let them get to you. As Seneca said, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. “You got lucky, because you prepared and therefore luck does not exist, only preparation does.
