What People Don't Tell You: 3 Real Reasons to Become a Bartender

What can be fulfilling or even interesting about serving food and drinks to people?

Having to listen and nod along with whatever they say… Handling dirty dishes and glasses… Getting lime or lemon juice in the dozens of small cuts that accumulate on your hands…

Having to work late nights, holidays and weekends…

And kissing people’s asses for tips… 

Seriously…

Why would anyone want to be a bartender?

It is understandable why people would not think about bartending as a real career where one can make a real impact however, this could not be further from the truth.

Here are 3 Real Reasons to Become a Bartender (and work at being a good bartender)

  1. Time and Money

Bartenders work long shifts

Usually 8 - 12 hours for single shifts and 10 - 16 hours for double shifts, sometimes without a break.

While this can sound brutal, most overtime starts at 40 hours and managers do not usually like to schedule weeks with more hours than that. 

Because of this most bartenders end up with working 3 - 4 days per week at any given bar.

A 4 day work week gives you a 3 day “weekend” (this will probably not include the actual weekend), which gives you a lot of time for whatever. 

For this majority of my career, I worked at the same bar Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 4:30pm until about 4am every week.

This gave me 4 days in the week to do whatever I wanted including travel, spend time on my hobbies, or work at other bars when I wanted to bolster my experience or extra money.

Speaking of money...

Bartenders (especially good ones) make plenty of. it.

The "average income" for a bartender in the US is not quite what it seems because of the nature of tipping.

Yes it is true that most bartenders make a low hourly wage. 

Some places pay minimum wage while other places have a union but most pay below minimum wage.

I made $2.13 per hour plus tips for most of my career.

The industry standard gratuity rate is around 20% of the price of the check in the US.

This is not imposed in most cases. Some do not believe in tipping some people over tip.

If a bartender sells $1000 worth of food and beverage in a shift, that bartender can expect about $200 in tips for that shift.

These are conservative numbers because most bartenders earn more than 20% in gratuities and can sell more than a few thousand dollars in sales, especially on weekends and in busy bars.

Even at $100 in tips with 4 shifts per week and 2 weeks off will put you at 20,000 for the year on top the hourly whatever it is.

If bartending is your second job, an extra 20k for the year is not bad.

You can see that the hourly wage does not really matter and serves more of a down payment on taxes for most bartenders.

This does not factor in the giant tips or holiday envelops for regulars.

Bartenders can make over six figures per year, working 3 - 4 day work weeks.

Some of these people own their homes, businesses, take crazy vacations, and even put their kids through college.

Many of whom have degrees and either love bartending too much to quit or can not make the same amount of money in their studied fields.

The "income : time at work" ratio is reason number 1 to become a bartender.

To have to time and money to travel, study, and live independently is very rare for “entry level” jobs.

 When people pursue extracurricular activities whether it is a hobby, passion, school or whatever they like to do with their time, they can focus on personal growth.

Personal growth is of the main things that make us fell fulfilled, happier, and less anxious. 

2. Health and Fitness

The next reason to be a bartender is the exercise. 

Bartending can be physically demanding.

Between making drinks, restocking glassware and ice, reaching, squatting, and standing for hours on end, it is easy to be in shape as a bartender.

I do not mean a Hollywood physique.

I do mean, that with good posture and form, you will notice increased flexibility, endurance, blood flow and general strength.

The same idea as one of the standing desks but with a lot more movement.

Bartenders can cover between 7-8 miles walking back and forth behind the bar and around the restaurant.

Walking is one of the best exercises and improves many aspects of health. Click here to read about the health benefits of walking.

All of this movement builds a foundation of strength that you do not get just by sitting at your desk.

With added gym sessions and proper diet, that Hollywood body is more within reach (if that is what you’re into).

There are many jobs in various industries that are extremely physical and provide health and strength benefits, bartending offers good physicality while still working inside, with people, without getting covered in shit.

Not a doctor so I will keep this section brief. 

It is worth noting however, that moving and stretching and using our bodies makes a difference in overall well being (imho).

 3. Relationships with Humans

Another extremely important benefit of bartending which is probably the most under rated thing one can learn is the art of conversation.

The main aspect of bartending is making people feel warm and welcome.

Which is a less creepy way of saying, The main aspect of bartending is making people like you.

The most successful bartenders all around the world have one main skill in common, the ability to charm anyone they meet and do it quickly.

 When you visit these bartenders, they seem to make you feel like you are meeting an old friend.

Like you may share a connection that only you and the people you fuck with share.

You almost feel like, if that bartender was not working right now we could actually finish our "conversation".

This feeling intensifies with every cocktail and every visit. 

That is why you return to eat and drink at that bar.

Unless you happen to be the type of person that thinks the stripper actually likes them, we all know this is a choreographed persona the bartender is using to make us feel this way.

This skill is used by the bartender not only at work but in everyday life.

I know because I do it.

Everything from getting out of a traffic ticket to landing new jobs and taking advantage of opportunities is affected by how people feel about you.

Having a network of coworkers, colleagues at other restaurants, and regulars in the community is essential to one’s wellbeing.

Knowing you can call people to hang out with or to help you out and visa versa keeps you active and involved with life.

This is why bartenders always have a job, always have a date, and always know where the party is (at). 

By learning to project confidence, charm, charisma to anyone requires the ability to read people and understand what of service or personality they will respond to.

As an introvert, being behind the bar and the center of attention caused spikes in my anxiety which would affect my mood, then affect my money.

Once I started to learn how to better understand myself and others, I started to look forward to meeting new people.

The process of having a perfect stranger become a regular and in some cases, a friend, is a very special thing to get paid for.

Eventually,I began enjoying the puzzle of turning an angry unsatisfiable guest that will "never come back" into a loyal regular that tips 30%. 

When thinking about all of the positive things about working as a bartender I feel that these three things have the deepest effect.

The truth is that, for many of us, bartending started while waiting for something else to pan out. 

Some other job to pop up, or for employers to beat their door down with job offers.

While this does happen and people are in and out of the industry all of time, some of us just love it.

The money is good, I had time to travel and study, and I received job offers in all kinds of industries that I will never be qualified for (all kinds). 

I realized that bartending could help me get out of my shell and could support me while I "figured out what I want to do".

For these reasons Bartending is the best job for young people.

Want to know More?

BarPsychology helps new and introverted bartenders understand how to make as much money as possible behind the bar.

We combines a heavy focus on guests connection, cocktail mixing fundamentals, fast paced organization into a powerful and adaptable bartending system.

 There is a shortage of quality bartenders out there. 

 The law of supply and demand is now I our favor and now is the time to cash in.

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