The transition from barback to bartender is a turbulent time. You’re often thrown to the wolves for your first night, and the last thing you want to do is hammer other bartenders with questions and spend the evening looking up recipes you’ve never heard of. The transition time depends on a few factors.
Hiring on as a barback is supposed to be a streamlined way of becoming a bartender. It could take a shade under a month to a half year to make the to a bartending position, depending on knowledge, social skills, work ethic, customer service, initiative, and likeability.
The last one may sound unfair. Perhaps you have an introverted personality or aren’t much of a social creature. However, this is business, and those who lack a likeable personality are automatically two steps back when it comes to the bar and restaurant industries.
Steps from Barback to Bartender
Oftentimes, the prospect of becoming a bartender looks fairly complicated. You may want to serve drinks, but the status quo is school, obtaining a bartending license, and memorizing a whole lot of drink mixes.
In reality, you don’t need any experience to hire on as a barback, making it a great entry level position. There are a lot of advantages to doing it this way as well. Most bartenders have started as barbacks at some point in their careers.
- You get a foot in the door immediately
- No experience is required to be a barback
- You will gain firsthand experience on the duties of a bartender’s job, including hard and soft skills.
- You’ll learn all the brand names as you stock the liquor
- You’ll get comfortable interacting with customers
- You will gain some important familiarity with the tools of the trade and garnishes.
- Supporting a bartender will get on their good side, leading to better training opportunities.
- You’ll be a first-hand witness to the bartender and how they run the show
Of course, there are some drawbacks to this as well. You will be the donkey of the bar, bearing all the loads, the bar fully stocked by restocking liquor bottles and working long hours, and you’ll be the low person on the totem pole. Of course, everybody has to start somewhere, and we don’t all start out as CEOs.
Do You Have To Be 21 To Be a Barback?
This depends on the state’s laws and the establishment’s management. As a rule of thumb, if you are the legal age to work as a server, you can likely work as a barback.
Some bars might not want anyone under 21 behind the bar, but if a barback is only helping keep the bar stocked and not serving customers, you might be able to start at a younger age. (source)
Step 1: Be an Outstanding Barback
If you want to make it from barback to bartender in a month, you had better be on your absolute best behaviour. Never show up late, shirk a task, take unnecessary or unapproved breaks, argue with the bartender or the staff, or fail to do what’s asked of you.
Yes, that means you will have to put your smartphone in your back pocket, preferably powered down. Your group text and Facebook profile will survive until you make your triumphant return after clocking out.
Remember, if you can’t do your job as a barback, you will be a barback for the next three years unless you decide to throw your hands up and go away. No one wants to be that barback. Being a bartender is a big responsibility but also a blast. That’s where you want to be.
It’s rare to bust your tail in such a small environment and not get noticed. If you’re killing it each and every day and management doesn’t notice you, it might be time to move on. At the same time, don’t expect management to notice you after your first two days of work, either.
You will need to do everything well but there are a few things you will need to be exceptional at or, at the very least, stand out from everyone else.
- Covering your duties
- Communication
- Ability to anticipate
- Learn the bar lingo
Bar lingo? Yes, you need to learn the lingo. When a waitress screams “Behind!” or something similar, it’s not because you have a cockroach on your behind; it’s because she’s about to plough into your backside, half-empty cocktail glasses and all if you don’t move out of the way.
Bars get busy, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, and it’s so much easier for everyone to have a quick, precise language that all the employees understand. Be sure you learn to anticipate the needs of the bar, not necessarily the bartender, and have everything in place on time.
Step 2: Learn and Learn Quickly
As a barback, you have a front-row seat to a bartending education, and you are getting paid for it, rather than the other way around. You could always shell out the money to go to bartending school, but why bother when you have this? There’s nothing in a book that can beat the real thing.
The learning doesn’t stop at the bar, either. When you go home, YouTube videos, articles, blogs, and free courses are available all over the web. Colleges still make money today because they have convinced employers that they have to hire college graduates.
Hands-on experience and doing your research is a level beyond collegiate work that employers have yet to grasp. However, as a barback, you have a unique opportunity to make it work for you.
Step 3: Open Your Mouth and Ask Questions
It doesn’t matter how many YouTube videos you watched the other night if you run across something you don’t understand and fail to address it. You have to ask questions and not when the bar is firing on all cylinders and the bartender is working.
If you want to understand why bartenders do something the way they do, you need to ask. For instance, a lot of customers like to see their drinks poured and mixed in front of them before the liquor goes in the shot glass or glass.
However, you might notice that while the bartender mixes these drinks for patrons sitting at the bar, there might be an already-mixed jug in the fridge that is the same drink poured out for those at the tables. There’s a reason for that. Ask.
Step 4: Don’t Settle
Everybody has to do their time, and that includes you. However, that doesn’t mean your hard work and dedication shouldn’t be rewarded. Keep your fingers on the pulse of management and fellow employees, especially the bartenders.
Your goal is to be a bartender, and those who already work there (assuming you get in well with everyone and are sociable/likeable) will fill you in on what they hear. If you know you are ready for the job, but months continue to drag by without any upward mobility granted through management, consider leaving.
If you know you’re ready, you can potentially bartend somewhere else. You shouldn’t wait on management. Oftentimes, management is guilty of stagnating their workers because they are good at what they do right where they are.
Managers don’t want to risk hiring a replacement barback when you’re excellent at the job right now. It’s not your responsibility to tolerate this, nor should you burn bridges. Put in some applications and speak with management at other bars while you are still working as a barback.
If you get hired, it’s simple to step right out of your barback job there and into a bartending position elsewhere.
Step 5: Timeframe
It’s really easy to think you’re ready when you’re not, but it’s also easy to stagnate and get comfortable where you are, afraid to move forward. Don’t be that person. If you get in there and bust your tail, learn the ropes, and tackle bartending 101 like a pro, you can become a bartender in a month’s time.
Or, it may be that you’re ready and a position isn’t available. That’s when you need to make a hard decision, especially when management wants to promote you, but they just can’t because their bartender roles are filled.
You can either start hunting elsewhere or keep at it with being a barback. However, once you know you’re ready, you shouldn’t wait longer than a few months. For some, that may be too long. It’s entirely up to you.
If you are a barback at a premium bar, something like Top Golf or Southern Gentleman in Atlanta, it will take longer to land a bartender position. It’s usually because you have a lot of things working against you: picky management, long-term bartenders, and much more to learn in a place like that.
Prepare yourself for the potential for an entire year or more at a premium bar. Don’t worry, though. So long as you are doing what you need to, that year or more, waiting will rarely be because you’re not good enough. Far more often, it’s a matter of sheer volume and more complicated learning curves.
What Does a Barback’s Job Involve?
A barback is the bartender’s assistant, and a barback’s responsibilities vary from place to place, but a good barback needs to be ready to jump from table to table, from behind the bar to front of the house, and all points in between. It can be a physically demanding job but is a good way to start in the bar industry. Here’s a list of typical barback’s duties:
- Stocking Supplies: Keep the bar well-stocked with liquor, mixers, filling ice wells, and other necessary supplies.
- Glassware: Ensure clean glasses are always available by washing them manually or using a dishwasher.
- Cleaning: Maintain a clean and organized bar area, including wiping down surfaces and cleaning spills.
- Ice Supply: Keep ice bins full and ensure that different types of ice are available if required.
- Prepping Ingredients: Cut fruits for garnishes, prepare simple syrups, and possibly even mix certain drinks under the bartender’s guidance.
- Assisting Bartenders: Help bartenders during busy periods by taking on tasks like pouring beer or wine, or even mixing simple drinks.
- Restocking: Monitor inventory and restock items as they run low, sometimes even during business hours. This includes changing beer kegs too.
- Customer Service: Although not their primary role, barbacks may also assist in taking orders or serving customers when the bar is bustling.
- Trash Management: Empty trash bins and replace liners as needed.
- Closing Duties: Assist in closing the bar, which may include cleaning, restocking for the next day, and securing the premises.
All Things Considered
You can indeed go from barback to bartender in as little as a month. However, that’s a rare circumstance because it’s a combination of skill, fast learning, and availability. If you follow the above steps, you’ll be ready to make the leap faster than you realize.
Not only that but if your bar isn’t moving you up, you’ll have learned and earned the skills necessary to bartend at another location. It’s a win-win scenario, and your employment window opens up much wider any way you look at it.
