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A bartending job search can seem much more difficult than it needs to be. If you want to make you job search easy, then don’t believe in the myths below. In order to get a bartending job you will need to believe in yourself and have a positive attitude. Those are the only two requirements so don’t believe the lies below.

If you don’t have experience you can’t get the job. Bartenders love to keep this myth alive. In all honesty, nothing could be further from the truth. Bartenders with tons of experience have some really bad habits and even worse attitudes sometimes. Owners know they can teach drink recipes and closing procedures to anyone. They want to teach them to people with great attitudes that will help their business grow.

Bartenders need to know hundreds of drink recipes. This is a myth that bartenders love to perpetuate. The truth is that most bars only use 20-30 different drinks and if you don’t know how to make it you can refer to a recipe book behind the bar. The 20-30 drinks most often served in your bar you will need to memorize but serving them is the easiest way to do this. You don’t need to memorize a book. Most drinks are evolutions of an old classic, so if you know about 10 basic recipes you can build your knowledgebase of drinks off of that.

You have to work in a busy bar to make lots of money. Some of the best bartending jobs I have ever had were in small neighborhood bars. It wasn’t just the laid back atmosphere that made them great, it was also the money. Really busy bars have so many people on duty that by the time you chop the tips there isn’t much left. When you are alone behind a smaller bar there is a greater opportunity to make tips.

You have to serve or barback before you can bartend. It isn’t written anywhere that you must serve tables or barback before you can bartend. Bar owners will sometimes insist on this but it is only because you haven’t convinced them that you will make a great bartender yet. Take them up on the offer and immediately begin to show them what an excellent bartender you will be.

You don’t need a resume for a bartending job. I have been in a few management positions where if the applicant didn’t have a resume, I didn’t consider them for the job. Its easy to fill out a premade application and most bars will make you fill it out even if you do have a resume. But use your resume to separate yourself from the crowd. Rise above the rest of the pool of applicants by writing a bartending specific resume. Have fun with it and let your personality shine through. If you can get the owner to want to meet you, you are 75% to having the job already.

You have to go to bartending school and be certified to bartend. It absolutely drives me crazy when I hear people repeating this myth. It is almost always a recruiter for bartending schools. In my 15 years in the business I have to meet a bartender who went to bartending school. Truth is that most bartending schools are scams. They will teach you how to make drinks but you can learn that on your own for nothing but a little time. Bartending schools usually charge upwards of $800 on the promise of job placement after you complete the course. Before you register for a bartending school ask them for reference of former students. If they truly can place you in a job after graduation they should have hundreds of willing references. If they can’t provide the references then turn and run, they are trying to steal your money.

You need a friend in the business to get a bartending job. While a friend in the business certainly won’t hurt your chances it is no guarantee either. Getting a bartending job is about getting in front of the right people, as in bar owners, and charming them into hiring you. If you make them feel like a friend during the interview, your chances of getting the job go up exponentially. Don’t worry about who you know, just use your cover letter and resume to get an interview and get the owner to like you. It sounds really simple and you’re going to be surprised how simple it really is.

Don’t complicate your bartending job search by buying into the myths above. If you truly want to make your job search easy then stay persistent and believe in yourself. Hundreds of aspiring bartenders get a job every day, and many of them didn’t have any previous experience. Stop believing in what other people tell you and go find out for yourself. You just might end up with a great new bartending job.

Brian’s Seven Secret Program and free Bartending Jobs newsletter have helped countless people get their first bartending job. He is the web’s authority for finding bartending jobs.

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