Thinking About Bartending School? Think Again! The Truth About Bartending "Licenses"

April 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Bartending can be a very fun and lucrative job – but do you have to go to bartending school and get a bartending license to become a bartender?

Many people thinking about getting into bartending think that they have to get a bartender’s “license” before anyone will hire them.  While you may need some type of certification depending on where you live, you DO NOT need a bartending license or certificate to start bartending.  

When referring to a bartending license, people are generally talking about something similar to a diploma that you’d get from taking a course in college.  Although you can certainly take bartending courses in a slew of different places around the world – and each one will give you a certificate upon graduation – there is no need for this certificate to enter the bartending world.  In reality, most bar managers and bar owners are looking for personality and experience above a bartending “license”.  

“I’ve hired hundreds of bartenders over the years,” says Reese Richards, Founder of http://www.bars-and-bartending.com - the only free online bartending training site.  “And I’ve never hired someone because they’ve had a certificate from some bartending school.”  Reese continues, “Yes, its good to have some bartending skills, but in the real world, I’ll take personality over a bartending certificate any day of the week.”  

Bartending skills, drink knowledge and customer service skills can all be learned.  But teaching someone how to be outgoing and personable is not so easy.  

While you may not need a bartending license to become a bartender, many countries do require that you take a course on responsible alcohol service in order to work behind the bar.  In the U.S, for example, the course and certification is called TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS), and according to their website, TIPS is “a dynamic, skills-based training program designed to prevent intoxication, drunk driving and underage drinking by enhancing the fundamental people skills of servers, sellers and consumers of alcohol.”

These tests are typically online and the companies provide training by way of videos or downloadable PDF documents.   You can usually take the test as many times as you need to pass it.  

So what’s the bottom line if you want to get into bartending?  Learn the skills you need from as many free sources as you can, try to get in at the bottom at a bar, pub or restaurant as a barback or host / hostess; then learn the ropes from the inside and work your way up.   There is no shortcut – and if there is, it’s not in the form of a bartending license.  


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http://www.Bars-and-Bartending.com strives to provide quality, relevant bartending training by way of informative articles, step-by-step tutorials, bartending videos, bar etiquette tips and advice, bar tricks and more.
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Bars-and-Bartending.com strives to provide quality, relevant bartending training by way of informative articles, step-by-step tutorials, bartending videos, bar etiquette tips and advice, bar tricks and more.