Love Nightlife & Mixing Drinks? Bartending is the Career for You!

Bartending which includes a cocktail creator, trainer and presenter is becoming an increasingly popular career option now.  Listen to your heart before taking a plunge into this field because it requires hard work and long hours. You could start your career with a course in bartending. You can become a pro bartender by improving your knowledge in mixology, making classic cocktails, innovative mixing and infusing and most importantly, by winning people’s hearts!

Bartending courses in India:

• B.Sc in Hotel Management, Bar Management – 3 years
• M.Sc in Hotel Management, Bar Management – 2 years
• Diploma in Bar Management, Hotel Management & Catering Science – 1 year
• Diploma in Bar Management – 1 year
• Craftsmanship course in bartending – 6 months
• Certificate course in Wine & Spirits – 3 months
• Certificate course in bar flair – 6 weeks

Other relevant courses:

• B.A in Culinary Arts
• Bachelor of Catering Technology and Culinary Arts
• Bachelor of Hotel Management
• BA in Hotel Management and Hospitality
• B.Sc. in Hotel Management and Hospitality

Eligibility criteria:

The minimum requirement in case of most institutes is to have passed 12th standard.

Skills required:

• Communication skills. Bartenders must listen carefully to their customers’ orders, explain drink and food items, and make menu recommendations. They also should be able to converse with customers on a variety of subjects and create a friendly and welcoming environment.
• Customer-service skills: Bartenders must have good customer-service skills to ensure repeat business.
• Decision-making skills: Bartenders must be able to make good decisions. For example: They should be able to detect intoxicated and underage customers and deny service to those individuals.
• Physical stamina: Bartenders spend hours on their feet walking and standing while preparing drinks and serving customers.
• Physical strength: Bartenders should be able to lift and carry heavy cases of liquor, beer, and other bar supplies—cases that often weigh up to 50 pounds.

Places of work:

• Hotels and restaurants
• Cocktail lounges
• Pubs and Bars
• Private parties services

Job opportunities & Scope:

There are various career options for a bartender. From bars, night clubs/country clubs, resorts, hotels, cafes to fine dining restaurants, airlines, cruise lines they can choose their preferred working environment to suite their personality and bartending skills. They have an option to work in all service bars where they just fill orders and don’t have to directly interact with customers. They can also do freelancing without being tied down to a single restaurant, hotel or nightclub. Banquet functions almost always call for a bartender to cater to events like weddings, baby/bridal showers, communions, parties etc. Once they have gained experience in bartending, bartenders can start their own outdoor bartending business. They can also choose to work with leading alcohol brands for testing and training. They can enter into tie up with an event management team. Among these jobs, the most alluring one is the life on cruise lines where a bartender serves on passenger cruise ships. Beverage consultant or trainer are other options available.

After years of experience in the field career advancement is possible. They advance to supervisory jobs, such as dining room supervisor, maitre d’, assistant manager, or restaurant general manager. A few bartenders open their own bars.

Colleges offering courses in mixology/bartending: