A bartender resume is the perfect blend of technical skills and customer service, garnished with a good helping of safety and efficiency. It must prove you can handle a fast-paced environment while delivering high-quality beverages. This guide serves up expert tips and strategies to help you demonstrate a knack for creating memorable guest experiences from behind the bar.
Key takeaways:
After reading your resume, restaurant managers and bar owners should be confident in your ability to handle all aspects of bartending. To create a great bartender resume, include these sections:
At the top of your bartender resume, provide your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a link to your online professional profile if you have one. As you edit your resume, double-check your contact information to ensure everything is current and correct.
Your Name
(123) 456-7890
email@example.com
City, State Abbreviation Zip Code
LinkedIn
Think of your profile as the first sip of your resume — it should leave hiring managers wanting more. To create a compelling summarization of your bartending background, highlight the practical experiences and mixology skills potential employers are looking for. Distill your bartending expertise into a few sentences that match the establishment’s needs.
For example, if you’ve worked in a craft cocktail lounge and have expert knowledge in infusing spirits and syrups, mention that. Or, perhaps you’re applying for a bartender job in a high-end restaurant, and you happen to have sommelier experience pairing wines. Communicate these key qualifications immediately by including them in your profile.
Lead bartender and certified mixologist with over a decade of progressive experience in prestigious New York City bars. A leader who enjoys developing bar staff into proactive, guest-focused team members. Thrives in a high-volume, fast-paced environment. Bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management.
Enthusiastic bartender with three years of experience in food service and hospitality. Certified in food and alcohol safety. Team player who collaborates well in high-pressure environments. Attention to detail and an outgoing personality ensure memorable experiences for guests. A knack for creating personalized drinks and pairing beer, wine, and cocktails.
Prove you can keep up with the over 700,000 currently employed bartenders by crafting a strong professional experience section. Put your beverage mastery on display with concise descriptions of your past responsibilities and achievements. Give examples of your technical skills, teamwork, and customer service orientation in action.
In addition to pulling taps and popping corks, describe those behind-the-scenes moments when you’ve managed inventory or dived into the business side of bartending. If you’ve taken on the role of trainer or mentor, discuss the success you’ve had leading bar staff. Demonstrate that you’re a well-rounded candidate who can handle all aspects of bar operations.
Lead Bartender, The Highball Lounge, New York, NY
June 2018 – present
Banquet Bartender, Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, Lake Arrowhead, CA
January 2023 – present
In addition to your barkeeping job duties, include quantified examples of how you achieved results. This helps hiring managers see the impact you’ve made in past positions and gives them a glimpse of the value you could bring to their establishment. Throughout your professional experience section, impress bar owners with some quantified results you’ve achieved.
Catering your resume for potential employers is like personalizing a drink to suit someone’s tastes. If a guest is looking for a fruity cocktail, you wouldn’t serve them a whiskey sour. So get to know the needs of each company and what they seek in a bartender. Study the job description and identify keywords, skills, and qualifications listed there.
Let’s pretend you’re interested in working for a gastropub, and its job ad mentions “artisanal cocktails,” “local ingredient sourcing,” and “whiskey flights.” If you’re experienced in these areas, use the same words and phrases in your resume when describing your bartending background. This helps hiring managers make the connection between your qualifications and their needs.
Although bar owners usually prefer to hire experienced bar staff, many are willing to invest in people who are enthusiastic and eager to learn. So, work with the experience you do have. Focus on any relevant education or certifications specific to bartending and extract transferable skills like communication, multitasking, and coachability.
For example, if you have volunteer experience in a food or drink service setting, highlight skills you used in relation to bartending. This could include things like maintaining a clean workspace, creating a welcoming atmosphere, and working on a team.
Bartender jobs usually only require a high school diploma. However, if you’ve had additional schooling, start with your highest level of education. Provide the name of the school and dates of attendance. Then, include any relevant certifications you’ve earned in preparation for the job.
If your state requires special licensing to serve alcohol and food, and you’ve already taken the necessary exams, include that information as well. Every relevant detail about your knowledge counts. For example, a special mixology certificate could make the difference between you and another well-qualified candidate.
Template:
[Degree Name]
[School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] | [Graduation Year]
Example:
Associate of Science (A.S.) in Hospitality Management
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA | June 2017
Template:
[Certification Name], [Awarding Organization], [Completion Year]
Example:
Responsible Beverage Server, Alcoholic Beverage Control, 2022
Working directly with the public requires a balanced blend of hard and soft skills, and creating a key skills section will display your bartending abilities. Be mindful of what you include by ensuring your list aligns with the unique requirements of the position. These requirements can change from job to job, so adapt your bartender resume for each application.
Here’s a list of common bartending skills you could include:
Key Skills and Proficiencies | |
---|---|
Accuracy | Adaptability |
Attention to detail | Bartending equipment |
Cash handling | Conflict resolution |
Customer focus | Effective communication |
Flexibility | Food and wine pairing |
Inventory management | Mixology |
Multitasking | Point-of-sale (POS) system operation |
Responsible beverage service | Sanitation and food safety |
Teamwork | Time management |
Bartending takes initiative and proactive engagement with guests. Using action verbs can help you communicate this element of your work. Instead of simply listing responsibilities, show how you actively contributed to the smooth operation of the bar. Communicate your bartending duties and accomplishments concisely using the action verbs below:
Action Verbs | |
---|---|
Adapted | Crafted |
Customized | Elevated |
Enhanced | Executed |
Fostered | Greeted |
Implemented | Innovated |
Mixed | Optimized |
Poured | Served |
Streamlined |
As a bartender, you know presentation matters. Just like selecting the perfect glassware for a drink, choosing the right resume template can be the difference between getting noticed or overlooked.
Bartender resumes do best with a classic, clean, and professional design. Avoid complex, graphic-heavy templates that don’t read well and could distract from your career highlights. Hiring managers should be able to read through your resume with ease and capture all they need to know quickly.
Your Name
(123) 456-7890
email@example.com
City, State Abbreviation zip code
LinkedIn | Portfolio
Enthusiastic bartender with three years of experience in food service and hospitality. Certified in food and alcohol safety. Team player who collaborates well in high-pressure environments. Attention to detail and an outgoing personality ensure memorable experiences for guests. A knack for creating specialized drinks and pairing beer, wine, and cocktails.
Banquet Bartender, Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, Lake Arrowhead, CA
January 2023 – present
Food Runner, Chili’s Grill & Bar, Dallas, TX
June 2021 – December 2022
High School Diploma, June 2021
Dallas Community High School, Dallas, TX
Employment for bartenders is expected to grow at an average rate of 3% over the next decade. Although there’s a healthy demand for cocktail artisans, you’ll need a well-tailored resume to land jobs at the best establishments. The goal is to adjust every resume you submit to align with what employers are looking for.
For example, let’s say you have experience in a busy sports bar, but you’re applying for a new job at a trendy downtown nightclub. They need a bartender who can handle high-volume drink orders and create personalized cocktails on the fly. In that case, you would highlight your speed of service during peak hours and emphasize your creativity in developing new drinks.
A combination format allows you as a bartender to showcase a blend of your most important assets — your mixology skills and work history. This gives hiring managers a balanced view of your qualifications, helping them envision how you would excel behind their bar. A key skills list followed by a progressive work history is the best way for an entry-level or seasoned bartender to structure their resume.
No application is complete without the perfect garnish — a cover letter. This is your chance to speak directly to the hiring manager, introduce yourself, and explain what makes you the perfect bartender for the position. Cover letters may not always be a requirement for a bartender job, but they will help you stand out from other applicants.
Resume Templates offers free, HR approved resume templates to help you create a professional resume in minutes. Choose from several template options and even pre-populate a resume from your profile.