How To Write a Resume for a Bartender Position With No Experience

When pursuing a bartender position with no experience, it's beneficial to have a strong resume to add to your application. If you're hoping to create a strong bartender resume, it's important to know what it should include and how to arrange your experience and skills so it attracts potential employers. In this article, we discuss what a bartender does, what to include on a bartender resume and how to write a bartender resume with no experience using a helpful list of steps and an example.

What does a bartender do?

A bartender is an individual who serves customers' drinks and food. The drinks bartenders make are often alcoholic, and some require specific recipes and mixology skills to make properly. Throughout their workday, bartenders often take drink orders, manage the bar's inventory, connect with customers and prepare beverages. Though they most often work in bars, bartenders can also work in hotels, restaurants, cruise ships and golf course clubhouses. Depending on where they work, bartenders may need to fulfill special mixology training or earn a bartender certificate.

Read more: Learn About Being a Bartender

What to include on a resume for a bartender position?

There are several important things you should include on a bartender resume, including:

• Bartender skills: Bartenders use a variety of skills throughout their workday, including organization, composure, memory, communication and more. Mentioning these experiences on a bartender resume can help make the application more noticeable to potential employers and help you demonstrate your occupational skills.

• Recipe knowledge: It's important for bartenders to know how to make certain alcoholic drinks or beverages. Though it's possible that some bars and restaurants might have a guidebook to help you, having some popular recipes memorized can help impress employers.

• Certifications: Though not always necessary, it can be beneficial to include your bartender certification or training on your resume. Some employers prefer to hire individuals who have bartender training and education, especially if they have no previous bartender experience.

Related: What Is a Bartender Certification?

How to write a resume for a bartender with no experience

Here is a list of steps for writing a bartender resume with no experience:

1. Conduct thorough research

Before writing a bartender resume, it's important to conduct research on the different bars or restaurants where you're hoping to apply. Researching the different establishments can help you better understand what they value, how their business operates and what skills or experiences you should highlight in your resume. For example, if you know that a majority of the bar's customers order food, they might prefer someone with experience waiting tables. Conducting research also allows you to tailor your resume directly toward that business by mentioning their name in the resume itself.

Related: The Complete Guide To Researching a Company

2. Write a strong bartender objective

A resume objective is a one - to three-sentence blurb that describes your relevant skills, knowledge and background that contribute to a bartender role. When writing a resume objective, it's beneficial to use strong active language to attract the attention of potential employers and quickly deliver the information to them. At the end of the resume objective, it's also beneficial to list the name of the business where you're applying and the current position you're seeking. For example, "Looking to use my excellent skills of communication and organization at Highway's Bar and Grill in a bartender position."

Adding the name of the business you're applying to can help them know you tailored the resume toward their establishment and that you're passionate about the role. When writing a bartender objective with no experience, it's important to focus on any previous experiences that can relate to the position and why you'd be a strong candidate to train and develop within their business.

3. Mention transferable skills

When listing skills on your resume, it's helpful to list them as a bullet-point list using brief sentences or blurbs to describe how they can help you in a bartender position. Writing your skills as a list can help employers read them more efficiently and allow them to quickly understand what you can offer to the establishment.

If you're applying to a bartender role with no previous experience, it's important to highlight transferable skills. Though certain technical skills are important, such as drink recipes and mixology techniques, the most transferable skills are often soft skills that you can develop in other careers and fields. For example, if you worked as a construction laborer, a few soft skills from that job that could transfer to a bartender include:

• Communication: Much like how construction workers need to communicate with colleagues and supervisors, bartenders also use communication to relay important information to managers and talk with customers.

• Teachability: On a construction site, supervisors might train laborers how to accomplish certain tasks. When working as a bartender, especially with no experience, managers and bar owners might need to train you on how to make beverages or operate certain payment systems.

• Organization: Construction laborers need to stay organized when moving and operating special equipment and materials. Bartenders also use organization to keep track of inventory and organize the bar so they know where to find certain drinks or tools.

• Active listening: Construction workers use active listening when receiving orders from supervisors and colleagues. Bartenders often use active listening to understand drink orders and talk with customers about their day.

• Teamwork: Construction laborers often rely on their team for assistance throughout the workday. Bartenders need to know how to work with a team of other bartenders and servers to perform their duties effectively when working in the foodservice industry.

Read more: Transferable Skills: Definitions and Examples

4. Talk about relevant experience

If you don't have any bartender experience, but still have general work experience, it's important to list the past jobs you've had that are most relevant to a bartender role. For example, if you've worked in a restaurant or foodservice facility, those positions can directly relate to a bartender job. However, if you have no previous employment, it can be beneficial to list other forms of work or experience, including volunteer positions. Listing volunteer experience can still help employers know that you've worked in an environment where you've had to follow instructions and work with a team.

When listing your relevant experience, it's important to first list the title of the position you held, followed by the date you started the position and the date you ended it. If you're still currently working there, write "Present" instead of an end date. Then list the name of the company or business you worked for underneath it, followed by the location of the business or establishment. Finally, it's important to list your job responsibilities in bullet-point format to help employers understand more about your background and how it can relate to the bartender role.

5. List education or training

This section is helpful because it allows you to list your educational experience, including your high school diploma or college degrees, as well as any bartender training or certifications you've received. When listing your education and training, start by stating the name of the degree, diploma or certificate you hold, followed by the date you received it. Underneath, write the name of the school or college where you earned the degree and the location of the institution.

Bartender resume example

Here is a bartender resume example you can use to help you create one yourself:

Edwin Wright
217 Kensington St.
Alexandria, VA 22310
703-555-8520
ewright@email.com

Objective
Fully trained and certified bartender with four years of foodservice experience, memorizing customer orders and communicating effectively with colleagues and managers. Hoping to use my skills and knowledge in a bartender position at Bloomfield Bar and Grill.

Skills

• Communicating and building professional relationships with regulars

• Memorizing food and drink orders for increased efficiency

• Organizing food orders for increased productivity

• Managing supplies and materials to ensure inventory is always full

• Understanding and memorizing special drink recipes for better customer satisfaction

Work experience
Server, 2018–Present
Antonios, Alexandria, VA

• Accurately took customers' orders and delivered their food quickly

• Checked up on tables consistently and efficiently to ensure they had everything they needed

• Given the responsibility of ordering certain inventory, such as cups, straws, napkins and more

Barista, 2016–2018
Ahab's Coffee Shop, Alexandria, VA

• Memorized many drink recipes to improve productivity

• Carefully took customers' drink orders with different modifications

• Improved customer satisfaction through conversation and connection

Education and training
Bartender and Mixology Certification, 2019
Fordum Bartending School, Williamsburg, VA

High School Diploma
Frankford High School, Alexandria, VA