If you're a bartender looking to make their job into a career, you may have run into the problem of how to stand out from the other skilled bartenders in the industry. Let's face it, bartending isn't rocket science, and as such there are a ton of skilled bartenders, while there aren't that many rocket scientists. So how do you let every potential boss know how valuable you are?
First of all, if you're going to be serious about career bartending, ask yourself a few questions. What is your ideal bar to work in? Whether you're just starting out, or you've been in a couple of bars already, you most likely aren't in your perfect bar. When you think about this, make it unrealistically good. This is your fantasy bar, but also consider each element of the bar and either write it down or make a mental note of it. Another question you should ask is where you want to go from bartending. Make a short term, mid term, and long term goal. Think management, ownership, corporate, consultant, or any other intimidating businessey sounding words. Bartending at someone else's bar should not be the end of the line for you, right?
(If you have photo proof of classy looking cocktails you've made
maybe including them could spice up your resume.)
With the answers to those questions in mind, what do you think the most important thing for accomplishing your goals is? Hopefully, you said something along the lines of 'experience'. Experience will do a number of things for you. It'll help you build a skill set, make connections, and get your brand out there....
That's right folks. I said 'your brand'. You're going to want to start thinking of yourself as your own business. Businesses that work on a consistent brand are a couple of steps ahead of the game. You need to be conscious of what your competitors have to offer, and what the industry expectations are, but most importantly, what makes you, you. Following the trends and dialogue of successful bartenders and bars will help you a great deal, but being true to yourself and figuring out the unique offerings that you possess will get you even farther.
 |
| (Image credit: Mashable.com... check out their article on 7 creative social media resume designs.) |
Your resume will often be the first impression that employers will get of the business that is you. This isn't to decrease the importance of meet and greets, drop-ins, or whatever other method you have of meeting before you hand off your resume. Sometimes physical resume drop offs are impossible, or the managers in charge of hiring don't accept drop-ins. It's at these times that either your resume will do most of the talking or you'll have to come up with some Mission Impossible delivery method to help you get behind security (that's a metaphor... hopefully the comparison is clear though).
Your resume should start off with your name and contact information, but directly below that start your work experience off immediately. Don't fall for the mistake of putting bartender, and then explaining what a bartender does. Everyone knows what a bartender does, and most of your competitors will be falling for that trap. If you're going to mention how busy your bar is, make sure you use sales or volume numbers, but try not to be too hung up on that. Briefly describe the restaurant or bar and include any information that might make you stand out from the pack, like management experience or other leadership responsibilities. If you managed your company's social media accounts, or have experience with Excel include that, but do not go overboard on details. This part of your resume should take no more than half of the page.
 |
| (Daisy Tang has an awesome resume at www.holadaisy.com ) |
For the next section of your resume, it's all you. This is the part where you get to add a personal touch to your experience. Languages spoken is a good starting point, as well as relevant certificates and training programs. If you haven't done any certified programs, get onto it. There are always wine tasting courses available in large cities or online. Bartending and flair classes float around as well as general hospitality programs. If there are any bartending organizations in your city, region, or country, join them. If there are competitions, try out for those as well. Start a blog, youtube channel and personal website, and include all of those things in your resume. Try to volunteer at exhibition events, wineries, breweries or distilleries to get knowledge on the product end of things and include that on your resume as well. Build a skill set. Make it large. Make it professional. And make it easy to read.
Don't use flowery language to fill out your resume though. Keep it brief, and relevant. Let your skills speak for themselves, and keep your resume under a page, but not condensed to the point of being a page full of cluttered text. Think of it as a summary of your skills, and don't do so much explaining that you have nothing new to say during your interviews.
 |
| (It's hard to add style to a resume, but QR codes can help convey a certain level of creativity, professionalism, and technological literacy.) |
With your new resume crafted, start playing around with different ways of formatting the layout and font of your new document. Make something simple, aesthetically pleasing, and interesting to look at. Including a professional photo of you on the job can help as well. The style of your resume should mirror your own style and brand, as well as fit into the brand of the place you're applying to. If you do opt for the photo, make sure it's appropriate to the venue you're applying at. As for stylistic, or very design oriented resumes, there are a few awesome ideas out there, but make sure that if you're going to go this route that you can pull it off in a way that doesn't scream 'kindergarten art project'.
Your resume should now be a solid document, but nevertheless, have some people of different professional fields look over it. If you know any managers in hospitality show it to them. Hell, they might even offer you a job if they like what they see....
With this document in your possession, you should have a solid piece of paper that you can toss over the desk of a hiring manager and get a respectable response. Keep tweaking it once in awhile, and make necessary changes when you're applying to different sorts of places.
And also, stay tuned for the next in my series of blog articles on making a career out of bartending.
No comments:
Post a Comment