Proud To Be A Bartender

What’s your real job?  

When you bartend people ask this question and other similar questions all the time.

You can be proud of being a bartender, just like any other profession.  Some people don’t get it and that doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that you do the best job possible and always improve.  That way you can laugh at those stupid questions and comments.

Is bartending a real job?  Well the $30 an hour after taxes that you put in your pocket every week says “YES,  bartending is a real job.  It pays my real bills and lets me have more than 2 weeks of vacation a year, if I choose.”

As a bartender you can change companies any time you want.  You can work anywhere in the world.  My first bartending job was in Berlin, Germany.
Learn enough of another language and go for it.  Pick a different part of the country, use your network and the internet to find a great bar to work in.  Send them your resume.  Switch it up every couple of years and see the world.

The personal and professional networks that you build can be huge, in both size and impact.  This real job will let you learn the skills to open your own business.  Not just a bar or restaurant, any business.

Every business owner needs good people skills.  You learn those skills as a bartender.  You learn them from your own experience and from listening to the people you meet.  When you listen, more than you talk, you learn all kinds of stuff from customers and co-workers.
Some of it’s B.S. but fact checking is easy enough these days.

Is bartending a real job?

Not when your behind the bar drinking and partying.  This is one of the reasons so many people think bartending is just a joke..  Too many bartenders are seen screwing around and not doing the job.  So it isn’t surprising when people ask what you really do for a living.

Having a good time is one of the perks.  Don’t be a moron.  Leave the drinking for after work, like a real job.  Bartenders that drink on the job don’t get much respect.  Think about it.  Can they really be trusted to handle money?

Speaking of money.  That’s one of things you manage as a bartender.

You maintain inventory.
Customer service and relations.

Those things all sound like real work at a real job. 

Many of the people that come into the bar don’t have as many responsibilities as a bartender.  They go to work, follow orders, only do the minimum that’s required and never get better at their job.

Bartenders that get better at their job make more money.  It’s kind of like giving yourself a raise whenever you want it.

Bartending is a real job and it’s a great job.

You can make it a lifetime career or use it to achieve other goals.

Now when anyone brings it up, you know you can be proud of being a bartender.