I'm in the same situation as you... just got my first job as a barback. It's a
new bar/restaurant opening in a town with only about 1 liquor license for
every 6 restaurants, so you can bet it's going to be packed. I have a feeling
it will be a good experience because I had a good repoire with the owner
during my interview, and his plans for the place seem to be in line with what
I'm looking for.
I went to school as well, and they do have some success placing people, but
it's mostly in plastic cup clubs, and that's not my thing at all (plus I'm not
a hot chick... seriously half the leads in that place say "female... must be
attractive"). I first took the class 4 years ago and expected to get a job to
help me through college, but I just didn't have the time. I went back and took
a free refresher course just to get my hands on the bottles again and relearn
all the traditional drink recipes. This time I'm getting a job to help me
through unpaid interning and grad school, and it looks like it's going to
happen for real.