I've been bar backing at a wedding/banquet place for a couple of months. I
know my way behind the bar pretty well now and know how my bar works. The only
thing I don't know is how to make drinks. I've been reading a bartending book
that came out last year trying to learn drinks, and have been using Bar Sim, a
computer program, to help me learn drinks as well. My boss has also started
quizzing me on what are in drinks when there aren't any customers.
Most of the threads on here shit on people that go to bartending schools, but
one of the bartenders at my work that just got hired went to a school and said
that the place he went was really good for learning drinks. One of my bosses
said I should go to a school to learn drinks and so that I'll have that and a
good amount of time bar backing on my resume when trying to get a second job.
I only bar back part time at the place I work at now and I'm having trouble
even finding another bar backing job (I got this one through a family
connection).
I'd like to make a full time career out of bartending and eventually try to
move to a major metropolitan city near me and work as a bartender at night
clubs and upscale restaurants. I know I need to start networking with
bartenders in my area and getting more jobs, but I still don't know how to
make drinks well enough to even cover for a bartender if they need to go to
the bathroom (I thought I could last weekend, the first person that came up to
the bar asked for an apple martini and I had no clue what to do, I do know but
that was a real kick in the teeth).
The bartender at my work that went to the school also said that the place had
a good job placement program, but I know he got the job at our bar through a
family connection. So I was wondering how reliable the job placement would be.
I know most schools say they CAN'T guarantee job placement but usually have
90% placement right out of the school. Are schools usually reliable in getting
even another bar backing job right after graduating?
So, when it comes down to it, I want to go to a bartending school to learn
drinks, for the job placement, and just to have it on my resume that I made
sure I had everything down pat before I started serving the drinks. Do you
think it is worth the 400 - 500 dollar investment?