Bar Work

A_Sober_Paddy

Hey all,

For those of ye who have worked in bar's. What does the job usually entail? I may have an interview for a bar job tomorrow so need to know a bit about it.

I know you pull pints and open bottles...but what else?

I've never worked in a bar, so any pointers would be great:D

Tombi!

I once seen a barman give a girl a free pint for flashing her boobs.

So there is that upside to the job

mmm88

Listen to people talk utter sh*te!

A_Sober_Paddy

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

I once seen a barman give a girl a free pint for flashing her boobs.

So there is that upside to the job

Ha ha yeah seen that before too:D

B.A._Baracus

Is the job for barman? or just general bar duties (Barback)

Thatnastyboy

Well,

You have to be alert,

You most certainly can not drink a can on the job with the amount of people getting breathalised while on duty these days

If you do decide to drink you must make sure to pay for it too.

MrStuffins

It's an easy job OP.

Pull pints, open bottles, deal with the drunken public, take in stock (bit of heavy lifting but no bother), re-stock the shelves etc.

Nothing to it!

A_Sober_Paddy

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Is the job for barman? or just general bar duties (Barback)

General Bar duties as far as I know

Lando Griffin

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Hey all,



I know you pull pints and open bottles...but what else?

Once the pint is pulled or the bottle open you give it to the customer in exchange for cash which you place in the till. The amount of change will vary depending on several factors one of which is the time of night.

B.A._Baracus

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

General Bar duties as far as I know

I worked as a bar back once (general duties) ha barback sounds dirty... lol. barback? bareback? lol.

But anyways. Its easy. Change a keg, stick the glasses into the dishwasher, change the bins, etc etc. But here is the problem. You have never worked in a bar before and most bars are now seeking people with a few years experience, even in just general duty positions (employers market these days) So if you've worked in a cafe, or any job you could twist into the "same duties" it'll improve you chances.

mmm88

On a serious side, opening and closing of bar/bars, stock control, being able to change kegs etc, dealing with cash, dealing with unruly or drunk customers, showing excellent customer service, being friendly, hard worker not lazy, bar work is generally handy if you have common sense and a bit of cop on :-) best of luck with the interview!

Sleepy

Beyond the ability to pull pints, remember orders, make change, stack shelves and change kegs (all pretty simple things) by far the hardest part of being a bartender is keeping your cool. You'll deal with absolute cunts at least every other shift.

It's good craic though. Since you don't have the time to find someone to show you the ropes, be honest in the interview and let them know you're willing to learn. It's not exactly rocket science and you'll pick it up pretty quick.

Oh, and first rule of bartending: there's *always* something to do. On the quietest night in November, there'll be a shelf of glasses that need cleaning or some sticky crap underneath the bottles at the top shelf. The first sign of a bad barman is the guy that spends half his time just standing there.

Fr_Dougal

If it's a busy bar you need to be nimble on your feet. Nobody likes working with a clumsy oaf.

mikemac1

Gents toilets, no bother to clean them, in and out in minutes

Ladies toilets :eek:
Toiletries on the ground, out come my rubber gloves
Lipstick on the mirror, grrrrrr
General rubbish tossed on the ground


I could clean 5 gents in the time it took me to do the ladies

Be warned OP, some nights it's like opening the gates of hell!

Sauve

I once lied to get a job in a super-pub in the UK. Place had about five bars.
Told them I had plenty of experience (I had zero)

On my first shift, the manager pointed to a smallish bar and said - "There's your bar, have a look around it before the place fills".

About 30 mins later, the place was absolutely heaving after a rugby game nearby. I've never been as frightened in my life. The first pint I pulled was for a huge big lump of a man looking for "Four pints of your finest Ale luv".
I didn't know what ale was.
Saw a tap that had ale written on it and combined four very badly poured pints with my liltiest Irish accent. Dunno how I got away with it, the state of the pints I gave the poor man. So it continued for the whole night, after which I went home with my nerves shot to bits and never went back.

So OP - moral of the story - don't lie about how much experience you have and you'll be grand

NegativeCreep

Worked in a bar once. I was horrible. The customers were dumb and used to argue over stupid things and they got on my nerves a whole lot. Employer was a bollocks aswell :L I eventually got fired for ringing in sick on new years eve :L

You'll have to take in stock, serve the off license, empty the big bin of glasses by hand and sort them by colour for recycling, collect glasses, load the dishwasher, put away glasses, close the shutters, sweep the floor and clean toilets. You also have to make sure you are friendly with the customers (I learned this the hard way) :L

Drinking on the job was encouraged where I worked :L

A_Sober_Paddy

NegativeCreep wrote: »

Worked in a bar once. I was horrible. The customers were dumb and used to argue over stupid things and they got on my nerves a whole lot. Employer was a bollocks aswell :L I eventually got fired for ringing in sick on new years eve :L

You'll have to take in stock, serve the off license, empty the big bin of glasses by hand and sort them by colour for recycling, collect glasses, load the dishwasher, put away glasses, close the shutters, sweep the floor and clean toilets. You also have to make sure you are friendly with the customers (I learned this the hard way) :L

Drinking on the job was encouraged where I worked :L

Look at the username

jdooley28

Don't worry you can get the hang of barwork pretty quickly, it's actually grand after a few nights when you have an idea what your doing

mikemac1

If you've been pretty sedentary then barwork will get you fit!

On a busy night you'll be lugging stock up the stairs as fast as you can and then lugging skips down the stairs.
Sweeping, mopping, bending and streching for hours on end in a hot workplace, would be skulling back the pints of uisce

Used to pile on the weight in college with beer and junk

Come home for the summer and by August I'd have lost two stone!

validusername1

serve drinks, load the dishwasher, sort out bottles into the recycling bins, clean the bar, work the till, handle money, you need to be fast and alert if it's busy.

i work as a waitress mainly but i do the bar some times and that's the sort of stuff i have to do. i was never actually taught what to do in the bar, i was just thrown in and just looked around to find where the drinks were when someone ordered them. i found it easy enough to pick up and i wasn't even trained so if you're given even a bit of help, i'm sure you'll be more than fine. just make sure you give off the impression in the interview that you're really friendly, nice, patient, etc. don't lie about experience - they will know the second you start the job.

Thefirestarter

It can be great fun; sometimes a right pain. Depends what kind of bar you are gonna be working in though, will it be jam packed full of students/sports fans or a little local pub with regulars who take it easy?

Key points

1. Have the ultimate patience with customers; from Betty who wants 2 coffees, 1 with milk & 1 without milk but 2 spoons of sugar, a glass of Guinness and a myriad of other stuff to Paddy & Mick who are down for the GAA match/Concert and have plans on getting slaughtered, who are pig ignorant with no please or thank you's and shouting over to you in the thickest of a countys accent when you are serving other customers without you snapping at them. Getting cheeky with customers is not advisable as you still have your'e shift to do while they can continue to goad from the counter.

2. Being patient is one thing, but to be friendly to everybody you meet no matter what is a great way of getting people to see you are honest and helpful; best way of getting tips and some banter out of people.

3. Buy a very comfortable pair of shoes. This is something that might be top of your'e mind but when you've done a 10+ hour shift standing and running around, you will thank me. Having sore feet would just be the start. If you don't support you're feet properly it can lead to back pain and strains, last thing you want is aching muscle joints in the back.

4. It might take awhile, but have a method to how you take an order and serve. It stops you from taking a measure of vodka, then looking for a slice of lemon, putting it in and forgetting the ice. Small things like that will frustrate you. Vodka > (Ask if they would like a slice of lemon) > Ice etc etc.

Oh and if you get an order as such "2 pints of Bud, a pint of carlsberg, a pint of smithwicks and a pint of Guinness" DO THE GUINNESS FIRST. By doing the Guinness first, you then give it the time to settle while doing the other pints, therefore, saving you time and the customers.

5. Tidy as you go. Pick up bottles that are empty along the way and put them in the bottle skip, wiping the counter down if not busy, re-stock, reorganize. This saves from having to bend down later on and scrambling for that bottle of coke at the back or opening up another bottle of wine by accident when another bottle is half empty that could have been used that you didn't notice.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head for now, but don't stress over it

Good luck!

ArtSmart

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Look at the username

exactly! sober Paddy working in as bar...


anyway, the most important thing is turning up. second is not panicking. third is being subtle with the barman groupies - yup barman groupies. most sex you'll ever be offered in ur life.

ArtSmart

NegativeCreep wrote: »

Worked in a bar once. I was horrible. The customers were dumb and used to argue over stupid things and they got on my nerves a whole lot. Employer was a bollocks aswell :L I eventually got fired for ringing in sick on new years eve :L

You'll have to take in stock, serve the off license, empty the big bin of glasses by hand and sort them by colour for recycling, collect glasses, load the dishwasher, put away glasses, close the shutters, sweep the floor and clean toilets. You also have to make sure you are friendly with the customers (I learned this the hard way) :L

Drinking on the job was encouraged where I worked :L

lol. a necessity be the sounds of it. tell me, they still in business? usually places like that dont last, unless the owner themselves work alone.

edit. hmmm re-reading ur post, sounds like you might have been the em, person at fault!

Adyx

Thefirestarter wrote: »

It can be great fun; sometimes a right pain. Depends what kind of bar you are gonna be working in though, will it be jam packed full of students/sports fans or a little local pub with regulars who take it easy?

Key points

1. Have the ultimate patience with customers; from Betty who wants 2 coffees, 1 with milk & 1 without milk but 2 spoons of sugar, a glass of Guinness and a myriad of other stuff to Paddy & Mick who are down for the GAA match/Concert and have plans on getting slaughtered, who are pig ignorant with no please or thank you's and shouting over to you in the thickest of a countys accent when you are serving other customers without you snapping at them. Getting cheeky with customers is not advisable as you still have your'e shift to do while they can continue to goad from the counter.

2. Being patient is one thing, but to be friendly to everybody you meet no matter what is a great way of getting people to see you are honest and helpful; best way of getting tips and some banter out of people.

3. Buy a very comfortable pair of shoes. This is something that might be top of your'e mind but when you've done a 10+ hour shift standing and running around, you will thank me. Having sore feet would just be the start. If you don't support you're feet properly it can lead to back pain and strains, last thing you want is aching muscle joints in the back.

4. It might take awhile, but have a method to how you take an order and serve. It stops you from taking a measure of vodka, then looking for a slice of lemon, putting it in and forgetting the ice. Small things like that will frustrate you. Vodka > (Ask if they would like a slice of lemon) > Ice etc etc.

Oh and if you get an order as such "2 pints of Bud, a pint of carlsberg, a pint of smithwicks and a pint of Guinness" DO THE GUINNESS FIRST. By doing the Guinness first, you then give it the time to settle while doing the other pints, therefore, saving you time and the customers.

5. Tidy as you go. Pick up bottles that are empty along the way and put them in the bottle skip, wiping the counter down if not busy, re-stock, reorganize. This saves from having to bend down later on and scrambling for that bottle of coke at the back or opening up another bottle of wine by accident when another bottle is half empty that could have been used that you didn't notice.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head for now, but don't stress over it

Good luck!

I'd have to second all of these except the best way to get tips is to be female and show a bit of cleavage. Make sure you learn how to change a keg yourself. It's not hard but the amount of people I've worked with who couldn't do it is ridiculous and for gods sake don't tap up Bud to a Carlsberg tap.

Don't show fear in front of the customers!

CavanCrew

lots of...


" GIVE US YAR STRONGEST SHOT "

Nah but you just have to be able to multitask, I didnt have to do keg changes, being a gurrrl, just get the lads. In the beginning i fecked up peoples change and was down over a tenner, so ended up making up that tenner from the next few customers, brains.. dont do it tho.

also that pissy smell of beer that lingers if it sinks into the carpet and is there for months eurgh gross to clean. Best of luck in the interview.

NegativeCreep

ArtSmart wrote: »

lol. a necessity be the sounds of it. tell me, they still in business? usually places like that dont last, unless the owner themselves work alone.

edit. hmmm re-reading ur post, sounds like you might have been the em, person at fault!

Still in business :L Gets new management every second week though :L
I was there 3 months, only a minor problem :L

Adyx

CavanCrew wrote: »

lots of...


" GIVE US YAR STRONGEST SHOT "

Nah but you just have to be able to multitask, I didnt have to do keg changes, being a gurrrl, just get the lads. In the beginning i fecked up peoples change and was down over a tenner, so ended up making up that tenner from the next few customers, brains.. dont do it tho.

also that pissy smell of beer that lingers if it sinks into the carpet and is there for months eurgh gross to clean. Best of luck in the interview.

Chartreuse it is then. Even if they get sick it's worth it for the look of horror on most people's faces. :pac:

nice_very

yeh, its not an easy job.. anyone who says it is has not worked in a bar or feel that its beneath them and wouldnt last long in the job..

I have worked a lot of 16 hr shifts with no breaks (maybe a 5 minute smoke break) well into the early hours, having to deal with stupid drunken wanabees thinking they are important because "I have money and you have to serve me"

Waking up the next afternoon, barely able to walk with leg cramps etc, shower and back in to do it all again.

I have always said that bar staff are the best bar customers, cos they know not to be dickheads and it does get noted, and they get a better service being polite.