Bartender Resume Template Example

A strong bartender resume demonstrates the perfect mix of cocktail crafting skills, customer service, and operational efficiency. It must prove that you can handle a fast-paced environment, delivering high-quality cocktails, wine, and beer quickly and efficiently. This guide serves up expert tips and strategies to help you craft a resume that highlights your ability to create memorable guest experiences.

How To Write a Bartender Resume

When writing your resume, a professional template can help you put your work history together in an organized manner. Your bartender resume should include these sections:

  • Contact information
  • Profile
  • Key skills
  • Professional experience
  • Education and certifications

Contact information

At the top of your resume, provide your full name, phone number, email address, location, and link to your online professional profile if you have one. As you edit your resume, double-check your contact information to ensure everything is current.

Example

Your Name
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
LinkedIn | Portfolio
City, State Abbreviation Zip Code

Profile

Think of your profile as the first sip of your resume — it should leave hiring managers wanting more. To create a compelling summarization of your bartending background, highlight the practical experiences and mixology skills potential employers are looking for. Distill your bartending expertise into a few sentences that match the establishment’s needs.

Example

Service-driven bartender with seven years of experience elevating guest experiences in high-paced hospitality and dive-bar environments. Adept at crafting standard and specialty beverages, managing bar operations, and anticipating guests’ needs. Looking for an opportunity to contribute expertise to a dynamic establishment that values professionalism and guest satisfaction.

Key skills

Working directly with the public requires a balanced blend of hard and soft skills. Create a key skills section to put your behind-the-bar abilities on display. Show you can provide an excellent customer experience while you shake, stir, and muddle with finesse. Be mindful of the skills you include and align your list with the unique requirements of the position. These requirements can change from job to job, so remember to adapt your list for each application you submit.

Common hard and soft skills for bartenders

Hard Skills Soft Skills
Accuracy Adaptability
Bartending equipment Attention to detail
Cash handling Conflict resolution
Food and wine pairing Customer focus
Inventory management Effective communication
Licensing laws Flexibility
Mixology Leadership
Point-of-sale (POS) system operation Multitasking
Responsible beverage service Teamwork
Sanitation and food safety Time management

Resume writer’s tip: Use specific action verbs

Bartending requires initiative and proactive engagement with guests. Using action verbs can help you communicate this element of your work. Instead of simply listing responsibilities, show how you actively contributed to the smooth operation of the bar. Communicate your bartending duties and accomplishments concisely using the action verbs below:

Action Verbs
Adapted Crafted
Customized Elevated
Enhanced Executed
Fostered Greeted
Implemented Innovated
Mixed Optimized
Poured Served
Streamlined  

Professional experience

Prove you can keep up with the over 600,000 currently employed bartenders by crafting a strong professional experience section. This is where you get to put your beverage mastery on display with concise descriptions of your past responsibilities and achievements. Give examples of your technical, teamwork, and guest service skills in action.

Example

Bartender, Pink Elephant, San Francisco, CA
October 2018 – present

  • Conduct age verifications for all patrons, ensuring 100% compliance with legal drinking age regulations
  • Elevate guest experience by implementing personalized drink recommendations
  • Collaborate with lead chef and ownership to create signature and rotating seasonal cocktail menus, contributing to a $3,000 monthly increase in beverage sales
  • Demonstrate solid multitasking skills to serve over 500 drink orders per night
  • Hold regular training sessions for new staff, ensuring consistent service standards and promoting a collaborative team environment
  • Implement a new customer loyalty program, leading to a 15% rise in repeat business and positive online reviews

Bartender, Marriott International, San Francisco, CA
June 2016 – October 2018

  • Achieved zero discrepancies in cashier reports through meticulous payment processing
  • Trained 12 new staff members over two years on bar procedures, customer service, and Marriott service standards
  • Promoted “Happy Hour” initiative using signage throughout hotel to boost guest awareness, increasing early evening patronage by 24%
  • Prepared fresh garnishes and stocked ice, glassware, and paper supplies
  • Served an average of 30 wine and champagne bottles per shift
  • Maintained a high level of cleanliness, organization, and customer service, resulting in a 15-point improvement in overall guest satisfaction scores

Resume writer’s tip: Quantify your experience

In addition to your barkeeping job duties, include quantified examples of how you achieved results. This helps hiring managers see the impact you’ve made in past positions and gives them a glimpse of the value you could bring to their establishment. Throughout your professional experience section, impress bar owners with some quantified results you’ve achieved.

Do
  • “Collaborate with lead chef and ownership to create signature and rotating seasonal cocktail menus, contributing to a $3,000 monthly increase in beverage sales.”
Don’t
  • “Create new drinks every quarter to increase sales.”

Resume writer’s tip: Tailor your resume for each application

Employment for bartenders is expected to grow at an average rate of 3% over the next decade. Although there’s a healthy demand for cocktail artisans, you’ll need a well-tailored resume to land jobs at the best establishments. Incorporate keywords from the job description throughout your document. Adjust every resume you turn in so that it “speaks the language” of the establishment.

What if you don’t have experience?

Although bar owners usually prefer to hire experienced mixologists, many are willing to invest in people who are enthusiastic and eager to learn. Do your best to work with the experience you have. Focus on any relevant education or certifications specific to mixology and extract transferable skills like communication, multitasking, and coachability.

For example, if you have volunteer experience in a food or drink service setting, highlight skills you used in relation to bartending. This could include things like maintaining a clean workspace, creating a welcoming atmosphere, and working on a team.

Education and certifications

Bartenders usually only require a high school diploma. However, if you’ve had additional schooling, start with your highest level of education. Then, include any relevant certifications you’ve earned in preparation for the job. If your state requires special licensing to serve alcohol and food and you’ve already taken the necessary exams, include that information here as well.

Example

Education
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Hospitality and Tourism Management, September 2013 – June 2017
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Certifications

  • Responsible Beverage Server (RBS), ABC, 2022
  • California Food Handler Card (CFH), ANSI, 2022

Bartender Resume Template Text Example

Your Name
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
City, State Abbreviation zip code
LinkedIn | Portfolio

Profile

Service-driven bartender with seven years of experience elevating guest interactions in high-paced hospitality and dive-bar environments. Adept at crafting standard and specialty beverages, managing bar operations, and anticipating guests’ needs. Looking for an opportunity to contribute expertise to a dynamic establishment that values professionalism and customer satisfaction.

Key Skills

  • Cash handling
  • Cocktail presentation
  • Customer service
  • Mixology
  • Recipe memorization
  • Responsible serving
  • Time management

Professional Experience

Bartender, Pink Elephant, San Francisco, CA
October 2018 – present

  • Conduct age verifications for all patrons, ensuring 100% compliance with legal drinking age regulations
  • Elevate guest experience by implementing personalized drink recommendations
  • Collaborate with lead chef and ownership to create signature and rotating seasonal cocktail menus, contributing to a $3,000 monthly increase in beverage sales
  • Demonstrate exceptional multitasking skills to serve over 500 drink orders per night
  • Hold regular training sessions for new staff, ensuring consistent service standards and promoting a collaborative team environment
  • Implement a new customer loyalty program, leading to a 15% rise in repeat business and positive online reviews

Bartender, Marriott International, San Francisco, CA
June 2016 – October 2018

  • Achieved zero discrepancies in cashier reports through meticulous payment processing
  • Trained 12 new staff members over two years on bar procedures, customer service, and Marriott service standards
  • Promoted “Happy Hour” initiative using signage throughout hotel to boost guest awareness, increasing early evening patronage by 24%
  • Prepared fresh garnishes and stocked ice, glassware, and paper supplies
  • Served an average of 30 wine and champagne bottles per shift
  • Maintained a high level of cleanliness, organization, and customer service, resulting in a 15-point improvement in overall guest satisfaction scores

Education

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Hospitality and Tourism Management, September 2013 – June 2017
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Certifications

  • Responsible Beverage Server (RBS), ABC, 2022
  • California Food Handler Card (CFH), ANSI, 2022
Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

A resume should be a forward-looking value proposition that showcases your most relevant accomplishments for a target role — not a rear view summary of your previous roles and responsibilities.

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