Bartender Resume Templates and Examples for 2024

Bartender Resume Templates and Examples (Downloadable)

• Entry level
• Midlevel
• Senior level

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Google Docs

A bartender resume is the perfect blend of technical skills and customer service, garnished with a good helping of safety and efficiency. It must prove you can handle a fast-paced environment while delivering high-quality beverages. This guide serves up expert tips and strategies to help you demonstrate a knack for creating memorable guest experiences from behind the bar.

Key takeaways:

• Emphasize mixology expertise: Within the first paragraph of your resume, list any bartending specializations — from craft cocktails to artisanal beer and wine pairings.
• Quantify your success: Use dollar amounts, percentages, and metrics to describe your achievements as a bartender. Think guest satisfaction scores, cost savings, or sales increases.
• Include bartending keywords: To help your resume get through applicant tracking systems (ATS), use words and phrases mentioned in the bartender job description.

How To Write a Bartender Resume Example

After reading your resume, restaurant managers and bar owners should be confident in your ability to handle all aspects of bartending. To create a great bartender resume, include these sections:

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

1. Share your contact information

At the top of your bartender resume, provide your full name, phone number, email address, location, and a 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 and correct.

2. Write a brief summary of your bartender qualifications

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.

For example, if you’ve worked in a craft cocktail lounge and have expert knowledge in infusing spirits and syrups, mention that. Or, perhaps you’re applying for a bartender job in a high-end restaurant, and you happen to have sommelier experience pairing wines. Communicate these key qualifications immediately by including them in your profile.

3. Outline your bartender experience in a compelling list

Prove you can keep up with the over 700,000 currently employed bartenders by crafting a strong professional experience section. Put your beverage mastery on display with concise descriptions of your past responsibilities and achievements. Give examples of your technical skills, teamwork, and customer service orientation in action.

In addition to pulling taps and popping corks, describe those behind-the-scenes moments when you’ve managed inventory or dived into the business side of bartending. If you’ve taken on the role of trainer or mentor, discuss the success you’ve had leading bar staff. Demonstrate that you’re a well-rounded candidate who can handle all aspects of bar operations.

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.

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

Catering your resume for potential employers is like personalizing a drink to suit someone’s tastes. If a guest is looking for a fruity cocktail, you wouldn’t serve them a whiskey sour. So get to know the needs of each company and what they seek in a bartender. Study the job description and identify keywords, skills, and qualifications listed there.

Let’s pretend you’re interested in working for a gastropub, and its job ad mentions “artisanal cocktails,” “local ingredient sourcing,” and “whiskey flights.” If you’re experienced in these areas, use the same words and phrases in your resume when describing your bartending background. This helps hiring managers make the connection between your qualifications and their needs.

What if you don’t have experience?

Although bar owners usually prefer to hire experienced bar staff, many are willing to invest in people who are enthusiastic and eager to learn. So, work with the experience you do have. Focus on any relevant education or certifications specific to bartending 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.

4. Add bartender education and certifications

Bartender jobs usually only require a high school diploma. However, if you’ve had additional schooling, start with your highest level of education. Provide the name of the school and dates of attendance. 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 as well. Every relevant detail about your knowledge counts. For example, a special mixology certificate could make the difference between you and another well-qualified candidate.

5. List key bartender skills and proficiencies

Working directly with the public requires a balanced blend of hard and soft skills, and creating a key skills section will display your bartending abilities. Be mindful of what you include by ensuring your list aligns with the unique requirements of the position. These requirements can change from job to job, so adapt your bartender resume for each application.

Here’s a list of common bartending skills you could include:

Resume writer’s tip: Use descriptive action verbs

Bartending takes 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:

How To Pick the Best Bartender Resume Template

As a bartender, you know presentation matters. Just like selecting the perfect glassware for a drink, choosing the right resume template can be the difference between getting noticed or overlooked.

Bartender resumes do best with a classic, clean, and professional design. Avoid complex, graphic-heavy templates that don’t read well and could distract from your career highlights. Hiring managers should be able to read through your resume with ease and capture all they need to know quickly.

Bartender Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples

Frequently Asked Questions: Bartender Resume Examples and Advice

How do you align your resume with a bartender job description?

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. The goal is to adjust every resume you submit to align with what employers are looking for.

For example, let’s say you have experience in a busy sports bar, but you’re applying for a new job at a trendy downtown nightclub. They need a bartender who can handle high-volume drink orders and create personalized cocktails on the fly. In that case, you would highlight your speed of service during peak hours and emphasize your creativity in developing new drinks.

What is the best bartender resume format?

A combination format allows you as a bartender to showcase a blend of your most important assets — your mixology skills and work history. This gives hiring managers a balanced view of your qualifications, helping them envision how you would excel behind their bar. A key skills list followed by a progressive work history is the best way for an entry-level or seasoned bartender to structure their resume.

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Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.