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Where to Look for Bartending Jobs (especially with no experience).

When I first started looking for bartending jobs the only place to look was the classified section of the newspaper.  With the age of digital media and social networking, the classified section in the newspaper is pretty much dead.  For the last few weeks I looked in the 3 major newspapers for NYC and found no ads in the help wanted section(for bartenders).  So where should you look if you want to get a bartending gig?

1)   Your friends

If you want to get a bartending job real bad you need to let everyone in your social circle know what you are looking for.  If you know anyone who works in a bar/restaurant tell him or her you really want to get a bartending gig.  If you know someone who owns a bar tell him or her how bad you want to get a bartending gig.  Tell everyone and be persistent!  What most people don’t know is that owners/manager hate putting help wanted ads (more on where to find those ads later) online.  The reason why is that when an owner put a help wanted out he/she has to answer a lot of phone calls and do a lot of interviews.  It’s a huge waste of time.  If someone who already works for them tells them they have a friend who would be great (you)……your chances of getting hired increase greatly.

2)   Craigslist/Social Media

When it comes to looking for a bartending job, craigslist has destroyed the help wanted section of your local newspaper.  Why?  It’s free!  Newspaper help wanted ads can get pretty expensive and can produce little results.  With craigslist, the ad is free and the owner can answer questions via email rather than answering 20 phone calls.  If the ad produces little results, its no big deal because it costs nothing.

Social Media has become huge for the bar and restaurant industry.  If there is a certain bar in your area that you would like to work at, check their facebook page.  Most bars update their facebook page much more often than their actual website (it’s a lot easier).  Lately, more and more bars are advertising positions on their facebook page.  If there are certain bars in your area that you would love to work at, subscribe to their facebook page.  This way, you will not miss a help wanted posting when it pops up.

While there are many ways to get a bartending job, I think these 2 places are the best place to start.  They key to success is be persistent and don’t give up!  Remember, every bartender in the entire world got that first job with no experience.  So can you.

Cheers,
Pete