Successful Bar Secrets

Bar Management Tips & Strategies

  • Home
  • Bartender Resources
    • Bar Job Interview Tips
      • 20 Tips To Help You Get A Bar Job Without Experience
      • Four Reasons Why Bar Managers Reject Applications… And How You Can Avoid Them
      • How To Gain The Advantage Over Other Bar Job Applications
      • How To Prepare A ‘Stand Out’ Resume
      • Tips For Performing Above Expectations On A Bar Job Trial
      • How To Get Bar Work While Traveling
    • 25 Smart Ways To Make Better Tips
    • Qualities Of A Strong Bartender
      • How To Be A Really Great Bartender
      • Basic Bartending Terminology & Procedures
    • Basic Drink And Cocktail Recipes
    • What You Need To Know If You Want To Work In A Cocktail Bar
  • Bar Management Strategy
    • Strategic Foundations For A Profitable Bar
      • Qualities Of A Successful Bar
      • Qualities Of A Successful Bar Manager
    • How To Make More Money From Private Functions At Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • How To Promote Financial Efficiencies Throughout Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • How To Run An Efficient Bar Shift
    • Optimising The Internal Culture Of Your Bar Or Restaurant For Greater Profitability
  • Bar Operations
    • Use Systematic Procedures To Improve Productivity In Your Bar
    • How To Systematically Improve Service Standards In Your Bar
    • Human Resources In Hospitality: A Six Step Process For Effective Staff Induction & Management
    • KPIs For Measuring The Performance Of Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • How To Use Planning & Staff Meetings To Increase Productivity & Profitability In Your Bar
    • Components Of A Bar Or Restaurant Operations Manual
  • Venue Marketing
    • The Ultimate Guide To Marketing Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • How To Boost The Reputation Of Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • How To Improve Customer Perception Of Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • The 7 Elements Of An Award Winning Bar
    • Using Email Marketing To Promote Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • Website Features All Hospitality Venues Must Have
  • Social Media Strategy
    • Using Social Media To Promote Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • How To Attract Social Media Influencers To Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • 6 Alternative Ways Social Media Media Is Used In Hospitality
  • Quick Tips
    • 16 Tips For Reducing Theft, Wastage And Spillage In Your Bar
    • 19 Tips For Increasing Your Bar’s Revenue And Profitability
    • 21 Marketing Tips For Your Bar Or Restaurant
    • 24 Tips For Increasing The Productivity Of Your Bar Staff
    • 32 Tips For Increasing Customer Service Standards In Your Bar
    • 33 Tips For Managing Bar Staff And Other Management Tips

Bartender Resource: Four Reasons Why Bar Managers Reject Applications… And How You Can Avoid Them

Reason One: Poor Attitude Or Confidence

Managers and assessors will reject an application if they believe an applicant doesn’t possess the right attitude or is not confident enough to interact fluently with their customers. Change the perspective here: would you employ somebody with a negative attitude? Would you employ someone who wasn’t confident enough to talk to your customers?

Your attitude towards your past employers and your past experience will play a great part in the success of your application. Your attitude towards customers, customer service and learning new things is a large factor too (this will be even more important if you have no industry experience). In many cases, I have rejected super-experienced applicants because they had terrible attitudes. I didn’t want them talking to my customers. Period. In other cases, I gave jobs to inexperienced applicants purely because they had a positively contagious attitude and disposition. They were fun to be around, I knew they’d impress my customers and I knew they could get the job done (and they demonstrated they were very ‘trainable’ too).

Confidence is the other major factor here – remember that you’ll need to be confident in the way you carry yourself, the way you speak and the way you present your application as a whole.

How To Fix This:

As I have mentioned above, many managers ‘hire for attitude and train for skill’. So, it pays to present yourself with an positive ‘can-do’ attitude, and hold yourself with confidence. Be confident even if you are new to the industry. Be confident in your ability to learn quickly. Be confident in the way you communicate and the way you hold yourself. Remember – most human communication is through body language, so make sure your body language is confident.

  • Dress the part. Make yourself feel like you can ‘ace’ the interview. If you feel like you can kick butt in the interview, it will show (however – don’t overdo it). Your interviewer will pick up on it – trust me!
  • Display your personality. Be likeable. Have a conversation with the assessor as if they were a friend. This is exactly what they’ll be looking for – your ability to spark a conversation.
  • Eye contact is a must, but only in moderation. Make eye contact regularly, but not all the time. Don’t make your assessor feel uncomfortable.

Reason Two: Bad Manners, No Respect Or Poor Etiquette

Manners and respect are two fundamental qualities any applicant must have. If an applicant has bad manners and shows disrespect, they’ll struggle to get a job behind a bar. Showing no manners is another no-no too – managers are going to look for manners and courteous behaviour when considering an applicant for any customer-facing position. Turn this perspective around too – would you offer a job to someone who is disrespectful and has bad manners? It wouldn’t make sense to employ them – they will probably repel business and leave a bad impression on customers. Logical, really!

Having manners is a necessity in the hospitality industry. The repercussions of bad manners can be never-ending. It’s human nature to spread the news of a poor customer service experience (people love to gossip, especially about hospitality venues) and it’s most commonly the occurrence of bad manners that causes poor customer service experiences.

Respect is another big player. It looks very bad on an applicant who shows disrespect for anything or anyone. Disrespect is a bad trait to demonstrate to an assessor, as it hints of a poor attitude and possibly a poor work ethic. Another tell-tale sign to an assessor is the way an applicant speaks about past employers. If they speak about their past employers disrespectfully, or anyone else for that matter, I’d be surprised if they got a job.

Etiquette is another big player here. Etiquette will be entirely dependant on the culture in your country, so if you think you aren’t sure of etiquette standards in your area, do some research first.

How To Fix This:

An assessor is going to look for manners and respect in any applicant. The positive here is that this problem is very easy to fix. Say ‘please’ and ‘thankyou’, observe etiquette and other appropriate cultural behaviour and speak and act respectfully. Treat people and objects with respect.

Make a conscious effort to display your manners and respect, as it will make you look good. It will create a good impression on your assessor!

Reason Three: Bar Hopping And Poor Work Ethic

An application won’t look good if an applicant has jumped from bar to bar (more than three or four times) in the past twelve months or so. A bar manager will spend time (and therefore money) to train a new employee, so they’ll need to be assured that the employee will stay for at least the medium term.

The identification of ‘bar hopping’ will probably occur prior or during an initial interview – so be prepared to overcome any objections your assessor may have if you think you are guilty of this.

A strong work ethic is an extremely important asset to have – do your best to demonstrate your work ethic. It might be hard to demonstrate your work ethic in an interview, but if you are offered a trial shift, you have a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how hard you can work. If you make an effort to demonstrate your work ethic, trust me, it will show.

How You Can Fix This

If you are guilty of job-hopping, don’t stress out. It’s not possible to delete your work history – and I recommend that you don’t lie in your application about your past jobs, so list in your resume why you left those establishments. Try and attach positive reasons to why you left those establishments. Like I mentioned above, be prepared to overcome any objections or answer any questions your assessor may have about your work history.

Here are some ways to showcase your work ethic, during a trial:

  • Prove that you can work until the very end, until everything is done.
  • Never complain.
  • Never ask if you can go home, or ask to finish early.
  • Motivate your team-mates towards getting everything done.
  • Ask for feedback from your superior, and ask how you can improve your skills.
  • Visibly demonstrate your thirst for CANI – Constant And Never-ending Improvement.
  • Tell the truth 100% of the time. Never do anything that might question your integrity.

Reason Four: Inadequate Skills

An absence of skill is a prime reason why an application may be rejected. Unfortunately, this is one of the most common reasons applicants are turned away from an application.

However, remember one very important thing:

Everyone in the hospitality industry started out with no skills.

Every person in the hospitality industry began their journey without skills. And, they all began somewhere. Whether it be at a bar school, a college or as a bar back, they started somewhere.

Also, remember that the bar you are trying to land a job in might only accept applicants with years of experience. The bar you are applying to work in might be a ‘niche’ venue and only employs specialist staff – who are trained in cocktail bartending, flare bartending or cocktail gastronomy.

Like I said earlier, the absence of skills is a common application-stopper. But, there are ways around it.

How You Can Fix This

There are a number of ways you can work around having little or no relevant skills. The first and most obvious solution is to sign up to a bar school. You’ll learn relevant skills there, and will probably gain some experience behind a bar. Chances are you might do some networking and maybe even land a position.

Secondly, you can try and gain some skills volunteering behind a bar. You might not be able to make drinks immediately (you might have to collect, clean and polish dirty glasses) but hey – it’s experience.

Listing your ‘transferrable’ skills is another way of demonstrating that you are capable of executing a role in the hospitality industry.

BARTENDER RESOURCES

  • How To Be A Good Bartender
  • How To Make More Tips As A Bartender
  • What You Need To Know If You Want To Work In A Cocktail Bar
  • How To Get A Bar Job With No Experience
  • Four Reasons Why Bar Managers Reject Applications… And How You Can Avoid Them
  • Qualities Of A Skilled Bartender
  • Basic Drink And Cocktail Recipes
  • Basic Bartending Terminology & Procedures
  • How To Get Bar Work While Traveling
  • How To Prepare A ‘Stand Out’ Resume
  • Bar Job Interview Tips
  • How To Gain The Advantage Over Other Bar Job Applications
  • Tips For Performing Above Expectations On A Bar Job Trial

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ABOUT SUCCESSFUL BAR SECRETS

  • About Successful Bar Secrets
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Successful Bar Secrets