Q: WHY NOT JUST “TRAIN ON THE JOB”?

A: AS SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO BECOME A BARTENDER…

ASK YOURSELF: WHAT IS YOUR PLAN OF ACTION? HOW WILL YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN?

It’s difficult to find employment where ‘on the job training’ is attempted or even tolerated. Employers prefer to hire employees who are informed, fully trained and ready to work. It is sometimes possible during the Christmas season, when every business is temporarily desperate for help, to squeeze into being hired. But, for every bartender who is able to “work his way up” in this way, hundreds are not able to. So it’s imperative to know what you’re doing when you start. An average size hotel or other banquet facility might hire an additional 600 employees for a short period of time, (usually 5 weeks) during the holiday season, but come January 3rd they’re laid off – as are many of the permanent staff, as well. On average, 3 or 4 of the 600 might be called back at a later time throughout the year for permanent placement. And, of course, those will be the employees who knew the most and performed the best – not the beginner who never knew what to do and was always in the way.

ASK YOURSELF: HOW SOON WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE WORKING?

In a few years or a few weeks? Those who are trained professionally and practice what they have been taught in applying for a job, are usually hired within the first few weeks of graduating. Waiting and hoping to be trained on the job can be an unnecessary, expensive and futile waste of time. Why not put yourself on the fast track so you can start working immediately?

ASK YOURSELF: DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING?

Those who are trained “on the job” are typically not trained well and are often trained incorrectly. Bartenders who are often left to do the training simply don’t have time to focus on a trainee. Training received from a reputable bar school is focused, thorough, inexpensive and fast. It just doesn’t make any sense to do things the hard way. A school can teach many things that many (and, in fact, sometimes excellent) bartenders don’t even know. For instance…how to increase their chances of getting the job they want by 90%; how to double & triple their tips; how to get paid from liquor companies for promoting their product while on the job; up-to-the-minute product knowledge; and updated legal and safety requirements. Not knowing what you should have known from the beginning can be very expensive. Learning the hard way or learning too late can result in missed opportunities, missed tips, missed promotions, better shifts, and chances to work at the most desirable events! MOST IMPORTANTLY, IF YOU ARE HIRED AS A TRAINEE WITH NO PREVIOUS TRAINING, YOU WILL START YOUR JOB AT A SERIOUS DISADVANTAGE – AS SOMEONE WHO KNOWS NOTHING, INSTEAD AS A “PRO” HAVING JUST BEEN TRAINED PROFESSIONALLY. THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LEVEL OF RESPECT YOU WILL RECEIVE IS ABSOLUTELY TREMENDOUS, AND YOUR BENEFITS AND INCOME ARE DIRECTLY AFFECTED. When you start your new job you should know exactly what to do and how to do it. THINK ABOUT IT… …in 2 weeks, you could be working as a bartender making your tuition back in about the same amount of time. It’s a no-brainer. What could you possibly be waiting for? Get yourself immediately on the fast track. You deserve to be trained professionally!

A: AS A SENIOR BARTENDER WHO MAY HAVE TO DO THE TRAINING…

Established bartenders don’t have the time to continually be teaching new people how to bartend. It’s not fair to expect them to take on that responsibility. It’s not a bartender’s job to teach other employees how to bartend from scratch. When someone arrives to work as a “bartender,” they should already know “how” to bartend. Any training that’s left to be done should only be about that specific location or facility, such as…where things are located, what products are available in your particular bar, policies and procedures, how the operational systems work (register? NCR?) and who’s who in management and security.

There is enough burden on the bartender who’s having to “train” the new guy without having to start from the very beginning and teach the new employee the whole job of bartending from scratch (glassware, mixers, how to make a drink, etc, etc…). We teach over 2000 points of knowledge (all recipes as a whole being counted as one single point – that means over 1999 other things to know!) The last thing any bartender wants is to have someone totally green dumped on them when they’re busy trying to do their own job and make their own income. It’s not a bartender’s job to have to train new bartenders. It’s a bartender’s job to bartend. Also, many times, once the experienced bartender has finally trained someone, a vicious circle develops, as there is nothing to prevent another set of new people from having to be trained – meaning, the senior bartender has to start the whole process all over again. Senior bartenders are not paid for this added responsibility and it seriously interferes with their time and ability to earn their own income. Managers shouldn’t expect their bartenders to continually train new people in this way. It’s simply unfair to the bartender who already knows what they’re doing.

A: AS A BAR OWNER / MANAGER…

Employees are simply trained far better when trained professionally rather than “on the job”. Over 400 hours of preparation have gone into the presentation of the material, the curriculum, and the design by which the logical progression of information is presented. The quality of professional training simply can’t be duplicated in “spur of the moment” instruction. Employees are simply not trained as well when trained on the job. Sales and customer service - pleasing the customer and selling the product - absolutely must remain the number one priority for any bar to be managed successfully. When a bar manager allows on the job training for bartenders he puts his entire staff at a disadvantage because, in order to train the new trainee, the attention of the bartender who is doing the training must now be diverted away from his #1 priority - his CUSTOMERS and cocktail servers (who represent customers). This is very costly, as is paying a trainee who is not yet familiar enough with his job to be worth what he’s paid. When an employer pays for on the job training, he is actually literally paying for his entire staff to be less effective. It just doesn’t make sense for employers to pay for this. When an employer wants to hire a bartender, he should hire a bartender…not a trainee. It’s much more economical to hire someone professionally trained and ready to work - a bartender with pouring skills and accuracy; a bartender who has been thoroughly trained with recent up-to-the-minute alcohol safety regulations and product knowledge. A capable, motivated bartender - ready to work! PROFESSIONAL TRAINING JUST MAKES SENSE…FOCUSED, THOROUGH, INEXPENSIVE, AND FAST …EVERYBODY WINS!

Q: DOES LAS VEGAS BARTENDERS PROVIDE JOB PLACEMENT? CAN I REALLY MAKE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS A NIGHT? CAN YOU HELP ME GET A JOB?

A: No, Yes, and ABSOLUTELY!

I have personally made $1,000 as a bartender in one night. I have personally gotten a job on the strip in Las Vegas within my first two weeks of applying (even though it can typically be a 2-8 year wait for a full-time bartending position in a major casino on the strip!). I can teach people how. It’s my job to tell them and show them how. It is then up to them to have the motivation and do the work to make it happen for themselves. Similar to going on a diet, first we need to be taught how but it’s up to us to actually do it. I can’t teach you how to get any job – it’s not what I teach. I can’t tell you how to make $600 every night in your small hometown – it’s not what I teach. Also, it’s just not realistic to expect that in a small town on a regular basis. However…I can show you how to be the most likely person out of 300 people to get hired as a bartender. I can show you how and where you can make $500-$800 a night if you want to pursue that. And if you don’t, I can show you how to make more per night than you have ever made before on a regular basis – no matter what town you’re in. I can also show you how to walk into an interview with no experience, as a bartender, whatsoever and be more likely to get hired than a person who has several years experience. If you have experience, I can show you how to be one of the most likely to be hired in a fierce competition of 300 people. THESE ARE CRITICAL PIECES OF INFORMATION. THEY ARE WORTH 10 TIMES THE COST OF THIS COURSE! I CAN TEACH YOU THESE THINGS BECAUSE I HAVE DONE THEM MYSELF. In a small town you might be competing against 10 or 20 others who have applied for the same position. In Vegas, your competition is a fierce 300-500 applicants per job for an average position. At times, there are as many as 1500 applicants per week for a position at places like the Hard Rock! If we can show you how to get a job in Vegas, we can show you how to get a job anywhere. Also, graduates who score 80% or more on the final exam, who participate fully in class, and who, at the end of class, seem capable and knowledgeable enough to begin a position in bartending will receive a personal letter of recommendation saying so and may also use my personal phone number any time for a direct and personal reference, which can significantly help you in your job search. A personal reference – and the kind of reference you receive can make all the difference in whether you get a job, or you don’t.

Q: HOW CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BARTENDING SCHOOLS (A “GOOD” SCHOOL VS A “NOT SO GOOD” SCHOOL) ?

A: It cannot be emphasized enough that…ALL SCHOOLS ARE NOT THE SAME! Many focus only on drink recipes and pouring. Much of what is called a “class,” is just “free-for-all pouring” with very little individual attention given to technique. Actual instruction is severely lacking. Typically, these are the very schools that promote job placement in their advertising as if it is a service they provide, but do not actually deliver. Lots of technical schools say they offer “job placement,” but it’s not always true. It’s actually just something used to get you to fork over the cost of some schools. Often the “referrals” are left up to whoever might answer the phones on whatever day – a temp – a person who’s not even good in an interview themselves – it could be anyone. Our best advice to tell the difference between bartending schools is to talk to graduates and ask the right questions. Did they feel they were trained thoroughly? Did they receive intense and focused, instruction or were they mostly left to “free pour? Do they feel it was worth the money? Did they leave with thorough product knowledge? Were they required to pass a difficult exam before graduating? Did they thoroughly learn about alcohol service laws? Was there a workshop or a good deal of exciting training specifically on how to totally make tips and other ways of making big money on the job? (Many bartenders are excellent at their jobs, but they still don’t know how to make money. These are separate skills! We teach you how to do both.)