A travelling bartender travels to various destinations to serve drinks at local bars, restaurants, or other alcohol-serving establishments. As a travelling bartender, you can also work somewhere for a short time before shifting to the next location. While some travelling bartenders carry alcohol to various areas in vehicles, others work with the ingredients and drinks available on-site.
Becoming a travelling bartender lets you work in a fun and fast-paced environment while meeting a lot of new people. As a travelling bartender, your working hours are quite flexible, and you can even decide where you wish to work. Read this guide to learn how to become a travelling bartender.
1. Enrol for a Responsible Service of Alcohol training course
Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) training equips travelling bartenders with the skills and knowledge for responsible alcohol serving, ascertaining the community’s and patrons’ safety and well-being. To secure a traveling bartender opportunity in a licensed establishment, you must have an RSA certification. It demonstrates that you adhere to alcohol serving legal laws applicable in your work location. The knowledge gained from RSA training reduces the risk of your employers facing legal obligations related to alcohol service or getting their reputation soiled.
The responsible service of alcohol acts as protection to ascertain responsible alcohol consumption while minimising the possible risks of its misuse. With RSA training, identifying intoxication symptoms and implementing harm reduction techniques becomes easier, guaranteeing alcohol service safety. The life skills you acquire from RSA training, including dealing with challenging circumstances and resolving conflicts, are not only applicable in the hospitality sector but other industries too. Depending on your preferred option, you can take the RSA course online or in person.
2. Look for volunteer opportunities
Volunteering in any job that requires bartending equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to base your travelling bartender career. While you don't get paid for the job, you learn how to make the best drinks and use the tools used in a bar. Trying bartending out in a busy restaurant can be stressful.
Volunteer in a hostel because the atmosphere is low-key, and you don't need to be perfect. The hosts are ready to teach you bartending basics. The travellers are also easy-going, and the managers help you learn, taking a lot of pressure off your shoulders. The experience you gain while bartending in hostels gives you the confidence to be behind a bar.
3. Go to a bartending school
Bartending is a skill better learned hands-on. Attending a bartending school ensures you’re learning from professional instructors. Its curriculum and topics are more extensive than anything learned through on-the-job training, helping you gain the confidence you require to work behind a bar. A bartending school can cover the following:
- Back and front bar setup
- Bar equipment use and maintenance
- Industry regulations
- Etiquette
- Alcohol awareness
- Mixology
- Money handling
- Bartending lingo
- Glassware
- Bar maintenance and cleaning
Other bartending institutions offer inventory management, menu engineering, and audio-visual equipment modules. A bartending school teaches you to simulate, pour, mix, and make drinks using liquor bottles. With a bartending school certification, finding a travelling bartender job locally and internationally becomes easier
4. Gain relevant skills
Becoming a successful travelling bartender requires the necessary bartending skills that will set you apart from your peers, including:
- Mixology: Possessing various mixology recipes and strategies enables you to make delicious, visually-appealing drinks customers can't resist. You should have an in-depth understanding of multiple liquors, spirits, garnishes, and mixers to give suggestions and make well-balanced, creative drinks that keep clients returning for more
- Customer service: Bartenders interact with customers regularly. Greet your clients warmly and focus on delivering their needs beyond expectations. Ensure all their requirements are met beyond their expectations
- Adaptability: Bartenders need adaptability skills to handle the varying, unpredictable demands and situations that can crop up at any time due to the nature of the job. You have the capability to deal with customer volume surges, stock shortages, unexpected customer requests, and more. this can help create personalised, memorable experiences
- Sales: Besides making good-quality drinks, you as a travelling bartender should be able to upsell and cross-sell. You should also have the skills to promote new drinks and specials and make suggestions to customers
- Communication: Bartenders interact and converse with clients throughout their shifts. Good communication skills enable you to change the tone or topic based on who you're talking to. When working in a team, communicating with other members to ascertain smooth operations
- Attention to detail: This must-have bartending skill helps ensure the drinks you serve meet the top standards and are of the highest quality for a successful establishment
- Time management: As a travelling bartender, you’ll work in busy environments and might have to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously. Good time management skills will ascertain timely and efficient service while ensuring a smooth workflow
- Multi-tasking: Bartending often involves handling multiple responsibilities, like taking orders, handling payments, mixing drinks, and interacting with clients.
5. Gain experience
Different bartending jobs require varying experience levels depending on where in the world you're travelling. Gain practical working experience locally in areas you haven't worked in before to boost your skills and employability in your desired destinations.
6. Promote yourself
Putting yourself out there is the best way to get travelling bartender opportunities. It is the easiest for potential employers and clients to spot you. Identify what makes you stand out and memorable and focus on it. Consider selling your bartending skills on socials. However, you should first identify the audience to market to and the channels they hang out in. Handing out business cards at events is another way to sell yourself as a travelling bartender.
7. Apply for jobs
Once you’ve gained the necessary experience, skills, and certifications, look for travelling bartender jobs to apply for. There are many travelling bartender opportunities to leverage depending on where you wish to work. Whether you're applying locally or internationally, ensure you meet all the requirements to better your chances of securing an opportunity. You can also learn a few foreign languages to make it easier to communicate when working beyond the local borders.
Endnote
A travelling bartender career allows you to travel locally and internationally doing what you love. This lets you meet people from different cultures and helps build your bartending skill set. Consider becoming a travelling bartender to reap the benefits the profession brings.
Posted By Boris
Updated : 1st September 2023 | Words : 1055 | Views : 469
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