71 + Of The Best Bartender Resume Skills For Your CV Tested & Proven To Get Your Next Interview!

skills for bartender resume

bartender resume skillsBeing a bartender is more than just smiling and pouring drinks. There is a lot involved, which means there are many different skills employers are looking to see on a bartender resume skills list on a CV.

Below is a helpful resource for bartenders looking to update their resume, be sure to include a range of different skill-sets, as outlined below.

71 + Bartender Resume Skills For Your CV

bartender resume skills

#1: Bartender Technical Skills

There are specific skills that bartenders need to be effective employees behind the bar. The list below gives some good examples for you to put on your bartender resume skills list.

  • Fast and accurate service of drinks to high-volume facility
  • Mixing and serving complex drinks (cocktails)
  • Experience in serving multiple customers at one time
  • Ability to assess, anticipate and meet guest needs in strong memory and interpersonal skills
  • Hands-on experience in safety and sanitization of bar area while serving and in cleaning
  • Cash handling and register skills, including handling floats and reconciling drawers
  • Card processing skills
  • Fluent in POS systems of different kinds
  • Waiter and waitress skills away from the bar
  • Free pouring with accuracy

#2: Bartender Memory Skills

Remembering regular customers and drink orders is a must for any bartender. Read below for more bartender memory skills.

  • Ability to remember names and details of regular customers
  • Strong short-term memory for new customers to reference their name during service
  • Can recall drink orders from new customers
  • Long-term memory to correctly identify orders from regular customers who have not visited for some time
  • Memory for cocktail recipes to accurately mix drinks without referring to a manual
  • Recalling stock amounts and analyzing during service the effect of the usage (e.g. Anticipating when a beer keg might run out)
  • Fast learner in picking up new skills 
  • Monitoring alcohol consumption of guests in remembering the frequency of their individual service
  • Memorizing full menu of drinks and food where necessary to share to customers
  • Multi-tasking ability to serve multiple customers at a time and remember their unique orders.

#3: Problem Solving Skills

Encountering a problem will be inevitable, so ensure that you express on your bartender resume skills list how you can avert problems, or create solutions when they arise.

  • Ability to handle customer orders, whilst being aware of impending problems and planning correct actions
  • Patience with difficult customers and dealing with issues
  • Professional manner when handling conflicts to find a resolution
  • Ability to think and act fast if an urgent situation with a customer, or behind the bar, arises
  • Experienced a range of issues in the past in the equipment of bars, and learned how to solve for future potential issues
  • Adaptability to changing circumstances and needs when an issue with the bar interrupts regular service
  • Works well with others to find solutions to issues – open to listening to ideas
  • Assertiveness to deal with difficult customers (cutting people off from alcoholic drinks)
  • Emotional maturity to not take issues and difficult people personally
  • Ability to assist others with issues of taps not working, equipment breaking, etc.

#4: Bartender Communication Skills

Working with people and for people means that you need to know how to be an effective communicator. Your bartender resume skills list should demonstrate this ability.

  • Can speak loudly and clearly, and maintain a pleasant tone with customers
  • Listens carefully to customers orders and any specific requests
  • Attentive to the needs of customers and communicating how they can be met while staying in line with the establishment’s procedures and rules
  • Listening while making orders, to ensure efficiency while socializing
  • Ability to recommend food and drinks based on what the customer shares
  • Upselling without conveying a hard-marketing energy, staying comfortable and friendly in tone
  • Strengthening customer rapport with the whole establishment, not just individually
  • Staying welcoming and friendly, despite rude or difficult customers
  • Sharing expert knowledge on beverages, whilst being understood clearly by the public
  • Team player, interacting with other staff and communicating openly.

#5: Bartender Organization Skills

To keep organized as you work, as well as before and after shifts shows that you’re an employee with integrity. Your bartender resume skills list should reflect these attributes.

  • Cleaning Bar equipment during service to prevent accumulating mess
  • Handling glassware and storing glass wear safely and effectively
  • Inventory management for beverages and ingredients
  • Ability to multitask whilst staying on-track with all jobs
  • Opening and closing bar experience according to procedures of establishment
  • Maintaining cleanliness of guest environment (tables etc.)
  • Well-versed in proper cleaning, drying, and polishing of different glassware
  • Effective sweeping, mopping and additional cleaning of inside and outside bar space
  • Adheres to health inspection laws
  • Experience in ordering equipment, ingredients, etc.

#6: Attention to Detail

Being meticulous in your work, whilst also attentive to people means that any bartender needs a strong sense of attention to detail.

  • Checking identification, with a keen eye for potential fake IDs
  • Constant spot-checking of the bar area for ice, trash, and floor cleanliness
  • Arranging glassware that is on display in a tidy manner throughout service
  • Well versed in emergency procedures and all details of the establishment’s plan
  • Sensitive to food allergies and intolerances with detailed communication to guests
  • Counting and processing multiple drink orders at the same time
  • Memorizing customer names, drinks, and more detailed information about unique customers
  • Ability to capture information of customers for upsetting, membership or other reasons
  • Noticing small details of potential issues with equipment
  • A keen eye for small spillages on the bar top, wiping constantly to maintain cleanliness.

#7: Friendly and Welcoming Demeanor 

A bartender is personable, friendly, and a welcoming face to talk too. Ensure that you express your personality in the following bartender resume skills on your CV.

  • Greets all customers with a smile
  • Acknowledges a customer that can’t be served right away
  • Ability to read people, determine the most effective communication style
  • Energetic and engaging personality
  • Building rapport by making conversation with guests
  • Sense of humor, whilst remaining respectful
  • Well-versed in upsetting and other sales, without being pushy
  • Calmly responds to agitated and difficult guests
  • Sensitive to ensure guests feel that they are taken care of and valued
  • Adapting to diverse clientele (social, economic, cultural, age differences).

Finally, if you need to brush up on your bartending skills or make sure you’re current on the latest trends (milk clarification anyone?) you’ll want to check out our bartending and mixology course reviews.

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