USA Career Guide- Bartenders
Education & Training needed to be Bartenders
To become bartenders you need short-term on-the-job training, usually lasting a few weeks, under the guidance of a more experienced bartender and need to be at least 18 years old to work as a bartender.. Training programs focus on basic customer service, teamwork, and food safety procedures.
Some bartenders acquire their skills through formal training, either by attending a school for bar tending or a vocational and technical school with bar tending classes.
Pay of Bartenders
The median hourly wage (including tips) of bartenders was $8.98 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.60 per hour, and the top 10 percent earned more than $15.14 per hour.
Bartenders' earnings often come from a combination of hourly wages and customers' tips. Earnings vary greatly, depending on the type of establishment.
Job Prospects of Bartenders
As reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of bartenders is expected to grow 9 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations.
As people continue to dine out and drink at a variety of food and drinking places, many new bars, taverns, and restaurants are expected to open to meet demand.
Job opportunities are expected to be good because of the need to replace workers who leave the occupation. Strong competition is expected for bar tending jobs in popular restaurants and fine-dining establishments, where potential earnings from tips are greatest. Those who have graduated from bar tending school and those with previous work experience and excellent customer-service skills will have the best job prospects. Bartenders work at restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, and other food service establishments.
Industrial Overview of Bartenders
Bartenders held about 503,200 jobs in 2010. The industries that employed the most bartenders in 2010 were as follows:
Full-service restaurants 39%
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) 30%
Civic, social, professional, and similar organizations 9%
Traveler accommodation, including hotels and motels 7%
Other amusement and recreation industries 5%
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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