Bartender CV Example & Writing Tips

If you’re outgoing, energetic, and love experimenting with different ingredients, bartending might be the perfect job for you. But to persuade employers that you have what it takes to thrive in the stressful environment of a bar or restaurant, you’ll need to write a convincing CV.

Keep reading to learn how to write a well-crafted CV that highlights your talents as a bartender.

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1. Highlight your bartender CV skills

Not only do bartenders need to be able to mix great drinks and pour a proper pint, they also need to have excellent people skills. A good set of soft skills will make you popular with patrons and your co-workers, and help you defuse tense situations that might arise with customers who’ve had a bit too much to drink.

If you need ideas for bartender skills to add to your CV, here’s a list of soft skills to help you get started:

• Communication skills
• Friendliness
• Patience
• Empathy
• Active listening
• Customer service skills
• Flexibility
• Charisma
• Multitasking
• Conflict resolution
• Teamwork
• Sense of humour
• Open-mindedness
• Stress management
• Upselling

To draw attention to your most relevant bartending skills on your CV, list them in a separate skills section. Here’s an example of what that section should look like:

The candidate begins by listing their soft skills and then shows they possess important hard skills like quality control and safety management.

2. Choose the right format for your bar staff CV

Picking the correct CV layout is crucial because it will ensure your CV is organised, allowing the employer to get a clear overview of your background and what you have to offer.

If you’re writing a CV for bar work with no experience in the field, or if your work history includes long periods of unemployment, a skills based CV is a good option. However, for most candidates, a standard CV layout will be the best choice.

A standard CV usually contains five or six sections:

• A CV profile
• A personal statement
• A work experience section
• An education section
• A skills section
• Optional: Additional sections (hobbies, certifications, courses, etc.)

If you decide to include an additional section, unless the content of the section is highly relevant to the job you’re applying for, keep it to a few brief bullet points and place it at the bottom of your CV. Here’s a good example:

This bartender CV example gives employers some insight into the candidate’s personality without being distracting.

3. Quantify your bar work experience on your CV

Simply submitting a list of the responsibilities you held at your last job won’t help you secure a new one.

A better way to present your work experience and have it accurately reflect the qualities that make you a great candidate is by quantifying your achievements. Employers want to know how you’ll be able to help contribute to the success of their establishment.

The following two statements are examples of bullet points on a bartender CV:

Both show that the bartender is a competent mixologist and contributed to an increase in customers. However, the second example is more convincing because it specifies:

1. How many new beverage recipes the candidate created
2. By how much revenue increased following the introduction of these beverages

Here are a few more examples of bar work experience that you can quantify on your CV:

• How many customers you served on a daily basis
• How many drinks you poured on average per day
• By how much customer satisfaction rates rose since you started
• How many different types of alcohol you’ve worked with
• How many new bartenders you trained

You don’t need to add numbers to all of your bullet points, but try to include at least two or three quantified bullet points for each position.

Bartender interview questions

Strong time management, people skills, and the right attitude are key to being a great bartender. Most employers prefer to assess these traits in the job interview, as they’re difficult to demonstrate on a CV. This video breaks down some of the more popular bartender interview questions that you can expect to be asked.