It seems to be a British rite of passage that at some point in early adulthood you’ll work in a bar. It’s flexible profession of choice for uni students up and down the country and it’s a great way to meet new people in an unfamiliar town.
Important Life Skills You Learn From Working in a Bar
Working in a bar is so much more that pulling pints and mopping floors, it requires a some perfectly honed skills that will set you up for life. Some of these skills will look great on your CV (and some might bet better omitted!)
This list will ring true for anyone who has every worked in a bar.
Your Cocktail Making Skills Are Second-to-None
I don’t care what anyone says – making good cocktails is an essential life skill. This skill turns you into the queen of hen parties, the saviour of gatherings and a very popular host. It might feel like an inconvenience when someone orders a complicated concoction, but you’ll definitely miss it when it’s not your job any more. Makeshift utensils in other people’s kitchens will have you missing the commercial ice machine and ready supply of ingredients.
It Teaches You to Be a ‘People Person’
Working in bars requires people skills. It teaches you to be friendly and chatty on days you don’t feel like it. On quiet nights when the queue isn’t three people deep you’ll have the chance to build a rapport with a diverse range of people. You’ll make lasting friendships with your colleagues and perfect a smile that rakes in the tips. Definitely a skill for life that would be seen as an asset on any CV.
You Learn To Survive on Very Little Sleep
Those late shifts the night before uni the next day will equip you for the eternity of sleepless night that are in your parenting destiny. Sadly, these late nights are also the source of a life-long coffee addiction too!
Your Mental Arithmetic Improves
When your shift finishes ten minutes before the last bus home, figuring out your tips becomes a matter of urgency. You soon learn to count the communal pot and and divide it by number of workers in under two minutes.
You Become Very Familiar With Handling Money
Drunk people are the worst for not hearing how much their round cost and not paying attention to how much they handed over. You become a seasoned pro at double checking totals, keeping the notes they hand over separate until they’re happy with the change you hand over, and memorising what the most common orders cost.
You Learn to Have a Strong Stomach
Bar tending comes seeing (and cleaning up) some unpleasant sights. Although you might have been fazed in the early days of your job, nothing looks or smells too bad to clean. This is another one that sets you up for parenthood too. Nothing will be as gross as the sites you see in a bar late on a Saturday night – not even the worst nappy explosion you can imagine!
*Collab post