How Long Does It Take To Learn Bartending?

You’re thinking about becoming a bartender, but how soon can you start making that sweet tip money? What’s the fastest way to learn bartending skills? How long will it take to become a pro?

Below, we’ll explore your options for bartender training, what will affect your bartending timeline, and the importance of alcohol safety training.

How Long Does It Take to Become a Professional Bartender?

How long it’ll take to become a bartender will depend on the route you take to learn bartending, how much practice you get, and how easily bartending skills come to you.

There are two main ways to start a career in bartending.

One is on the job. If you’re asking yourself, “Can I learn bartending without experience?” then the answer is absolutely. You just need to get hired by someone who is willing to take a chance and give you bartender training.

The other option is to take courses at a bartending school, which will give you a head start.

Which Is Better: Bartending School or Learning on the Job?

This is a really subjective question. The answer will vary based on a few factors, including your financial situation, your learning type, and your local job market.

The time required to complete bartending school comes at a cost. Not only are you not getting paid for job training, but you’re also paying the course fees. Some people are not willing or able to shell out money for something they could get paid to do, even if it’s under less ideal circumstances.

For others, the cost might be worth it.

Some people are better at experiential learning (learning on the job) than others. If picking things up as you go is a challenge for you, then you might feel better with a more structured introduction to the basics of bartending. You’ll have a chance to absorb concepts and practice skills without the pressure of a boss or a customer staring you down. You’ll be able to walk into your first day on the job with confidence you might not have had otherwise.

If you’re in a tight job market for bartenders, then bartending school may make it easier (or possible at all) to land a job. A good bartending school will improve your time-to-proficiency on the job, which any boss will consider a win. Most managers think ‘the more experience, the better’ when screening applicants, so while a resume with bartending school won’t beat someone with three years of experience, it will put you ahead of the person with no training whatsoever.

How Long Does It Take to Complete Bartending Courses?

This is a hard question because not all bartending schools are the same. Some have intensive courses that can be finished in a week, while others allow for part-time study.

Either way, these courses often add up to roughly 40 total hours of bartender training. You’ll learn the lingo, become familiar with the equipment, practice bartending skills, memorize drink recipes, learn mixology principles, and more. Often, you’ll learn local liquor laws and the responsible serving practices that you need for bartender certification.

Bartending school is probably the fastest way to learn bartending skills since it’s a concentrated curriculum.

That said, you’ll want to look at your local options. Some bartending schools are just better than others, and some job markets don’t really require coursework to get a job. Do your research on what is available near you, what the curriculum is, how much practice you’ll get, and whether past students are satisfied with their experience. This will help you find the best bartending courses to learn quickly.

Learning On the Job: A Realistic Bartending Timeline

Becoming a bartender always means learning on the job, and the longer you’re at it, the better you’ll be. There’s no better teacher than experience and repetition, not to mention making your own mistakes, so even if you attend bartending courses, most of your bartending skills will be honed in real life.

Your bartending timeline will depend on any courses you’ve taken and any relevant food service or customer service skills you’ve learned. Starting behind a bar with no customer service experience whatsoever can be rough because you’re grasping the basics of dealing with the public, following food safety principles, and working the point-of-sale system while also learning pour technique and drink recipes.

For this reason, most bartenders start off in other customer service roles. They spend time as a restaurant server or barback, building basic skills before they get behind the stick.

Everyone has different strengths and abilities, so your personal bartending timeline will be different from someone else’s. That said, most people can learn bartending to the point of competence with a few months of practice. It’s less about the calendar and more about the work hours – if you’re bartending full-time, it’ll be a trial by fire, but you’ll be proficient much faster. If you’re only getting a few shifts a week, it could take a year.

Finally, the last thing that will affect the speed with which you learn bartending will be something over which you have little control – the abilities of the person training you. Most people involved in bartender training have at least one other role to fulfill, and their ability to do that job doesn’t guarantee they’ll be a good teacher. From the other side of the equation, bartender training takes patience and practice. If you’re lucky enough to get someone with a knack and a history of training, you’ll be better off. There’s certainly no guarantee.

Get Your Bartender Certification Online

Whether you pick up your bartending skills through class or on the job, you’re going to need to earn your bartender certification. Sometimes referred to as a bar card or bartending license, certification means you’ve completed responsible alcohol server training.

Some jurisdictions require this training, while others incentivize bars to use certified bartenders. Even if responsible alcohol training is completely optional, you’ll want to gain the skills they teach to minimize your chance of lawsuits or jail time for illegal alcohol sales.

Luckily, responsible alcohol training doesn’t require as much time as a cocktail class. You can complete it online in just a few hours with a trusted provider like TIPS. TIPS training is widely accepted for required training compliance and well-regarded as an effective skills-based program for avoiding sales to minors or intoxicated persons.

Get your TIPS Passport now and start learning important bartending skills today!