Hey. I'm an actor by profession, and started bartending as my side-hustle. I went to ABC bartending school in manhattan(the one on 8th ave). Cost me 400 bucks for a 40-hour course. My experience: I'd only bartended via catering gigs previously(beer/wine), so, it was nice to learn the recipes, get behind a bar and pour. It was a hands-on kinda deal, not just reading through a book of drinks. This was last summer. I then went out to try to find a bartending job in NYC, probably the most competitive place for ANYTHING in the world.
They laughed at my certificate.
A bar owner told me this during my interview: "those classes are bull****. I can teach you how to make drinks in 2 hours. the things you NEED to know as a bartender, those classes don't teach".
Brutal.
this has a happy ending, though. I came back to L.A. still doing the "hollywood actor" thing, etc, and had this class/certificate on my resume. A friend of mine saw an ad on craigslist, they needed bartenders for coachella. I interview, and get hired. they shuttled us up from L.A. to Indio(near Palm springs), and, when I show up for the shuttle, it turns out an old friend of mine from catering was running the whole ****ing thing. She watched how I did that night, then hired me as as a staff bartender for 2 music venues in Hollywood she runs,and that's my current survival job.
TL
R version. I got hired because I knew the right person, and it turns out I'm a naturally good bartender, not because of the class. If you want to bartend, find a place to cocktail waitress, get to know the bar manager/bartenders, and if you're cool, they'll try you out.
Last thing: If you're a hot girl, and have a brain, you can make this happen almost immediately.
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