Bartending school offers high-paying job for college students

Bartending school offers high-paying job for college studentsBy
Susan Lee

They are the envy of college students who would love to open
bottle after bottle of liquor every night.

For those who happen to be strapped for cash, a more alluring
alternative to flipping burgers is steadily gaining a following –
bartending.

Steve Kaye, president of the National Bartenders School, said
that students working two or three parties a weekend can make a few
hundred dollars for about 12 hours of work. Money is pulled in
through a combination of salaries, tips and 15 to 20 percent of
server tips, which comes out to an average of almost $20 an
hour.

"There’s big money to be made in bartending," Kaye said. "One of
my friends took a year off after he graduated from Georgetown to
bartend. He then used the money he made to put himself through law
school at UCLA."

Fast cash is undoubtedly one of the most enticing lures of
bartending, students said. Kaye explained that school-trained
bartenders can expect to make between $400 to $700 a week in tips
working in hotels or drinking establishments.

But Amy Purdy, a students’ association staff member and a recent
graduate of bartending school, said her interest in bartending
stemmed from a New Year’s resolution to learn a new hobby.

"I told myself I’d pick up something new," Purdy said. "It’s
pretty random … I’m not sure exactly why I picked this one, but
now it’s a big topic of conversation among friends."

Students at National Bartenders School, where Purdy attended,
are required to attend 10 one-hour lectures and complete a minimum
of 40 hours of training. Although she completed the course in two
weeks, students can spread their training out to span up to six
months.

Some students, such as first-year undeclared student Catherine
Dao, hold traditional preconceptions about what type of person is
cut out to be a bartender.

"When I think of (a) bartender," Dao said, "I think of a guy
with a little black bow-tie and a white shirt with the sleeves
rolled up serving drinks."

However, Kaye explained that in reality, both men and women of
all ages attend bartending school. Although most students are in
their early 20s, a man in his late 80s once came in with his
great-granddaughter to learn the trade, Kaye said.

When prospective bartenders first enter their "classroom," they
see a cocktail lounge with what appears to be a real working bar.
But students with "Cocktail"-esque visions of handling alcohol
immediately are surprised to find that all the bottles are filled
with colored water.

Students finish the course with a broad knowledge of alcoholic
beverages in order to answer questions and make recommendations.
Kaye said that by the time they graduate from bartending school,
each student typically knows how to make between 100 to 150 mixed
drinks.

While learning the recipes for so many drinks may seem an
impossible task, Kaye said that students are taught with the help
of word association, which is fun and easily picked up.

"For example, if someone asks for a ‘Godfather,’ then the
student can think like this," Kaye said, "the first original
godfather was Marlon Brando who was a wealthy man. Wealthy men
drank scotch and when Brando did, he got a little nuts. So a
‘Godfather’ would be made up of scotch and amaretto."

However, bartending students do more than learn how to mix
drinks. The lectures also encompass customer service and alcohol
awareness.

"As students, we also learn how to judge if a customer is too
drunk to go home by himself," Purdy said. "And we learn how to try
and keep people at a decent level of sobriety."

Although the minimum age to work at a regular bar where money
changes hands is 21, the minimum age is 18 to work at private
parties, banquets or weddings – as long as no money changes hands.
Underage bartenders make the majority of their money from tips.

"I think it would be a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new
people," said Pej Manoochehri, a first-year physiology student.

The cost of attending bartending school varies from program to
program, but most schools offer student discounts and
scholarships.

Purdy said that the bartending course she took was worth the
money, adding that the most valuable thing she gained from it was
more self-confidence.

"Now, I can enter a bar and know what’s going on behind the
counter as well as how much I should be charged for the drink,"
Purdy said. "Even if I never bartend, the techniques are still
interesting, and it’s nice to know what is actually going into your
drink."

After students complete the program and receive certification,
some schools are able to offer them jobs through their own
placement departments.

"Our placement center is one of the best bartending schools can
offer," Kaye said. "We have an excellent reputation with many
companies."

National Bartenders School is located on 14151 Hawthorne Blvd.
by LAX. For more info call 1-800-974-7974.Comments to
[email protected]