I am posting a bartending school “rip off” checklist at the end of this article but the most important thing is to choose a school that will help you find a job, not necessarily the closest school.Many bartending schools claim they can, “train you to become certified in bartending in 32-hours” ایران آموزشگاه.
Some schools advertise less time than 32-hours. It is not possible for someone to become a competent bartender in 32-hours of training. It takes nearly three times that amount of training depending on the student’s ability to learn and the effort the student puts into the program.
As a seasoned bartender, bar manager, bartending school owner, and restaurant and bar consultant, I would never hire a graduate from a school with a reputation for under training their students. The loss of sales, in a high-volume restaurant or bar, would be too great of an impact on profit.
32-hours of training is not enough exposure behind the bar for a person to fast, efficient and knowledgeable about bartending, let alone serving customers. Less alcohol served means less profit, which means if you are slow, you are going to lose sales and profit.
Why do governing bodies allow schools to have such a short curriculum? Many states allow this type of behavior and the school becomes approved by the state board of education and similar state entities. For example, California is a free-for-all and the state has deregulated bartending schools, along with many other types of vocational schools.
The state lets school owners do whatever they want. Currently, I do not know of any other state allowing vocational schools of this nature to merely do what they want. California is rather unique. Most of the other states I have encountered, which is at least 15, have no clue about what is and is not needed for someone to become a competent bartender.
The state typically relies on “the industry” to tell them what is and is not acceptable for teaching someone to become a bartender. Then, the state approves the school to do business and calls them “State Certified”. Bartending schools’ regulating themselves is what it amounts to. Not a good formula for the consumer.
Why the states do not require a graduate to pass a “practical exam” at a restaurant or a bar is beyond me. If I want to be a Respiratory Therapist, I have to pass exams at a hospital and pass a state and/or federal licensure exam. In other words, the consumer is on their own when choosing a school. However, I am going to make a checklist, in this article, for everyone to use and I know it will be effective for consumers searching for the proper education.
Many 40-hour bartending schools around the nation are very effective as long as the student studies at home tenaciously every night. One thing the consumer should do is find out how many hours a day they need to attend and there should be at least 4-hours of homework every night and 8-hours of homework each weekend.
For example, if I were going to a 40-hour school I would expect to go to class, behind the bar, for 4-hours per day and have 4-hours of homework every night studying recipes. That class would be 2-weeks long, 5-days per week for a total of 40-hours.
Typically, with a 40-hour program one will not become a high-volume bartender and make excellent money. 40-hours of training will usually help the graduate gain the skills necessary to be put on a day shift at a bowling alley or something similar to that. Most of the time the 40-hour graduate will not be invited to start out in a busy nightclub, restaurant or bar but it does happen occasionally.
Make sure the school you attend has lifetime learning, lifetime job placement assistance and the job placement assistance is valid nationwide. Therefore, if you are not understanding the curriculum for some reason you can take the class as many times as you want. In addition, if you are feeling rushed or have a sick child you will not be penalized for something out of your control.
Now, 40-hours can turn into 60-hours if you are having a hard time learning in such a fast paced manner. Many 40-hour schools try to fit 100-hours of training into 40-hours and the graduate is a total mess when they graduate. If you feel like you are not on your “A” game when you graduate, you should be able to attend, at no additional charge, until you are confident and accurate as a bartender.
A huge contributing factor for consumers being ripped off is a bartending school opening and 3-years later they are shut down. The school shuts down because they receive bad reviews on the Internet, the state is notified they are not doing their job as a school, and graduates bad mouth the school for being a scam. The school is started as a scam and finishes as a scam and no one gets their money back because the corporation or LLC is defunct.