Unconventional Career – Bartending

3 Idiots has definitely widened perspectives of a lot of individuals, both young and old towards careers that seem to be different from the usual prospects of engineering and medicine. It voiced the opinion of listening to your heart when choosing a career option. When thinking of off beat and unconventional career options, that 20 something’s like me would like to choose over a career in medicine or engineering, the first thing that struck my mind was bartending.

Everybody loves to enjoy a drink at the bar, with friends or just by themselves. Attractive drinks are always popular and mixing them in just the right way can be just as pleasurable as drinking them. With a high demand of people willing to be innovative with their drinks comes the demand for professional bartenders. With the release of Hollywood movie Cocktail, the popularity of the profession was on a roll. Young men wanted to try their hands at the profession and soon everyone wanted to be a bartender. The movie exemplified a profession called Flair bartending. Flair bartending is an exemplified branch of bartending wherein bartenders play with bottles and other bar equipments while mixing up a drink thereby entertaining their guests.

With the increasing number of bars and hotels in the country, the demand for bartenders has also increased. Most hotels look for professionals in the field with at least some amount of experience. However bar tending as a professional course is not available. It is taught as part of the hotel management degree. Apart from this most students of hotel management who wish to take up bartending as a serious profession refer to books written by Dennis Lillicrap and others and learn about mixing up a drink merely by reading.

Bartending doesn’t need a set qualification and can be pursued even without a graduation degree. However, most employers would still prefer a person with a graduate degree. Besides pay structure also differs from Rs 5000-6000 for those without a hotel management degree and Rs 12000 – 15000 for those with a degree in hotel management.

Bar tending is a fairly new and developing profession especially in the Indian context. It wasn’t looked upon as a renowned profession and is still in stages of being sort after. Colleges offering hotel management train their students in bartending. No fixed qualifications are needed for it though. most bartenders believe that what  is required would be: the ability to adjust to variations in work shifts, good relationship management skills, dealing with fluctuating finances , having good energy levels and most of all a respect to the profession knowing that it is not just about glamour.

One does not become a successful bartender by just memorizing drink recipies. It is in fact an amalgamation of a lot more. The hospitality industry all over the world conducts competitions like World Bartender Championships, Independent Flair League etc. where bartenders are judged on accuracy, innovations, creativity and speed. Each year new talent is placed into the industry and some progress to get placed among the likes of the Gods of Bartending.

The profession internationally is also entered into by women. And even though there has not been a single woman bartender who has won a championship yet, they are always placed among the finest in the industry abroad. In India however, until recently there has not been much enthusiasm shown towards bartending by women. However, renowned bartender Shatbhi Basu who through her show In High Spirits has broken all stereotypes about the profession and has shown that bartending also welcomes women with open arms.

So if mixing up a drink and entertaining your guest by doing so is your forte, then bartending is just the right profession for you. However, go by the saying, conditions apply.

Giselle Mendes

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Image Source: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/melodygutierrez/2466681058/]

Related Views

• If you don’t want to drink, become a bar-tender!
• The Elixir of the Youth
• Tending the Bars
• Get Your Spirits High!
• Cool Culture of Bartending