How to become a Bartender: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 43% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 37% Less than a High School Diploma
- 16% Some College Courses
- 3% Post-Secondary Certificate
Most bartenders report needing a high school diploma or equivalent (43% of workers surveyed by O*NET). O*NET places the job in Job Zone 2 of 5 (some preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 1 year, up to and including 2 years” (26%), and for on-the-job training “anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month” (38%).
Six steps to becoming a Bartender
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for a high school diploma or equivalent
43% of workers report it as required. 99% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (26% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Active Listening, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Facebook, Microsoft Outlook.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 2 (Very Little to Some Preparation Needed): Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $34,340; the lowest-paid quarter earn $27,400 or less. See the full Bartender salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
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