Bartender job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

13

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 1-2 of 5

very little to some preparation

Typical entry education

No formal educational credential

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$34,340

BLS May 2025

1. Clean glasses, utensils, and bar equipment. importance 4.8 of 5
2. Collect money for drinks served. importance 4.8 of 5
3. Check identification of customers to verify age requirements for purchase of alcohol. importance 4.7 of 5
4. Clean bars, work areas, and tables. importance 4.7 of 5
5. Take beverage orders from serving staff or directly from patrons. importance 4.6 of 5
6. Serve wine, and bottled or draft beer. importance 4.5 of 5
7. Plan, organize, and control the operations of a cocktail lounge or bar. importance 4.5 of 5
8. Stock bar with beer, wine, liquor, and related supplies such as ice, glassware, napkins, or straws. importance 4.5 of 5
9. Serve snacks or food items to customers seated at the bar. importance 4.4 of 5
10. Mix ingredients, such as liquor, soda, water, sugar, and bitters, to prepare cocktails and other drinks. importance 4.3 of 5
11. Slice and pit fruit for garnishing drinks. importance 4.0 of 5
12. Ask customers who become loud and obnoxious to leave, or physically remove them. importance 3.8 of 5
13. Arrange bottles and glasses to make attractive displays. importance 3.8 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Performing for or Working Directly with the Public, Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships, Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information, Getting Information and Training and Teaching Others.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Supervise the work of bar staff and other bartenders.
• Order or requisition liquors and supplies.
• Prepare appetizers such as pickles, cheese, and cold meats.

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Education and Training and Sales and Marketing.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Facebook, Microsoft Outlook, Compris software, Focus point of sale POS software, Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale, MICROS Systems HSI Profits Series. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists short-term on-the-job training as typical once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 1-2 of 5 (very little to some preparation). Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board and see how to become a bartender.

The most common answer among bartenders surveyed by O*NET is a high school diploma or equivalent (43%).

Job title: Bartender
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Bartender to mix and serve drinks to patrons, directly or through waitstaff.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Clean glasses, utensils, and bar equipment.
- Collect money for drinks served.
- Check identification of customers to verify age requirements for purchase of alcohol.
- Clean bars, work areas, and tables.
- Take beverage orders from serving staff or directly from patrons.
- Serve wine, and bottled or draft beer.
- Plan, organize, and control the operations of a cocktail lounge or bar.
- Stock bar with beer, wine, liquor, and related supplies such as ice, glassware, napkins, or straws.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists no formal educational credential as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in active listening, service orientation and social perceptiveness
- Working knowledge of Customer and Personal Service and English Language
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Facebook or Microsoft Outlook]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

The median annual wage was $34,340 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $16.51. BLS estimates about 756,390 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of bartenders to grow 5.0% from 2025 to 2035, with about 121,200 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

See the full bartender salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real bartender posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Clean glasses, utensils, and bar equipment”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only bartender work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (active listening and service orientation); bartender interview questions turns them into practice questions.