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Connecticut Part Time Jobs

Part time Jobs

Bartending has to be the best part-time job available, if not offering the most part-time jobs available, anywhere in the nation and certainly throughout Connecticut. It can pay the most, offer the most fun, provides great flexibility, and provides numerous other opportunities that we’ll point out.

Lots of Part-Time Jobs

First of all, it’s quite possible that the majority of bartenders in the nation work part-time. Nobody knows for sure. The US Labor Department doesn’t know. Based on some surveys and knowledge of the industry, long contacts with employers though it’s entirely possible. In other words if you are looking for a part-time bartending job you could be in the majority, or at least the industry is entirely comfortable with your status.

There are tens’ of thousands of bartending jobs in Connecticut alone. They are like bartending jobs all over the nation. They turn over all the time. That means there are always jobs. There are probably more part-time jobs always available than any other type of part-time job out there.

Weekend Jobs

Being a weekend bartender is one of the most popular choices. If and when you hook up with a popular club or bar/restaurant, everyone wants those lucrative weekend gigs. Typically those are the ones that bartenders covet. These are the types of bartender jobs that people always refer to when they are talking about making $500-$1,000 and even more a week. They are great.

In fact lots of bartenders that treat it as a full-time occupation hold two part-time jobs. They work a busy club, restaurant, or bar on the weekends and work a hotel or fancy restaurant in the week. It’s a natural combination.

Night Jobs

Most bartenders work evenings. We all know that. What a perfect part time job that accommodates your 9-5. For years we’ve seen people who work in medical offices, in government jobs, sales people, on computer help desks, etc etc. etc. who take bartending classes and get part-time bartender jobs. It’s a natural fit.

Great Income

If you are going to work part time, why take a job that pays only $5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10/hour when you could be bartending, making $20-40/hour or more and have fun? Seriously, WHY?

Of course you typically don’t get paid $20-40/hour as a bartender. Base salary is lower than that. Most bartenders make most of their income off of tips. On busy nights tips can be great. Imagine making $500 on a fun busy 8-hour shift. That is over $60/hour. People are giving you money because they like you…and you are making them drinks (mostly simple drinks). What could be better?

Of course you can work some part-time bartending jobs where the base pay per hour is high. In fact its one of the best part-time jobs we can think of: bartending/catering for parties, events, weddings, etc. These are great gigs. You can charge or make excellent hourly rates AND make some great tips.

Bartending is FUN

Have you ever seen a grim glum bartender? Hopefully not. Typically unhappy bartenders don’t stick around for a long time. It’s a fun job. You are at the party. People hang out at bars to enjoy themselves. You are the main reason they stick around. You don’t have to be a superstar. You just have to help them enjoy themselves. Then they leave you big tips. Doesn’t that sound great?

Connecticut Bartenders-How to become Great

Become a great bartender Focus on Your Ring—not your tips.

Here is a tip that even experienced bartenders ignore. If you want to be a great bartender, and make “bank” (big big bucks) from the very beginning, focus on your ring, not your tips. If you aren’t familiar with the term, your ring are your total sales for your shift. It is how much in sales you ring up. Typically your tips are a percentage of total sales. While the acknowledged standard in the industry is 15%, as bartenders we know that your total percentage over a long and busy shift can range anywhere from 10% of sales to over 30% (if you are good and lucky)!!

Since they are related, why focus on one and not the other? Managers and owners are definitely focused on your ring. It is how they make money. The greater your sales the more the bar makes. There is no mystery there.

To get into this in depth we spoke with one of the best bartenders in the industry, earning over $100,000/year as a bartender. He was a star bartender and worked his way up from a busy neighborhood/sports bar to one of the best and biggest clubs on the East Coast. Not only did he handle one of the busiest bars in this ultra busy club, but he was a trainer in the club, teaching and instructing new bartenders how to bartend in that club, and how to become better and better. He later became the bar manager at a fancier club while handling the central bar in this popular place.

At his clubs he saw bar stations ring as little as $1,200 and well over $14,000 in a single night. $14,000! that is a lot of money. If you are only making 10% on tips, that is $1,400/night. If you make 20% in tips on the night that is $2,400-$2,800. Imagine going home with that kind of money after one night of bartending! Although every night will be different, bartenders all over the country are ringing thousands of dollars every day and walking away with several hundred dollars a shift!

In these busy clubs, just as busy bars around the country the managers and owners determine who gets which shifts and when. They can put you in the middle of the hottest most crowded floor in the busiest night or move you out to a corner bar upstairs, remote, and removed from the action. They can give you Friday and Saturday night shifts when the crowd is hot, or they can stick you in Monday/Tuesday day shifts when there is a very small crowd. Managers and owners ultimately decide how much money you can make.

In fact at very large clubs there is a science to it. If you are new they’ll put you in a slower corner bar. Its a test. They already know what that bar averages over a night. If the average ring is $2,000 a night and you average $3,000 at that station…..they are going to give you a series of promotions. You have proven you can make that bar money. They will move you up and up….and if you can always out perform the average of that bar station….you will be headed toward the busiest bar in the busiest section of the club. You’ll be set.

As long as you focus on your ring, keep becoming a faster, more efficient, more popular and better bartender your tips will come and they will grow. If you focus on your ring and it keeps improving, your manager and owner are going to make sure you get the very best shifts. You’ll be helping yourself and helping them.

So bartenders….don’t ever forget….focus on your ring not your tips…and you’ll be making more and more money in no time.

Welcome to Bartenders Academy!

Thank you for visiting Bartenders Academy!

We appreciate your time on our site today and look forward to hearing from you soon about your interests & experiences in the bartending world!

People all over Connecticut are finding out about our school and training program. 
Feel free to call (203) 754-6000 with any questions, ideas, or suggestions you may have!

663 Lakewood Rd,
Waterbury, CT 06704
info@ctbartendingschool.com
www.CTBartendingSchool.com