Bar Manager Resume

As a bar manager, you make sure a bar runs smoothly by staying on top of a seemingly never ending list of responsibilities: managing staff and inventory, monitoring costs, planning events, dealing with customers, and the list goes on.

With all these responsibilities, it can be tricky to know what you need to put in your bar manager resume that’ll make employers want to hire you.

If you’re looking for a bar manager job, use these tips to write an engaging resume that lets hiring managers know you’ve got what it takes to run their bar effectively.

1. Highlight your bar manager resume skills

One of the best ways to show employers you can be a successful bar manager is by showcasing your job-relevant hard skills.

Here are a few questions to help you start thinking about what hard skills to add to your resume:

• Can you bartend?
• Do you know how to pass a health inspection?
• Are you able to schedule staff?
• Have you handled inventory or budgets?

Bar hiring managers have these types of questions in mind when looking at your resume. So make it easy for them to see you have the necessary skills by highlighting your bar management abilities in an easy-to-read resume skills section.

Below are some examples of hard skills you can add to your bar manager resume:

But hard skills alone are often not enough to excel in a people-focused job like bar manager. You also need to be good at nontechnical skills like making customers feel comfortable and keeping your staff happy.

This is where soft skills — your personal traits and ability to interact with others — come in. Soft skills let employers know you’re a well-rounded manager who can deal with the ever-changing demands of working in a bar.

These ar some examples of soft skills that great bar managers have:

2. Showcase your bar manager certifications

You don’t necessarily need to be certified to work as a bar manager, but listing certifications on your resume can make you a more attractive candidate.

For example, certain states require bar managers to have a bartending licenses. If you’re looking for a bar manager job in one of those states, make it clear to hiring managers that you have the proper certifications by adding them to your resume.

Other certifications like CPR or food handling permits may not be required to legally work, but they can give you an advantage over candidates that aren’t certified.

Here are some certifications to consider adding to your bar manager resume (if you have them):

• CPR certification
• Training Intervention ProcedureS (TIPS) certification
• State bartending license
• Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP)
• Cicerone certification 
• Food handling permits
• Mixology certification
• Sommelier certification

3. Match your bar manager resume to the job description

Your responsibilities as a bar manager can vary quite a bit based on what type of establishment you work at.

You could be closer to a beverage director or bartender, crafting unique cocktails and designing drink menus. Or you could take on a more administrative role, focusing on training and scheduling team members or optimizing inventory.

No matter what type of bar manager role you’re looking for, show you’re a good fit by using resume keywords from the job posting you’re targeting. Keywords are important words or phrases you can use in your resume to show industry knowledge and skills that are relevant to the bar manager job you want.

Here’s an example from a job ad for a bar manager at an upscale hotel restaurant:

The resume keywords from this job description let you know what employers are looking for. You should add them to your resume’s work history and skills sections to show you have experience and skills that are relevant to the specific establishment and position you’re interested in.

Here’s a good example of a bullet point that uses keywords from the previous job posting:

• Coordinated with chefs to create a food and wine pairing suggestion list, increasing wine sales by 12% in summer 2020

This bullet point shows employers you understand the job you’re applying for and have the necessary skills and experience to succeed as a bar manager in their establishment.

And here’s another example of how to find keywords for your resume, this time from a brewery looking for a bar manager:

This position is at a brewery with a set beverage menu, so the hiring manager is looking for marketing and event planning experience and skills.

Our candidate matched their experience to the job posting with these bullet points:

• Implemented and ran a monthly trivia night, increasing number of customers by 20% on event nights
• Managed and created marketing content for bar Instagram page with 31k+ followers, increasing number of followers by 120% since taking responsibility

In addition to using keywords from the job description, these bullet points are great because they include hard numbers. Adding hard numbers to highlight your achievements on your resume impresses bar hiring managers and gives concrete examples of what you’ve done in the past.