Stressful aspects of the bartending job: What are they?

There  are stressful aspects of bartending jobs without a doubt. There are jobs that seem to be perfect, however, most jobs have their risks and ugly moments. This is the reason why it is important to understand the difficulties of bartending.

While bartending is a great job, it can come with many difficult situations caused by alcohol-induced altercations. There are many stressful aspects of bartending jobs.

Bartending can be a very rewarding job to have. Once you reach a good level in terms of popularity and skill. The bartending income increases due to tips alone. With that said, this is not an easy profession at all.  That is probably the reason why we don’t see an endless number of professional bartenders out here looking for full time work.

As we mentioned before, everything has its pros and cons. In the case of bartending work, the advantages are many. Although the cons can also become a determining factor for many when deciding if this is the job for them or not. That is why it is important to think well before starting to train as a bartender. It is not only about good tips and amazing nightlife, but they also have to know emotional control. This is essential to handle complicated and difficult situations they can face during their work hours.

The difficulty of bartending depends on the kind of gigs that the bartender takes

There are many types of jobs for bartenders and they will all have different levels of intensity and difficulty. For example, a bartender can take a job at a small lounge that is never too crowded. The job is not going to be stressful most of the time. The same goes for a pop up bar for a small private party.

In this case, you would have to dedicate yourself exclusively to this type of work in places such as a pop up bar or small lounge or a private party, so you would be losing a lot of money to the competition, which would be attending larger events, while you work in jobs with a lower level of attendance and intensity.

On the other hand, a bartender can take a job at a very busy nightclub. Night clubs are going to be a very stressful and busy job to have. Some bartenders are so busy during those packed nights at clubs that they don’t even have time to take a bathroom break.

Also, how much money you make will depend not so much on the size of the events or private parties. Also the bars and restaurants where the bartender is working, but on the amount of those jobs they have each week. It is logical to think that the bigger the bar or the restaurant or the private party where you are working, the more tips you will receive.

The busiest times and stressful aspects of bartending jobs

For example, a bartender works only 2 times a week in these types of events, and another bartender works in a small lounge all week. He may receive more tips and more money than the one who only gets a job in a larger place, and a couple of days every week.

The busy nights are not the only thing that these bartenders have to deal with. There is also an ugly side to bartending that people at nightclubs don’t see often. However, when it happens, it can be a very stressful situation that would make many people reconsider this profession.

Nothing is perfect and everything has its disadvantages and advantages, the idea is to put both in a balance. This way to know if the advantages are more than the disadvantages or vice versa. The truth is that there are many unpleasant situations that can arise when a bartender is working, especially in private parties or bars with many people.

Some examples of stressful aspects of bartending jobs

There are many situations that can happen at a bar. When it’s a busy night and everyone is screaming out of their lungs waving their money and asking for a drink. There have been many reported situations in which a bartender has been threatened by a person. Who didn’t get their drink served when they wanted.

In most cases, this will never escalate any further than the threat. With that said, sometimes people will want to get physical with a bartender over a drink. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it does happen from time to time. The bartender needs to keep his cool and avoid any confrontations.

These situations, although in most cases they do not reach anything serious, they are much more common than it seems. When alcohol and a large group of people meet in the same place, anything can happen.

Fights and how to handle them in stressful aspects of bartending jobs

Fights between two or more people are very frequent in bars. Although it is true that they do not happen all the time. They can undoubtedly be one of the reasons why a bartender can find himself in the middle of a problem. Although most bars and private events generally have private security of their own. Sometimes the bartender will have to stop a fight or do whatever they can to stop it. It goes without saying that from time to time you can get punched without wanting, when you find yourself in the middle of a fight.

Another situation that can become unpleasant is with a customer who has had too much of a drink. Maybe this person he starts fighting with the bartender for one of these 2 reasons. He or she is simply annoyed and starts yelling at the bartender at the bar at that moment. Maybe he or she gets annoyed because the bartender simply does not want to continue serving drinks.

In both cases, it is important that the bartender knows how to remain calm and an appropriate emotional control to be able to handle the situation in the best possible way and that it does not get out of control.

Another factor that can make customers upset has to wait too long at the bar without service This is sometimes not the bartender’s fault although for the customers it will be.  That is why sometimes when the place is too crowded and they don’t get their drink the moment they ask for it, things can get a little ugly. This happens given that the bartender can receive complaints and screams due to the impatience.

Assault is always a serious issue

No one should ever have to be afraid of harm in any way. Just because they had an argument with someone at a bar. The problem is that the way people behave while drunk in the streets and in public venues can often be different from how they behave when they are sober.

That is something that every bartender understands and that they usually take into account while working behind the bar. The important thing is that the bartender is able to control his emotions and have patience.

This means that bartenders for hire are more likely to face this kind of situation. Since bartenders often are dealing with drunk people all the time. The more a person drinks, the less likely it is that they will behave. In a way when they are reasonable if they get angry.

Since it is not enough just to know how to make good cocktails and special drinks. You also have to know how to handle the environment and the possible ugly situations that may arise during your shift.

Questions and Answers

Final thoughts

It’s always good to have a perspective on how bartenders experience. The bartending profession because this is going to allow people to put themselves in the shoes of the person. Bartenders constantly deal with so much stress in a bar environment. This is why it is important to understand those issues and to avoid them. There is no need for the job to be more stressful than it should at any point.