How to hire a bar captain

How to hire a bar captain, step by step

Here's a step-by-step bar captain hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a bar captain job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new bar captain
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The bar captain hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect bar captain also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of bar captain salaries for various roles:

   Type of Bar Captain	Description	Hourly rate
   Bar Captain		$12-20
   Front Of House Manager	A front of house manager coordinates and supervises the front house team. Front of house managers make sure that every client receives a warm welcome... Show more	$12-29
   Chef/Kitchen Manager	A kitchen manager or chef is someone who oversees the overall operations in the kitchen as well as the food operations. Kitchen managers make certain that food and related products are well prepared, cooked, and served to customers... Show more	$16-33

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Wine
   • Bartending
   • BARS
   • Food Preparation
   • Wine List
   • Customer Service
   • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
   • Signature Cocktails
   • Inventory Control
   • Fine Dining
   • BEO

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead a platoon that earn numerous awards for jamming opposition force artillery nets and conducting counterattacks on opposition electronic warfare platoons.
   • Train new employees on all aspects of bartending, drink menu, customer service, and cash handling procedures.
   • Direct the installation, operation and maintenance of military radio and telecommunications assets for combat infantry units and fix telephone facilities.
   • Clean, prepare and re-stock stations in support of the restaurant and co-workers.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your bar captain job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A bar captain can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, bar captains' average salary in alabama is 40% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level bar captains 37% less than senior-level bar captains.
   • Certifications. A bar captain with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a bar captain's salary.

   Average bar captain salary

   $16.60hourly

   $34,518 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level bar captain salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

4. Writing a bar captain job description

   A bar captain job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a bar captain job description:

   Bar captain job description example

   Historic Hudson Valley (HHV) is a Westchester-based cultural non-profit that welcomes visitors to five National Historic Landmarks and presents public tours, school programs, and seasonal festivals for audiences that include suburban families seeking weekend leisure activities; K-12 teachers meeting curricular objectives and their students; and a diverse array of heritage tourists. HHV has a national reputation for groundbreaking on-site interpretation and award-winning digital content, particularly in the content areas of Northern slavery, regional women’s history, and storytelling.
   
   HHV’s Retail Department seeks a Bar Captain. The Bar Captain contributes to the success of Historic Hudson Valley’s The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze event by ensuring the visitors have positive experiences. This role supports retail management in managing the operation of the bar and supervising the other Bartenders. The Bar Captain ensures that visitors are served beverages in an efficient and courteous manner, to the highest professional standards. The Bar Captain follows directions established by the Associate Director of Retail Operations and the Store Manager, and currently reports to the Associate Director of Retail Operation. Additionally, the position requires:
   
   Pouring drinks from a tap (beer, wine, cider) and possibly mixing them with additional ingredients before serving them to customers.
   Friendly service with a smile. Supervising other bartenders Knowledge of the event and site to answer questions or direct visitors while representing our organization. Ensuring that no tips for taken, only donations. Concern with health, hygiene, and safety, as well as checking IDs. TIPs certified. Opening and closing procedures of the bar area, including setting up and cleaning. Operation of all cash procedures, including opening and closing the register, managing opening bank and change needs, using the POS register for sales, running end-of-day reports, and preparing the deposit to be reviewed by the retail MOD. Input all inventory information, including kegs, CO2 canisters and cups, into a shared document on the POS register to ensure real time inventory management and proper replenishment. Changing kegs and CO2 canisters. Additional responsibilities as assigned by Associate Director of Retail. Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Bartender experience, preferably in a management role. Possess knowledge of bar operations and procedures, including inventory and changing kegs. Possess knowledge of bar POS systems and procedures, as well as deposits Strong communication skills. Knowledge of site and the event. Professionalism, energetic, and positive attitude. Flexibility under pressure TIPS certification preferred, but HHV can arrange to get employees certified at no cost Successful candidates are required to be fully vaccinated for Covid-19, absent medical, religious, or pregnancy related accommodations and will be required to submit proof at time of hire. Work Conditions: General conditions in an outdoor tent. Lifting kicked kegs, climbing, into trail and moving of kegs. Long periods of standing. Weekend, holiday and evening availability in support of HHV programs/events. This is a part-time seasonal position, evening and weekend hours at special events are required.
   To be considered for this position, upload resume. You may “click apply” or, visit our employment page at www.hudsonvalley.org/employment to create a profile and upload your documents. On the employment page click on “create profile and apply”.
   
   Historic Hudson Valley is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates of diverse backgrounds to apply.
   Historic Hudson Valley adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local COVID-19 requirements and have taken many precautionary measures to ensure the safety of staff and visitors.
   
   Thank you for your interest.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right bar captain for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with bar captains they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit bar captains who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your bar captain job on Zippia to find and recruit bar captain candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit bar captains, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new bar captain

   Once you've found the bar captain candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new bar captain. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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