Bar managers are also called bar owners or supervisors of bar establishments. The managers are in charge of managing customer complaints, ensuring stocks in the bar, and in scheduling the jobs of employees. They oversee the overall operations of the bar, manage its staff, and ensure that the standards of products and services are met. They maintain the licensure of liquor and make sure that their staff follows the local regulations. Also, they see to it that customers are served promptly.

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Bar Manager Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real bar manager resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Manage liquor and wine inventory and develop cocktail menus taking advantage of fresh ingredients.
  • Inventory and order bar stock and manage FOH staff, as well as ensured food quality and timeliness of service.
  • Manage front-of-house operations for upscale wine bar and restaurant, including assisting in monitoring and management of inventory and finances.
  • Perform typical bartending duties including all aspects of customer service.
  • Direct all bartending operations as well as ordering and inventory management.
  • Help with shift movement according seniority while abiding by the bartender and culinary CBA.
  • Organize entertainment for lounge, such as hiring bands, karaoke, DJ's, etc.
  • Train all FOH and BOH employees on service standards and guest interactions in order to ensure the success of the company.
  • Provide assistance with store organization and cleanliness.
  • Assume responsibility for overall office administration, payroll and training of staff.
  • Maintain the facility by ensuring safety, mechanical/electronic repairs scheduling, and adhering to rigorous cleanliness requirements.
  • Develop skills in communication and time management interacting with staff and customers in a fast-pace service environment.
  • Transition business from handwritten ordering system to an automate restaurant POS system that reduce errors and improve productivity.
  • Coordinate seasonal and promotional events charting facility arrangements, decorating, book entertainment, develop and acquire POS.
  • Demonstrate exceptional quality assurance skills for a high volume restaurant/bar while providing strong employee retention during a transition to new management.

Bar Manager Job Description

Between the years 2018 and 2028, bar manager jobs are expected to undergo a growth rate described as "much faster than average" at 11%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if the thought "should I become a bar manager?" Has crossed your mind, maybe you should take the growth rate into account. In addition, the number of bar manager opportunities that are projected to become available by 2028 is 38,500.

A bar manager annual salary averages $46,828, which breaks down to $22.51 an hour. However, bar managers can earn anywhere from upwards of $33,000 to $65,000 a year. This means that the top-earning bar managers make $32,000 more than the lowest-earning ones.

As is the case with most jobs, it takes work to become a bar manager. Sometimes people change their minds about their career after working in the profession. That's why we looked into some other professions that might help you find your next opportunity. These professions include an assistant manager/shift manager, assistant restaurant manager, dining room manager, and restaurant general manager.

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12 Bar Manager Resume Examples

Bar Manager Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 21% of Bar Managers are proficient in Customer Service, Wine, and Beverage Orders. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Detail oriented, and Leadership skills.

We break down the percentage of Bar Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Service, 21%

    Managed the proper accounting and recording of all financial transactions; demonstrated excellent customer service to generate repeat clientele.

  • Wine, 17%

    Managed front-of-house operations for upscale wine bar and restaurant, including assisting in monitoring and management of inventory and finances.

  • Beverage Orders, 7%

    Maximize profitability by effectively controlling bar and labor costs; responsible for beverage orders/inventory.

  • Bartending, 5%

    Directed all bartending operations as well as ordering and inventory management.

  • Payroll, 5%

    Assumed responsibility for overall office administration, payroll and training of staff.

  • POS, 5%

    Transitioned business from handwritten ordering system to an automated restaurant POS system that reduced errors and improved productivity.

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Most bar managers list "customer service," "wine," and "beverage orders" as skills on their resumes. We go into more details on the most important bar manager responsibilities here:

  • The most important skills for a bar manager to have in this position are business skills. In this excerpt that we gathered from a bar manager resume, you'll understand why: "food service managers, especially those who run their own restaurant, must understand all aspects of the restaurant business" According to resumes we found, business skills can be used by a bar manager in order to "run a successful bar business by controlling liquor inventory,staffing levels,and cleanliness. "
  • While it may not be the most important skill, we found that many bar manager duties rely on detail oriented. This example from a bar manager explains why: "managers deal with many different types of activities." This resume example is just one of many ways bar managers are able to utilize detail oriented: "served lunch and dinner in a fine dining restaurant with a high attention to detail. "
  • Leadership skills is also an important skill for bar managers to have. This example of how bar managers use this skill comes from a bar manager resume, "managers must establish good working relationships to maintain a productive work environment" Read this excerpt from a resume to understand how vital it is to their everyday roles and responsibilities, "cash handling, p&l;, customer relations, team building and leadership. "
  • A bar manager responsibilities sometimes require "organizational skills." The responsibilities that rely on this skills are shown by this resume excerpt: "food service managers keep track of many different schedules, budgets, and staff" This resume example shows how this skill is used by bar managers: "conducted daily pre-shift and weekly departmental meetings to ensure organizational efficiency managed accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll. "
  • Yet another important skill that a bar manager must demonstrate is "problem-solving skills." Managers need to be able to resolve personnel issues and customer-related problems. This is clearly demonstrated in this example from a bar manager who stated: "maintained customer relations and resolved any issued prompted by customers to maintain customer loyalty. "
  • Another skill commonly found on bar manager resumes is "communication skills." This description of the skill was found on several bar manager resumes: "food service managers must give clear orders to staff and be able to communicate effectively with employees and customers." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill could fit into the day-to-day bar manager responsibilities: "maintain customer relations by keeping constant open communication with patrons while in the restaurant. "
  • See the full list of bar manager skills.

    After discovering the most helpful skills, we moved onto what kind of education might be helpful in becoming a bar manager. We found that 50.2% of bar managers have graduated with a bachelor's degree and 3.2% of people in this position have earned their master's degrees. While most bar managers have a college degree, you may find it's also true that generally it's possible to be successful in this career with only a high school degree. In fact, our research shows that one out of every five bar managers were not college graduates.

    Those bar managers who do attend college, typically earn either a business degree or a psychology degree. Less commonly earned degrees for bar managers include a communication degree or a hospitality management degree.

    Once you've obtained the level of education you're comfortable with, you might start applying to companies to become a bar manager. We've found that most bar manager resumes include experience from Fricker'S, Goodwin Recruiting, and HMSHost. Of recent, Fricker'S had 39 positions open for bar managers. Meanwhile, there are 12 job openings at Goodwin Recruiting and 7 at HMSHost.

    Since salary is important to some bar managers, it's good to note that they are figured to earn the highest salaries at Greenwich Country Club, Club, and Maple Software Pvt. If you were to take a closer look at Greenwich Country Club, you'd find that the average bar manager salary is $69,713. Then at Club, bar managers receive an average salary of $57,520, while the salary at Maple Software Pvt is $56,171.

    View more details on bar manager salaries across the United States.

    Some other companies you might be interested in as a bar manager include Darden Restaurants, Marriott International, and The Walt Disney Company. These three companies were found to hire the most bar managers from the top 100 U.S. educational institutions.

    The three companies that hire the most prestigious bar managers are:

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    What Assistant Manager/Shift Managers Do

    An assistant manager/shift manager assists managers in maintaining an establishment's smooth workflow. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their company or industry of employment, it usually includes participating in setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and schedules, delegating tasks among staff, and monitoring operations, solving issues should there be any. They also perform administrative support tasks such as coordinating with internal and external parties, preparing and processing documents, handling calls and correspondence, organizing files, and implementing policies and regulations. In the absence of the manager, an assistant manager assumes their responsibilities to maintain efficient operations.

    In this section, we compare the average bar manager annual salary with that of an assistant manager/shift manager. Typically, assistant manager/shift managers earn a $9,056 lower salary than bar managers earn annually.

    While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both bar managers and assistant manager/shift managers positions are skilled in customer service, payroll, and pos.

    These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A bar manager responsibility is more likely to require skills like "wine," "beverage orders," "bartending," and "guest satisfaction." Whereas a assistant manager/shift manager requires skills like "cleanliness," "food safety," "employee engagement," and "customer satisfaction." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

    Assistant manager/shift managers tend to reach similar levels of education than bar managers. In fact, assistant manager/shift managers are 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of an Assistant Restaurant Manager?

    An assistant restaurant manager's role is to perform managerial support tasks and oversee restaurant operations, ensuring efficiency in workflow and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around maintaining records of all invoices and contracts, delegating tasks, monitoring the inventory of supplies, liaising with suppliers and vendors, and addressing issues and concerns. There are also instances when one must attend to customers' needs, prepare schedules, perform regular workforce inspection, and report to the manager. Furthermore, it is essential to implement all the company's health regulations and policies, all to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone.

    The next role we're going to look at is the assistant restaurant manager profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $1,208 lower salary than bar managers per year.

    While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both bar managers and assistant restaurant managers are known to have skills such as "customer service," "wine," and "bartending. "

    In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, bar manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "beverage orders," "payroll," "alcoholic beverages," and "beverage service." Meanwhile, a assistant restaurant manager might be skilled in areas such as "cleanliness," "product quality," "guest service," and "work ethic." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

    On average, assistant restaurant managers earn a lower salary than bar managers. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, assistant restaurant managers earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $43,632. Whereas, bar managers have higher paychecks in the government industry where they earn an average of $44,791.

    When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, assistant restaurant managers tend to reach similar levels of education than bar managers. In fact, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Dining Room Manager Compares

    Dining Room Managers are responsible for supervising the operations of a dining establishment or restaurant. Their duties include ensuring workers adhere to operational and service standards, implement training and recruitment processes, addressing customer concerns, achieving customer satisfaction, and overseeing a restaurant's inventory and budget. Dining Room Managers compile daily reports, greet customers, introduce menus, and ensure the dining area is healthy and clean. They also assist in the orientation of workers.

    The third profession we take a look at is dining room manager. On an average scale, these workers bring in higher salaries than bar managers. In fact, they make a $2,544 higher salary per year.

    Using bar managers and dining room managers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "customer service," "wine," and "bartending," but the other skills required are very different.

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from bar manager resumes include skills like "beverage orders," "alcoholic beverages," "inventory management," and "facebook," whereas a dining room manager might be skilled in "good judgment," "cleanliness," "food handling," and "taking care. "

    Interestingly enough, dining room managers earn the most pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $46,045. As mentioned previously, bar managers highest annual salary comes from the government industry with an average salary of $44,791.

    Dining room managers typically study at similar levels compared with bar managers. For example, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Restaurant General Manager

    A restaurant general manager is someone whose responsibility is to handle the daily operations of the restaurant. Restaurant general managers ensure compliance with the overall operations to the company's standards. They oversee the preparation and delivery of products, restaurant repair and maintenance, team management, inventory management, and customer relations. To become a restaurant general manager, one should have excellent customer relations and service skills, and commercial awareness. Good personal skills, flexibility, and strong communication skills are also necessary.

    Restaurant general managers tend to earn a higher pay than bar managers by about $9,693 per year.

    While their salaries may vary, bar managers and restaurant general managers both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "customer service," "wine," and "bartending. "

    Each job requires different skills like "beverage orders," "payroll," "food service," and "alcoholic beverages," which might show up on a bar manager resume. Whereas restaurant general manager might include skills like "strong analytical," "customer satisfaction," "cleanliness," and "human resources."

    Restaurant general managers earn a higher salary in the hospitality industry with an average of $45,190. Whereas, bar managers earn the highest salary in the government industry.

    Restaurant general managers reach similar levels of education when compared to bar managers. The difference is that they're 1.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.