The most important part of being a barback is your resume.
Now, we’re not saying that you shouldn’t be able to mix drinks, but let’s be real: if it’s not about the drinks, then what is it about? The answer: your resume.
That’s why we created this guide for you—to help you build the best possible barback resume. It’s full of data, tips and best practices that will have your hiring manager saying “I’m in!” (or at least “that’s not a bad start”).
Methodology
The goal of this guide is to give you real data what the “must haves” of barback resumes are.
To do that, we compiled and analyzed data from barback resumes and 38 barback job listings to get the data used for this our barback resume guide.
In addition to barback-specific resume data, we built a database of nearly 1 million resumes and job listings, and we use a propriety machine learning model to understand the anatomy of the best resumes in general.
Quick note: using the data below can help you build a competitive resume, but it’s always important to be creative, unique, and personal to stand out.
If you want more info on our methodology, you can check it out here.
Barback resume objective data + barback objective examples
Pop quiz: do barback’s really need to use an objective?
In general, whether or not you need an objective or professional summary can depend a lot on your personal career level (check out our article on resume objectives), but this is what our analysis found for barback’s specifically:
- 33% of barback’s included an objective section
- 26% of barback’s included a professional summary
- 48% of barback’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Barback objective examples
A highly motivated barback who aims to make use of their interpersonal skills to achieve goals of a company that focuses on customer satisfaction and customer experience.
To obtain a barback position at a reputable establishment where I can utilize my skills in customer service and cocktail preparation to enhance the overall guest experience.
Seeking a challenging barback role in a fast-paced environment where I can apply my knowledge of mixology and bartending techniques to assist the bartending team.
Aiming to secure a barback position in a dynamic and energetic establishment where I can utilize my strong organizational and multitasking abilities to ensure smooth operation of the bar.
Skills for barback resumes
These are the skills that occurred most frequently in in barback resumes, which means they tend to be core competencies or highly desired skills.
Of course, you should only list skills that you actually have, and you should prioritze skills most relevant to the job you're applying for. But these are good core skills to include on your resume.
To get more detail on building a powerful skills section, take a peek at our article on resume skills.
*Note: to find skills our machine learning model basically looks for common words, so take these with a grain of salt and use your best judgment.
Most common barback resume skills
Most common hard skills for barback resumes: ice replenishment, bussing tables, ordering procedures, time management, and restocking.
Most common soft skills for barback resumes: communication skills, customer-service skills, interpersonal skills, listening skills, and patience.
Other good barback resume skills
- Interpersonal
- Organizational
- Persuasion
- Bar knowledge
- Communication
- Time management
- Problem-solving
- Prioritization
- Cleaning glassware
- Liquor inventory management
- POS operations
- Sanitary food-handling procedures
- Guest service excellence
- Dependability
- Attention to detail
- Manual dexterity
Barback skills section examples
Note: these examples are formatted the same here just because it’s simple, but we have more detailed formatting advice (and examples) in our guide to resume formatting.
Barback skills example 1
Interpersonal | bussing tables | persuasion | bar knowledge | time management | restocking | communication
Barback skills example 2
Organizational | communication skills | time management | customer-service skills | problem-solving | interpersonal skills | prioritization
Barback skills example 3
Dependability | cleaning glassware | patience | listening skills | pos operations | customer-service skills | sanitary food-handling procedures
Work experience for barback resumes
Your work experience section is almost always the most important part of your resume. Because it’s difficult to pull trends from this kind of section, this section is mostly just examples.
For some advanced strategies for writing about work experience on a resume, refer to our article on building a strong work experience resume section. We also have a guide on writing a resume with no experience if you’re just starting your career.
For now, it’s good to remember that the most important experience for any barback resume is the most relevant experience.
A couple examples for you:
Barback work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Barback
Acme Corp., 2021-2022
Responsibilities
- Monitor financial markets and the performance of individual securities
- Contact prospective clients to present information and explain available services
- Manage the finances of the facility, such as patient fees and billing
- Oversee the maintenance and repair of machinery, equipment, and electrical and mechanical systems
- Address complaints regarding food quality or service
WORK EXPERIENCE
Associate Barback
Astonishing Studio, 2015-2022
Responsibilities
- Repair or replace malfunctioning components, parts, and other mechanical or electrical equipment
- Bathe animals, trim nails, clip hair, and attend to other grooming needs
- Set up tables and prep fruits, lemons, ice for the bar, etc.
- Set-up the bar
- Stocking, cleaning, replenishing
WORK EXPERIENCE
Barback Intern
Sanguine Services, 2011-2012
Responsibilities
- Assist bartenders during rush hours
- Keep the bar fully stocked at all times
- Prep garnishes (lemon and lime wedges and wheels, herbs, bloody mary garnishes, pickles, olives, etc), and label and date containers
- Refill ice wells
- Restock liquor bottles
Education for barback resumes
For most positions, work experience is more important than education, although it can be important for new grads or for fields in which specific classes are industry-standard.
So it’s not a big section, but it’s still important, and often, barback job postings list a minimum education requirement.
Check out our blueprint for education on resumes for our full playbook on education sections.
Data from our sample of 933 barback resumes
- 9% barback resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 59% barback resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 27% barback resumes included a masters degree
- 1% barback resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Barback resume education examples
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science
Lakeland University, 2021
Awards & Honors
- Summa Cum Laude
- The Honor Society
- Magna Cum Laude
EDUCATION
Associate of Arts
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2015
Certifications for barback resumes
Certifications aren’t a strict requirement for every job, but there are almost always certifications you can get to boost your chances of success.
If you want to see how to build these sections, we have a guide about certifications on resumes.
We did a little research and found certifications can help barback’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Barback certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
Hospitality/Beverage Specialist Certificate
Society of Wine Educators, 2021
Reinforced Concrete Special Inspector
International Code Council, 2015
CERTIFICATIONS
Hospitality/Beverage Specialist Certificate, Reinforced Concrete Special Inspector, Certified Coffee Specialist
Barback resume action verbs
Using our database of nearly 1,000,000 publicly available resumes, we compiled an index of action verbs and cross-referenced it with our sample of 933 barback resumes and job postings to uncover which action verbs are most commonly used by barback’s and barback employers.
The most common action verbs on barback resumes are: program, process, assist, prepare, and manage.
The most common action verbs on barback job postings are: lead, plan, review, handle, and field.
Other action verbs for barback resumes:
- Perform
- Develop
- Design
- Test
- Direct
- Create
- Monitor
- Track
- Organize
- Resolve
Full barback resume example
Lastly, we wanted to give you a couple full barback resume examples..
Please note: you can write a better resume than this. This is just a quick illustration to show you how these pieces might fit together.
If you’d like to see “perfect” resumes, we have a showcase of resume examples.
Barback resume example
Donald Bennett
Barback
4070 Davis Street, Augusta, GA
Seeking a challenging barback role in a fast-paced environment where I can apply my knowledge of mixology and bartending techniques to assist the bartending team.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Barback
Acme Corp., 2021-2022
Responsibilities
- Replenish napkins, toothpicks, ashtrays, peanuts, and other counter items
- Clean glasses and dishes
- Take out the trash or recycling throughout the shift (and wash hands after handling any garbage)
- Clean drink spills and sweep broken glassware
Associate Barback
Astonishing Studio, 2015-2022
Responsibilities
- Help out with punching orders into the POS system as needed
- Collect empty glasses from the bar
- Set up and tear down the bar at each shift
- Restock all bar containers for the next shift, including juicing citrus for bar use the next night
Barback Intern
Sanguine Services, 2011-2016
Responsibilities
- Wiping down and flipping tables
- Putting away shipments of liquor and beer
- Running food and clearing plates
- Replenishing cleaning rags at each bartender station
CERTIFICATIONS
ServSafe Alcohol
National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, 2021
Certified Coffee Specialist
National Automatic Merchandising Association, 2015
SKILLS
Interpersonal | communication | customer service | interpersonal skills | communication skills | ice replenishment | cleaning glassware
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science
Lakeland University, 2021
Associate of Arts
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2015
What experts say about barback resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“Highlight where you’ve worked and any significant things that you want to put there, maybe you’ve created some great drinks and maybe your customers really love it.” – How to Write a Resume for a Bartender Job
“Put some important facts down there; talk about how you work with other individuals.” – How to Write a Resume for a Bartender Job
” Well-written resume summary, which is also called a professional summary, is brief: between two and three sentences. It should include your years of professional experience, top skills, strengths, and what you’re looking for in your next role.” – How to Write a Resume Summary – Plus 5 Strong Examples | Indeed Career Tips
Want help with your barback resume?
It’s time to put your barback resume to work!
We hope this guide was helpful in helping you understand the specific elements that need to be on your resume in order to land barback interviews.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out and ask us.
