Age: 26
Job: Bartender, assistant general manager, the Library Bar (Dinkytown)
Annual Earnings: $35,000 (plus tips)
Education: Business management, University of Minnesota
Bartending experience: Six years
Favorite alcohol? Jameson Whiskey
How did you get a job here? When they first opened [in 2006] I came in and one of the bartenders didn't know how to make something really simple and I said, "I definitely need to apply here."
What is your favorite part of being a bartender? Meeting new people
Special skills bartenders need? You definitely have to be a people person. If you don't like people, or don't like talking to people, it's not the job for you.
You also have to be patient. ... I don't know if you've ever dealt with any, but drunk people can be kind of annoying and difficult sometimes. So you need patience; lots of patience.
Even though you know easily more than 100 drinks, do you still get requests for drinks you don't know? All the time. People go away on spring break, or to different countries or cities, and they come back and ask for something that isn't from this region.
Hardest part of your job? Managing different personalities. Everybody comes from a different walk of life in the bar industry, but in order to make money, we have to coexist. Especially being on campus, we have people applying for jobs from all over the country, and everybody has different ways of doing things, but we still have to get along.
How long do you plan to keep bartending? Well, I plan on opening my own bar, so probably for a while.
Dream job? As many headaches as it comes with, I'd have to say owning my own bar.
Any extra business generated from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul? Not really. The only change we saw was at 2 o'clock; as we closed, we heard a lot of people saying, "Let's go to St. Paul!"
HILARY BRUECK
