Bar Work

[Glompbot]

I've been meaning to go and get the certificates (RSA i think and something else?) for a while as a kind of 'back up'

'If all else fails I can work in a bar' type of thing.

I was wondering if you need these to work in melbourne as well as sydney? or is it only sydney? is there a difference between what you need for the two states?


I was also wondering if people in sydney knew the cost and where I could do it?

[BlueBoy]

You need an RSA to work in Melbourne.
From memory it was reasonably cheap.

[King_Crud]

I think it costs a couple of hundred bucks in NSW but I'm not sure where you do it.

[Jaz]

Places and dates:

RSA $100
http://www.tafensw.edu.au/howex/servlet/Course?Command=GetCourseLocationOffering&CourseNo=6650&tpInd=Y

RSGambling $100
http://www.tafensw.edu.au/howex/servlet/Course?Command=GetCourseLocationOffering&CourseNo=4515&tpInd=Y

[Pagey]

You will need an RSA and the gambling one (RGS?)

I did my RSA a while ago but it was included in a week long bar course

too bad I never used it...

[oggy]

you will also find that each state doesnt recognise each certificate...
RSA in NSW is generally 1 day course...
RP in SA, (equivelant) is 1/2 day course...

also you dont need to be RSG if you are only doing bar work...
aslong as you dont touch the gaming machines, you can work in a venue that has pokies...tho more job oppurtunities if you do hold Gaming Cert.

have you done bar work before?
and i`m referring to the side of the bar that serves the drinks!

[Glompbot]

You will need an RSA and the gambling one (RGS?)

I did my RSA a while ago but it was included in a week long bar course

too bad I never used it...
I'm actually considering a temporary change of career...

[hijukal]

You need an RSA to work in Melbourne.
From memory it was reasonably cheap.
AND easy AND it doesn't expire!

[muga]

You need to make sure that the RSA certificate is LAB (Liquor Administration Board) approved, otherwise it's not worth a squirt of duck shit, so before you book in for it make sure you ask that.

If your wanting to get a job in a bar it's better to get the RCG as well, that way you can work the TAB and gaming machines and have a much better chance of getting the job. (not that bar jobs are very competitive)

[Snowball]

I'm actually considering a temporary change of career...

Don't want to take a swipe but i have seen you complain a bit about dealing with stupid people in a call centre..... Do you think bar work is going to be any better?

[Glompbot]

Don't want to take a swipe but i have seen you complain a bit about dealing with stupid people in a call centre..... Do you think bar work is going to be any better?

Yeah, stupid people is part of the JOB though.

And besides, I could probably call people cunts instead of trying to be nice...
I like that.

[hijukal]

Yeah, stupid people is part of the JOB though.
You think being a bartender will expose you to smarter people?

[BtrFly]

no, you cant call people cunts in a bar job, you have to be nice, respectful, and again the customer is always right.

the working environment is somewhat nicer now that they have outlawed smoking in and around the bar area, however you still come home smelling of smoke, and usually after the 1am mark.

old guys are creepy too.

also people in vic prefer NSW rsa - its a more intensive course than the vic one. NSW rsa can be done by a place in the dymocks building in town, on the same level as the international work places - such as CCUSA. not sure which level, sorry! i paid about $75 for my rcg there, and you will need both to work in an RSL

[excalibur]

I've done RSA, RCG and a basic bar skills course.

I've tended nightclubs the local golfys.

If you can, get into a bowling club or something like that, try to stay away from the big clubs. The small ones are harder to get into cause they have a slower staff turnover. In the smaller ones, you can take the piss out of the regulars, and have jokes with them and all that sort of stuff. It's alot more fun than a nightclub where you are too flat out to worry about anything. Also lots more day work in small places. I used to get home at 11pm at the latest. Nightclubs where regularly 4am.

You also get easier work at the small clubs. As long as you can pour old dudes schooners, you're fine. You have to do cocktails and shit at 100 mile an hour at a nightclub. Pain in the arse.

[Snowball]

Yeah, stupid people is part of the JOB though.

And besides, I could probably call people cunts instead of trying to be nice...
I like that.

I can not imagine many people will employ you if you think that.

[Glompbot]

I can not imagine many people will employ you if you think that.
no, of course not.
I was being silly.

I don't mind my current job (and the stupid users that go with it - but i have to admit, mac users are a 5 cuts above the rest), but I want to do some full time study for a time.

[Snowball]

aaah fair enough

[Jaz]

I want to do some full time study for a time. uni student ftw. Come on back to obnoxiousness.

[BlueBoy]

uni student ftw. Come on back to obnoxiousness.
Thats been tempting me as well lately.

[Glompbot]

why the fuck would I waste my time with uni?

[haiironezumi]

Cheapest I've seen is $65 each for RSA and RCG.

RSA is required by most pubs for bar work, RCG is legally required for any work involving gaming. (I haven't worked in a bar for a year, so RSA may well be legally required also now)

The courses are piss-easy, nothing to em.

I used to do the bar/surpervise and do pokies/tab at the Palace at Coogee, it was good fun because I got to chat with the regulars and I got to tell anyone who brought a ciggie to the bar to fuck off, which I did often enough :D

[PhilDude]

Got my RSA just over 2 months ago. The 6 hour session was really only 2.5 hours long. For the 'exam' I filled in everything while the people sitting either side of me simply copied what I wrote.

Then the 'lecturer' simply gave us our certificates. One was a NSW specific certificate, the other one that was for Australia-wide use, although he mentioned other states may not recognise it thus requiring you to do the exam again if you wish to work in another state.

[ezer]

i was at a club in canberra last night, the people behind the bar were all hot chixors and one creepy looking guy

[hazza]

get ur rsa, talk to friends and try to get someone who works in a bar to get their manager to give you a trial.

[DrDivad]

barwork fucking sux, don't do it.

[Moga2]

I've worked behind bars a bit (about 4 years exp), i got pretty darn good at it, to be a truely good barperson you have to get a good knowledge in all alcohol, not just the stuff you like. Wines, Spirits, Beers, and especially cocktails, knowing obscure cocktails can earn you some good tips (like my $20 tip for knowing how to make a proper Rusty Nail)
Bar work can be fun, and once you get your timing down pat, pretty fucking easy to. But its not for all people, you have to be able to take shit from fuckwits, while keeping a smile and chatting nicely with the ladies ;) all in all i enjoyed working in the bar, but now that im out and earning good money in a regular day job, im kinda glad its over, still miss it every now and then.

[Holster]

If you get offened by a cuffs and collar comment bar work is not for you.

you'd be better off switching to part time call center work.