Cocktail bartender to sommelier
A cocktail bartender already meets 31% of what the sommelier role asks for. The move turns on 11 required skills not yet in the profile.
65.2/ 100
1 How much of what a sommelier is expected to do is already part of a cocktail bartender’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the sommelier role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A sommelier role treats 5 of its required skills as things a cocktail bartender already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assist customers
- comply with food safety and hygiene
- maintain customer service
- sparkling wines
- upsell products
What stands in the way is 11 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 5 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A sommelier role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a cocktail bartender background worth leading with.
- already held sparkling wines engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held upsell products communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held assist customers assisting and caring
- already held comply with food safety and hygiene assisting and caring
- already held maintain customer service communication, collaboration and creativity
All 5 carried skills, including the 5 the sommelier role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 12 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn compile wine lists required
- still to learn recommend wines required
- still to learn order supplies required
- still to learn train employees required
- optional, not held apply foreign languages in hospitality optional
- still to learn decant wines required
- still to learn prepare alcoholic beverages required
- still to learn select glassware for serving required
- still to learn serve wines required
- still to learn wine characteristics required
- still to learn check wine quality required
- still to learn organise wine cellar required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a sommelier role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 check wine quality practise this
- 02 compile wine lists practise this
- 03 decant wines practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 5 skills that carry over
- already held assist customers skill
- already held comply with food safety and hygiene skill
- already held maintain customer service skill
- already held sparkling wines knowledge
- already held upsell products skill
1 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held apply foreign languages in hospitality optional
30 held skills the sommelier role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assemble cocktail garnishes skill
- not needed by the target role clear the bar at closing time skill
- not needed by the target role compile drinks menu skill
- not needed by the target role compile drinks price lists skill
- not needed by the target role create decorative food displays skill
- not needed by the target role create new recipes skill
- not needed by the target role devise special promotions skill
- not needed by the target role display spirits skill
- not needed by the target role enforce alcohol drinking laws skill
- not needed by the target role execute opening and closing procedures skill
- not needed by the target role extract juices skill
- not needed by the target role handle bar equipment skill
- not needed by the target role handle gas cylinders skill
- not needed by the target role handle glassware skill
- not needed by the target role handover the service area skill
- not needed by the target role identify customer's needs skill
- not needed by the target role maintain bar cleanliness skill
- not needed by the target role operate dishwashing machine skill
- not needed by the target role prepare fruit ingredients for use in beverages skill
- not needed by the target role prepare mixed beverages skill
- not needed by the target role present decorative drink displays skill
- not needed by the target role present drinks menu skill
- not needed by the target role process payments skill
- not needed by the target role serve beverages skill
- not needed by the target role setup the bar area skill
- not needed by the target role stock the bar skill
- not needed by the target role take food and beverage orders from customers skill
- not needed by the target role think creatively about food and beverages skill
- not needed by the target role types of whisks knowledge
- not needed by the target role work according to recipe skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn wine characteristics required
Common questions about this move
Can a cocktail bartender become a sommelier?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A cocktail bartender already covers 31% of what a sommelier is expected to do: 5 skills carry over, 5 of which the sommelier role treats as required.
What skills does a cocktail bartender need to become a sommelier?
11 required skills are missing, plus 1 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is check wine quality.
How hard is the move from cocktail bartender to sommelier?
Its learning distance is 65.2 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.