Sommelier to head sommelier
A sommelier already meets 59% of what the head sommelier role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
44.4/ 100
1 How much of what a head sommelier is expected to do is already part of a sommelier’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 head sommelier role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A head sommelier role treats 15 of its required skills as things a sommelier already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assist customers
- check wine quality
- compile wine lists
- comply with food safety and hygiene
- maintain customer service
- order supplies
What stands in the way is 10 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 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A head sommelier role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a sommelier background worth leading with.
- already held check wine quality information skills
- already held select glassware for serving assisting and caring
- already held recommend wines communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held compile wine lists communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held prepare alcoholic beverages assisting and caring
- already held wine characteristics engineering, manufacturing and construction
All 16 carried skills, including the 15 the head sommelier role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 12 missing skills fall into 6 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 manage medium term objectives required
- still to learn manage stock rotation required
- still to learn plan shifts of employees required
- still to learn recruit employees required
- still to learn procure hospitality products required
- still to learn coach employees required
- still to learn wine related sciences required
- still to learn types of wine required
- still to learn ensure maintenance of kitchen equipment required
- still to learn monitor work for special events required
- optional, not held prepare tableware optional
- optional, not held handle surveillance equipment optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a head sommelier role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 procure hospitality products practise this
- 02 wine related sciences study this
- 03 coach employees 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 16 skills that carry over
- already held assist customers skill
- already held check wine quality skill
- already held compile wine lists skill
- already held comply with food safety and hygiene skill
- already held maintain customer service skill
- already held order supplies skill
- already held organise wine cellar skill
- already held prepare alcoholic beverages skill
- already held recommend wines skill
- already held select glassware for serving skill
- already held serve wines skill
- already held sparkling wines knowledge
- already held train employees skill
- already held upsell products skill
- already held wine characteristics knowledge
- already held apply foreign languages in hospitality skill
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held prepare tableware optional
- optional, not held handle surveillance equipment optional
1 held skills the head sommelier role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role decant wines skill
2 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 related sciences required
- still to learn types of wine required
Common questions about this move
Can a sommelier become a head sommelier?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A sommelier already covers 59% of what a head sommelier is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 15 of which the head sommelier role treats as required.
What skills does a sommelier need to become a head sommelier?
10 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is procure hospitality products.
How hard is the move from sommelier to head sommelier?
Its learning distance is 44.4 out of 100, which is the moderate 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.