cocktail bartendertosommelier
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.
31%
65.2/ 100
1 Share of the sommelier role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the cocktail bartender profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.
Why this move works
A sommelier role treats 5 of its required skills as things a cocktail bartender already does. These are the ones it depends on most.
- 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 would need to learn
The 12 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.
- required, not held compile wine lists required
- required, not held recommend wines required
- required, not held order supplies required
- required, not held train employees required
- optional, not held apply foreign languages in hospitality optional
- required, not held decant wines required
- required, not held prepare alcoholic beverages required
- required, not held select glassware for serving required
- required, not held serve wines required
- required, not held wine characteristics required
- required, not held check wine quality required
- required, not held 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 skill · sector specific
- 02 compile wine lists skill · sector specific
- 03 decant wines skill · sector specific
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.
- required, not held wine characteristics required
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.