r/Glasgow Tools

Bar tending here is different to most other countries and probably in Canada too. It’s not great pay and you will not get much in tips. Bar staff tend to be younger and it’s not seen as a long term career like in other countries, hence the pay is lower.

It is not customary to tip for drinks here, unless it is Christmas or New Year. At best you might get a friendly regular telling you to ‘take one for yourself’ which means take a couple of quid out of the change.

A bar that just sells drinks is a pub. Bars and restaurants that serve food (waiter service) will take on bartenders and might want more experience than a pub - knowledge of cocktails and wine etc. You would tend to get better tips in these places, as it is more common to tip after a meal, and most places pool tips with the bar staff, waiting and kitchen staff. As standard, we don’t leave as large a percentage as Canada and the USA, and some folk just don’t tip at all.

Waiting staff will be paid about the same as bar staff, but tips will be much better in somewhere that serves food than somewhere that just does drinks. You could double or triple your wages on a good night in a nice restaurant.

Having said that, I worked in pubs for years and made lifelong friends. It is the quickest way to meet people when you move to a new city.

Glasgow is full of pubs and bars, some chains and some independent. Avoid working for anywhere called Wetherspoons. There’s a concentration of independent places in Finnieston, Merchant City, West End and the Southside. Probably easier to try and work closer to where you will live so you don’t spend wage money on travel home late at night.

It’s unlikely you could get a job before you arrive, so the easiest way would be to try a few places as a customer when you arrive. Chat to the staff and let them know you’re looking for work - it’s not a big city and lots of folk working in bars will have worked in a few of them, so will know who might be hiring.