Hey everyone, I (32m) have been living in Brooklyn for a month at this point. I moved in with a couple friends who are giving me a temporary landing pad to get my shit together. While I am looking to join the film unions in September and that will be an amazing opportunity to get work out here, I need something in the meantime.

I came from Massachusetts and during the strikes I was relying on bartending to support myself. Even though I got all of my certifications here, it seems my lack of NY bartending experience is holding me back from getting jobs? What is that? I have been to so many bars here that don’t touch the volume I had at my last bar. I have been going in person every week to about 50 bars in total (from Bushwick to Hells Kitchen) to maintain a relationship and pass on a paper resume. Yes my experience isn’t extensive, but I have a cocktail list a mile long that I can make off the top of my head. Also in my main industry, I have to spin so many more plates than my bar life. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I just don’t find bartending to be as hard as they are making it out to be. I feel like my overall professional experience shows that I have a lot of management and customer service positions. I know you can’t just trust that someone can do the job without knowing them, but I have made friends with so many of the bartenders out here. Even with them pushing for me, it seems like the bar managers looking for bar backs aren’t even considering me. Am I doing something wrong? Also I’m aware it hasn’t been a long time here. But I have really been papering the town hard and it’s a little discouraging to say the least.