Learning Environment:
I found the learning experience to be overall great. I met excellent people in class and learned the basics on how to create drinks. I was surprised in the sense that remembering all of those drink and procedures was more challenging than I thought it would be, but it was fun.
Bar Night:
However upon graduating, I saw nothing but disappointment with job placement. I went to "bar night" to practice my skills. One of the directors, Troy Minor, runs "bar night" which enables you to practice bartending in a real bar in the Bronx. You don't get to keep the tips but you get the experience. He came 45 minutes late to the event and then waited an additional 15 minutes to get started. Not only that, I waited 3 hours to get behind the bar and by that time people were already starting to go home, so I got close to no experience.
Unprofessional Resume Review:
Troy called me the next day to say that I did an excellent job and that he wanted to look over my resume. I thought it was a great idea to have the director look over my resume before getting it approved by job placement. When I get there he puts my resume to the side and says "I am going to look at your resume, but what I really wanted to talk about was something else.".
Ambit Energy:
What was it that good old Troy wanted to talk to me about you ask? He wanted me to join some pyramid network marketing scheme for the Ambit Energy company, NOTHING to do with bartending!! He even went as far as to say as a bartender, you are not a real employee and you are limited to the amount of money that you can make. Yes I already know this, but its a bartending school, not an energy company. Why would you say this IN a bartending school after I paid $600? Troy showed me video after video after video trying to promote Ambit Energy, because if I join then he makes money, and if i get other people to join then he too makes money off of my people. If any manager or employee at ABS reads my review feel free to leave an email address if you don't believe me. I have tons of emails from the guy to prove that this is true. Instead of going over my resume, it turned into a 2 hour meeting about why i should join Ambit Energy, ending with him requesting me to sign a form asking for my credit card information to pay $400 to join Ambit along with my social security number. Seriously? FIRE THIS GUY!!!
Incorrect Fax Number:
Upon graduating I received a packet telling me how to go about job placement. One of the first steps is creating a resume and faxing it to a number to get it approved. Well I never got a call back to discuss my resume. After calling headquarters, I found out that the number was wrong on the packet.
Nonexistant Job Placement:
I called job placement again early this month to get the correct number to fax my resume to. On Nov 12, nearly 2 weeks of not receiving a phone call regarding my resume, I called to ask what the heck is going on. They told me that job placement personnel have gone home for the day but they will contact me on Nov 15th. "Surprisingly" enough I never received a phone call from job placement. I called today to ask what happened and now they're excuse that on Nov 15th job placement employees got sick and now today they are out sick. They claim I will get a call back tomorrow.
Creating an Account online:
While I wait for what seems like an eternity for job placement to call me back, the woman on the phone told me to create an account online so I can get instant access to job leads in the meantime. She said creating an account online is simple in an effort to rush me off the phone. Well I did all the necessary steps and now I get saying "You are not eligible for an Authentic Bartending School account".
Don't waste your time and money at this school.
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