Well, I’m currently at University, 18, and 211 lbs. I’m thinking of becoming a bouncer in aobut a years time (I plan to bulk up to about 220-230), as its much better than the part time job I currently have in retail.
Any advice. I may seem too young to be given a job, so I would like input from others on this site, as I guess there must be at least one bouncer/doorman here (they are true t-men, so figures…).
I live in England, so are there any kind of lisences I need, I believe you need a lisence but where can I get one. Where can I get a link for the test (to book a test, I’m guessing its not online, lol). Would it be better to try when I’m older, as I don;t know whats the aminimum ages of becoming a doorman (is it 18 in England or it is more likely for club/bar managers to employ people 21 or over).
These threads pop up every now and again, and most the replies seem to advise against it. I’m not trying to shit on you, but if you are just looking to prove to the world how big and tough you are, look elsewhere. Read some of the stories Bas Rutten has told about being a bouncer/doorman. The money isn’t that good. You can make a lot more money elsewhere with less risk. Hell, be a bartender. They make more money than the bouncer and you will get to talk to hot chicks all night rather stand by yourself at the door and wait for some giant drunk ass to try and murder you.
Just imagine telling the guy in my avatar he’s had enough and he has to go home now.
I had a friend who was a bouncer at a fairly popular bar around here (LSU-Geaux Tigers! WOooooooO!). I don’t wanna say it was an upscale joint or anything, it’s a bar. But it’s a fairly nice bar by any standard.
He still spent most of the time after the bar closed cleaning up nasty shit. I was amazed at some of the shit he had to clean up.
tis true man,not a glamour job,and these days people are just as likely to go get a gun and shoot you for not letting them in!work IN the bar,youll meet heaps more women.
[quote]2lb Monkey wrote:
Well, I’m currently at University, 18, and 211 lbs. I’m thinking of becoming a bouncer in aobut a years time (I plan to bulk up to about 220-230), as its much better than the part time job I currently have in retail.
Any advice. I may seem too young to be given a job, so I would like input from others on this site, as I guess there must be at least one bouncer/doorman here (they are true t-men, so figures…).
I live in England, so are there any kind of lisences I need, I believe you need a lisence but where can I get one. Where can I get a link for the test (to book a test, I’m guessing its not online, lol). Would it be better to try when I’m older, as I don;t know whats the aminimum ages of becoming a doorman (is it 18 in England or it is more likely for club/bar managers to employ people 21 or over).
Thanks for any input.
Monkey.[/quote]
I am a bouncer.Yes,this job is usually not paid well if you consider its a night shift,risk and stress included.
But it depends what kind of person you are.
I like to fight,to hit people and I am more of a night person than an early riser.I also like a challenge of dealing with bad-asses.
You are better of if you do make that 211 lb. of yours into more athletic package than bulking up.
If you bounce all night every night as I do 7 months in a year,you dont want 250 lb. of your own bodyweight dragg around and stand all night.
I would choose bouncing over better paid desk job or manual work any day.
People who make problems for the bouncers are predators thhat spot every little fear you have.You got to hhave confidence and authority or you will fight all night every night.
As for ladies,you can get a fair share ha ha ha ha !!!
[quote]2lb Monkey wrote:
Well, I’m currently at University, 18, and 211 lbs. I’m thinking of becoming a bouncer in aobut a years time (I plan to bulk up to about 220-230), as its much better than the part time job I currently have in retail.
Any advice. I may seem too young to be given a job, so I would like input from others on this site, as I guess there must be at least one bouncer/doorman here (they are true t-men, so figures…).
I live in England, so are there any kind of lisences I need, I believe you need a lisence but where can I get one. Where can I get a link for the test (to book a test, I’m guessing its not online, lol). Would it be better to try when I’m older, as I don;t know whats the aminimum ages of becoming a doorman (is it 18 in England or it is more likely for club/bar managers to employ people 21 or over).
Thanks for any input.
Monkey.[/quote]
Without knowing whereabouts in England you are I can’t tell you where to go for the training, but the SIA door supervisor licence fee is currently £245 for three years. The training course (usually over 4 days) costs somewhere around £140. You can get more information from the SIA website : http://www.the-sia.org.uk/home/licensing/door_supervision/
As for age, you only need to be 18 to get a licence but I’d recommend that you talk to someone in the industry in your area to see what kind of people the companies there tend to hire. Also, try talking to someone at your student union bar/club, most of the people I knew who did this while at uni got started working the uni bars.
I can’t argue with the above points. I worked a large club off and on for about 4 years. It is a dirty gritty job, full of blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids more than just tears. It was love/hate. I prided myself on the blue collar attitude, and enjoyed doing what most others don’t want to do. I had a lot of fun. It helped build character. I learned a lot. I wouldn’t do it again.
Get yourself the book ‘The Bouncer’s Bible’ by Doc Holiday. You probally can’t find it at stores, he has a website.
My philosphy when working was if I asked somebody to leave and they thanked me on the way out, I did my job. In otherwords, be nice, it is best to avoid fights. Like it was mentioned above, you never know who has a weapon. You never know if you will run into these guys outside of work. You never know who is looking for a law suit. It is just a job, you are working for somebody else. It is not ‘your club, your door’, it is not personal. If you do choose to do this, take your job seriously, but not yourself.
[quote]bulldogmedic wrote:
I can’t argue with the above points. I worked a large club off and on for about 4 years. It is a dirty gritty job, full of blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids more than just tears. It was love/hate. I prided myself on the blue collar attitude, and enjoyed doing what most others don’t want to do. I had a lot of fun. It helped build character. I learned a lot. I wouldn’t do it again.
Get yourself the book ‘The Bouncer’s Bible’ by Doc Holiday. You probally can’t find it at stores, he has a website.
My philosphy when working was if I asked somebody to leave and they thanked me on the way out, I did my job. In otherwords, be nice, it is best to avoid fights. Like it was mentioned above, you never know who has a weapon. You never know if you will run into these guys outside of work. You never know who is looking for a law suit. It is just a job, you are working for somebody else. It is not ‘your club, your door’, it is not personal. If you do choose to do this, take your job seriously, but not yourself.
[/quote]
Whenever I worked I was the most brutal and aggressive bouncer.The stuff at clubs I worked in always respected me to that point that when I came from the door inside to sort something out,that guests would sense that and behave very politely.
People can sense by instincts if you are trying to avoid fight and provoke you more.If you take no shit and carrry that attitude people will respect you and obey you.
As a bouncer you dont deal with nice people …you deal with drunk/drugged ass-holes who saw bouncers are here but choose to make problems anyway.
If you keep an eye on them,usually they do more and more trouble.You need to get that element out of your club.
So you escort them out.If they dont want to go,you throw them out.If they resist,I slap them and beat them up.
Its simple job and I love to do it.
Although I was the most brutal bouncer,I was one other bouncers looked upon.
I was offered a job in Spain next spring as a assistent of security boss in a big disco for 6 months contract.
I got to that point by throwing out hundreds of idiots,beating up dozens and being involved in a few big-group fights.
I am a doorman at a club. I don’t consider it dangerous at all. There is maybe one true fight a night, and you have 5 other bouncers helping you as soon as it happens. One time a guy got pissed off and brought a big pipe back to the club to take on the bouncers. He couldn’t attack all of us, and the cops were there in no time.
It’s also a fun job, because especially if you work at a university crowd bar like I do, you meet a lot of people. That is the main reason I work there. All the best parties happen after the club closes, and you go out with all the hot bartender girls.
My dad and step dad were both bouncers for years. It was my dad’s only source of income and my step dad used it to help with what his electrical work didnt get. You won’t make a lot of money and it is a dangerous job. Both of ‘em were bouncin’ clubs in the hood and there’d be massive brawls and shootings constantly. Lots of drunk people tryin’ to fight to. It’s fun for a while they say, but it gets old real quick.
You’ll make more money at another job, but if you want to be a bouncer, just pick an establishment with a good reputation.
A buddy of mine was a bouncer through college and he enjoyed it. Free concerts, female attention and even the occassional fights with super drunk patrons. He worked at a bar/comedy club that was clean, attracted “normal” people and didn’t experience any problems to speak of.
Just don’t get a job at some trashy club in the ghetto.
Last Sunday, in a club in Lower Austria, a bouncer denied three guys access to the club he was working at. One of the guys pulled a gun and fired 11 shots at him, 6 of them hit. As far as I know, the injuries are not life threatening.
I’m not trying to talk you out of it, just be aware that there is a certain risk. Being big alone won’t necessarily reduce this risk. Things like this may happen very rarely, at least in Austria, but I doubt that is much solace to the guy in question.
On the other hand, when I was going to college, I did a few irregular assignments as a bouncer and it was pretty fun, no really dangerous situations and the pay wasn’t bad either. It makes for some nice memories, there would have been more reasonable job options, though…
It all depends on what type of club your looking to work at. I worked as a doorman (not bouncer) througout college and usually enjoyed it. The pay is not good but there are other benefits which I’m sure you know about. The clubs that I worked at on the Northside in Chicago back in the 80s were not looking for huge dudes who wanted to brawl, but guys who fit in with the crowd and knew how to handle themselves appropriately.
Having said that, I was involved in some altercations and had to go to court for some of them, but that wasn’t the norm. As far as the other stuff, I could write a book about the extraciricular activity I engaged in with the women I met. You meet all types and I even met my wife in a club that I worked at (she was going to college in Chicago as well).
Another thing about working as a doorman (or bouncer) is that you usually have the inside track to becoming a bartender if you work there a while and are well-liked and well-regarded by the managment staff. As you probably already know being a bartender usually pays better than being a doorman, epsecially once you start getting the good shifts.
Once I started to bartend and make some money, I actually paid my tuition in 20s, 50s and 100s (back then you had to actually physically sign up for classes and pay the tuition after signing up). As I said, I enjoyed the experience but there are pitfalls. One thing that I noticed was that some of the guys who were going to school with me quit when they started making some good money as a bartender or a couple even went on to manage some clubs.
Know what your goals are and don’t get caught up in the lifestyle. If you plan to get a degree, do it and don’t make excuse like “I’m sitting out this semester” or some other bullshit.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Watch Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze.[/quote]
Seen it lol.
I don’t want the bouncer lifestyle for the fighting, which I know anyway is about 0.5% of the job. I want it because its better than a job in retail, and that I would meet some interesting people. and would be fun I’m based in Cambridge, so its not exactly the ghetto, and I’ve never seen a fight break out in any of the clubs here yet. The hours would fit pretty well into my schedule too.
My parents have actually said yes to the idea, so I may do it part time in my second/third year, after I get the money for the lisence.
And about bulking up. Do excse me. I don’t want to be a lard bag, who can’t run after someone who punches them, I want to try and keep about 210/220 being pretty lean. I’m 15.8% bf (calipers) and 211lb, so I’ve got a way yet. I never want to be a fat doorman. I don’t want to be fat anyway.
The real question I’m asking is if employers don’t want to employ an 18/19 year old as they’d see them as too young, or does that not really matter if everything else is ok. Someone mentioned being a bouncer at college, how old were you when you did that?