A Cocktail For Success

Muhammad Shafiee bin Abdullah has always wanted to make it big in the food and beverage industry. He recalls: “Since young, I’ve always found bartending and bartenders to be cool and trendy. To me, it wasn’t just about mixing and serving drinks, but also the showmanship of bartenders and the way they showed off their flaring skills to entertain crowds, which intrigued me.”

In 2008, he took his first step towards fulfilling his ambition when he joined the Timbre Group as a bartender. At that time, he had little experience in the trade and relied on picking up bartending skills while on the job.

Shafiee recalls harsh training conditions, competition with better and more experienced bartenders, as well as growing expectations and demands in the job from his managers and customers alike.

In order to meet the sharp learning curve and to better his skills, Shafiee began looking for professional bartending courses to upgrade his qualifications, and perhaps to progress beyond bartending.

He says: “I was inspired by my managers, who were running operations and the entire outlet, by the way they networked and entertained guests and customers to keep them happy and coming back for more. I knew I wanted to progress and to go beyond just being a bartender.”

Formal Qualifications in Bartending

In 2009, Shafiee came to know of the WSQ Bartender Training Programme through good feedback from a friend who had completed the course. He thought that it would be an ideal avenue for him to attain formal qualifications in bartending too while at the same time sharpen the skills he had picked up so far.

During the month-long course, he learnt the proper techniques for preparing flambé drinks, non-alcoholic beverages and other offerings. He also picked up other key skills such as inventory keeping and techniques for interacting with customers.

Shafiee says: “How the course helped me the most was to equip me with a newfound understanding of the workflow in the bar and how to interact with guests and customers. Managing customers was the most important topic in the course. I learnt how valuable it was to address customer complaints and to better understand their needs.”

Moving Up

The newly attained knowledge, coupled with Shafiee’s positive learning attitude, propelled his career growth. Within the same year upon completion of the WSQ Bartender Training Programme, Shafiee was promoted to Bar Captain, and to Bar Supervisor the next year.

Currently, Shafiee is an outlet manager at Timbre@ArtsHouse, where he oversees the outlet’s staff and operations. He thoroughly enjoys his managerial role and as he has received the right training to better himself, Shaifee is now imparting his experiences and knowledge from the WSQ Bartending Training Programme, and training his staff to better their working skills.

The Benefits of Re-Training

Having  gone  through re-training and seeing  the  positive results, Shaifee  is eager for others to follow in his  footsteps, whether it is for breaking into a desired or new industry, or for making greater headway in their careers.

He  says: “My advice is not to give up hope  easily and  to  really work  for  it. Sometimes, it might not seem easy to achieve your dreams but it really depends on how we work things out. You need to find the basic courses that are relevant to helping you carve out a career in what you’re passionate in.

“Look at the courses that the WDA is offering. The programme I had enrolled in really inspired me to achieve more in the F&B industry. I personally feel that no matter what, we need to have the basic skills and learning, in order to move on to more advanced levels, and we should never stop learning and improving.”