I'm sure this sounds like every beer lover's dream, but why not? I'm currently on my 4th month of unemployment and I'm struggling to find a company that will take me with the little experience I have on my resume. At 25, a lot of kids are in my position, where they've been out of college for 2-3 years now and the most they have going for them is a crappy retail job at $10-$12/hr., stuck at home with their parents. But as I looked forlornly into my beer the other night, I thought occurred to me; why couldn't I work with something I love doing? Drinking Beer! I'll be straight, I got the idea from the movie Drinking Buddies. Olivia Wilde's character seems to be the marketing manager of the brewery she works at, and that's sort of what my field is, so I thought, 'Why can't I do that?' I moved to NH also 4 months ago, and the one thing about New England, micro breweries are popping up EVERYWHERE. Within a half hour driving distance in any direction from where I live, there's at least 8 breweries to pick from. Is this a feasible idea? How do I go about it? I've tried looking up the breweries corporate websites online, but they don't lost any sort of employment opportunities, which is understandable considering you probably need max. 10 people for these breweries. But for all of those potential NH brewery employees (or any brewery for that matter), how do I go about this? In this digital age, they've beaten into us about applying online through all these third party websites like LinkedIn and Indeed and whatever hiring site the company has. Do I go old school? Pound pavement and walk in with my resume and say, "Hey! I love your beer! I'd love to try and market it!"? Any and all input would be greatly appreciated. TL;DR how does one go about applying to work for a brewery on the sales and marketing side, I'm looking at NH breweries for employment.
Good post, I'll chime in as I know the job market is a bitch right now. So I currently live here in Portsmouth NH and work for an IT company as the Recruiting Manager Previous to that I did work with Boston Beer Co (Sam) in the corporate office in Boston specifically hiring for the sales team. One of the best bets for you to look into (if you are not a well educated or experienced brewer) is Sales. I used to hire for the sales team nationwide for the company. The Sam sales reps are pretty much KEY and vital to the success of the company. Jim did not win over the country and craft beer market with gimmicky marketing and commercials. He did it all creating a hard working, well oiled machine of a sales force and that continues to today. They work very hard to maintain relationships with bars, stores and the distributor (on and off premise) Your distributor is your best friend in that scenario and are also your eyes and ears to success and accounts. Piss them off and its tough, collaborate well and you can have a very successful career. As a disclaimer this is all VERY different compared to a smaller brewery. (I for one unless I was and owner or brewer wouldn't work for a small one having a mortgage, child, wife, bills, saving for college education as it probably wouldn't pay a ton) But that is just me. In any even working as a brewery rep for a larger brewery is a great first step for someone in their early 20's looking to make money and push themselves. It's not just all fun and games and drinking. It's organization, competitiveness, ability to push for the sale, take rejection and never take "no" It's a great job for a strong A type personality who is professional and eager. Even the interview process will make this evident and flush that out. But it does get you out to events and in the market. You will get into bars and stores. You will be out at places hosting events and tasting. You need to be in the accounts pushing tap handles, winning tap handles, breaking into new accounts, putting up POS. (Tap wars is a real thing and just because you make some "juicy IPA" does not mean you'll get the spot) It's a great way to meet people your age while also forge strong business relationships and a career. I highly encourage you to apply if you see an opening or even to the nationwide openings if you see one. I loved meeting all of the people we would hire and the perks are amazing. It's really suited for your age group as it has you out at night, does not pay a ton, and in general someone who has been in sales would see it as a step back for sure. I would questions why someone in their 30's who has been in sales for 10 years would apply for an entry level sales role. Just because its a brewery doesn't mean you should take a pay cut. They certainly promote from within and generally people start in that role and move around. I'd say start looking there. One thing to keep in mind is longevity, career growth, and brand name. While I love the small breweries and the beers they put out, unless you own or are founder I don't know what the longevity would be as it's a very volatile beer world right now and it could collapse at any time. If you work hard you want to ensure that you are rewarded with advancement opportunities in life so setting that up in the beginning is key. I'm not here to tell anyone what to do, merely to offer insight from someone who has been a part of it. If you ever have any other questions feel free to PM me and even send a resume. I'm always hiring here at our company ha. Good luck and don't stress. You'll find the right path for you, I give you credit for asking on here and exposing yourself. Better then a "where can I get Hill Farmstead Cans of ale in Massachusetts" thread
Don't take this the wrong way but you are a millennial. It sounds like you want a small brewery that is most likely struggling a bit to get by to give you a job that is kind of in your field but have no experience doing. If you want to work in craft beer you should try applying to these breweries for any job available, not the one you think you would be good at and deserve. Once in the door impress them with your work ethic, and ask if its ok if you go above and beyond by managing all their social media twitter, instagram, facebook. If you can prove you can drum up more business for them via attention on social media maybe they will promote you, if not you would need to apply what you have to your resume there and move elsewhere for the job you want.
Yeah, this is really the key. Your biggest hurdle is that small breweries just aren't big enough to be able to hire a person who will only be doing marketing. It's usually done in-house, by the brewers themselves or someone close to them (friend, loved one). When they do need marketing-related pieces that they might not be able to create themselves (such as can labels, a website, or advertisements), they'll hire a freelancer or a marketing firm. It's cost prohibitive to have a single person who gets paid to do only marketing full time.
What are your 8 target breweries? Depending on where they are in their life cycle, some may make better choices than others, and some may have the latitude to accommodate someone with no experience. It's a fine line - if they are trying to get up and running, while it may seem like a feel good story to pick up a new kid with no experience, they have to focus on getting the job done and far more places will be interested in getting things moving rather than training someone.
I really appreciate the feedback. I only mentioned craft breweries because that's what is closest to me and I'd like to promote local, but I'll take almost any job at this point that gives me a livable wage.
As others have pointed out, breweries are often divided by scale. Very small breweries don't have many jobs available, but may grow into needing them. Often they hire people they know, so the best way to get a job with them is to volunteer, hang out at the brewery a lot (without being a jackass), and demonstrate your value while you're at it. Medium to large craft breweries (Sam, Long Trail, Smuttynose, etc.) are the ones with marketing budgets and more staff. Their office jobs usually get posted on sites, but they can be competitive. If you're interested in sales, getting a job in beer retail or at a bar may help you meet the current sales team, managers, or sales people from other breweries who can clue you in on other jobs in the industry that are opening up. Sales people from different companies often socialize, mingle, and gossip. Brewery sales can get you in the door to other opportunities. You may also look into beer distributors, who often have marketing teams (or at least a person) as well..
Like others have said, apply for any/all positions. My brother works at a small craft brewery and he started as a part time brand ambassador doing tastings around the area. He worked hard, never said no to anything they asked, and he was then able to quit his teaching job to do sales and assisting in the brew house. Gotta crawl before you can walk.
Look around the ProBrewer boards to see what breweries are looking for in candidates. http://discussions.probrewer.com/forumdisplay.php?63-Marketing-Sales
If you're reasonably intelligent and personable and OK with long hours, low pay and hard work, many small breweries will want you. You will have to supply your own definition of 'livable wage'. If you have a true interest in the industry, almost any position will be very educational (at the very least, 'what not to do').
While the industry is booming, the open job pool is still pretty small. Most bigger breweries want people with experience and most smaller breweries don't have a lot of staff. It certainly is tough to get into. At Night Shift, we usually higher people first as bartenders. They get to learn about the business, hear what customers like/dislike, and learn about NSB. Then we try to promote from within when we have positions open up. Pretty much our entire staff, started as a bartender and now some are brewers, sales, delivery, marketing, etc. Basically, while sales might be your end goal you will likely need to start at the bottom (not that we view bartenders as the bottom) and work yourself up. If you can't get a job at a brewery, work in the industry for a beer bar, liquor store, distributor, hop/malt supplier, etc. That experience will make your application more appealing to breweries and you can build your network. Best of luck!
Barback! http://www.pointsincase.com/columns/casey-freeman/11-awesome-things-about-being-barback Seriously, though. Assuming you've got no particular qualifications, it's the easiest job to get and a great foot-in-the-door way to get to know everyone in the industry... including brewers and distributors who can connect you with other people.
I would start with a Cicerone certification and get TIPS certified as well http://cicerone.org/?gclid=CKTRnrWj8coCFYpZhgodCpkI5g http://www.tipscertified.com/tips-certification/new-hampshire/ Sales is a great place to beer in the beer industry, especially as a younger person. You should also look at distributors for that as well. That said, if you want a small brewery, take any position and prove your worth from the ground up. Best of luck to you.
