What To Know Before Becoming a Budtender

If you’re applying for cannabis dispensary jobs, you probably have many questions about a budtender’s job description and salary expectations. What qualifications do you need to be a budtender? What are the best online budtender training courses?

Below, we’ll give you an introduction to the most common cannabis industry careers.

What Is a Budtender?

A budtender is a retail associate who works in a cannabis dispensary. It’s wordplay on the term “bartender,” but since public consumption is illegal in all states, budtender jobs are less like working at a bar and more like working at a high-end liquor store.

Budtender Qualifications and Requirements

If you’re trying to figure out how to become a budtender with no experience, the good news is that it’s entirely possible to do so. As long as you meet your jurisdiction’s requirements and have some basic qualifications, you can get hired pretty easily at the entry level.

Budtender Requirements

To become a budtender, you must:

• Meet your jurisdiction’s minimum age requirement
• Be able to pass a fingerprint-based background check (in most states)
• Be willing to complete budtender training

Budtender Qualifications

What are dispensary jobs looking for when they hire a budtender? Primarily, that you’re legally qualified to hold the position. In some states, this means earning a budtender license or permit before being hired, while in other states, they’re just checking your age and background for any red flags.

In terms of your resume, you’ll get extra points for having qualifications like:

• Retail experience in some other industry. Your sales and customer service experience will be an asset in your new job.
• Alcohol or tobacco seller/server experience. Your ability to spot fake IDs, prevent illegal sales, work with age-restricted products, and refuse sales to intoxicated persons is good practice for following similar (but often much more heavily enforced) cannabis industry regulations.
• Firsthand experience with legal cannabis products. Part of your job will be advising customers on the product that meets their needs, so it’s a plus to start with a personal familiarity.

Budtender Job Description

When applying for budtender jobs, knowing your future duties can help you make the case that you’re a good hire.

So, what does a budtender do?

• Learning customers’ needs and preferences, and then recommending relevant products
• Answering questions about different strains and product types
• Knowing the medicinal uses of cannabis but refraining from giving medical advice
• Be able to explain the different methods of consumption and their pros and cons
• Keeping the manager apprised of any problems or compliance concerns
• Performing opening duties to ensure the dispensary is ready for business
• Taking turns at reception to verify IDs and check customers in
• Fulfilling in-person or online orders accurately, efficiently, and in legal compliance
• Correctly using the dispensary’s point-of-sale (POS) system
• Completing all-cash sales accurately
• Inventorying products and reconciling the real count with the official records
• Performing closing duties, including the counting and securing of cash
• Following all applicable cannabis laws and regulations

Pros And Cons of Being A Budtender

Like anything, budtender jobs have their ups and downs. Here are some of the common answers from experienced budtenders on the pros and cons of dispensary jobs.

Upsides of Budtending Jobs

The pros of budtender jobs include:

• Easy Entry. Dispensary jobs are easy to get as long as you have a clean record.
• Industry Potential. The cannabis industry is still young, with a lot of opportunity. Budtender jobs are often the entry point for more lucrative cannabis industry careers.
• Helping People. Many cannabis customers use the products to enhance their health or well-being, which can make dispensary jobs very rewarding to many.
• Like-Minded Community. Cannabis culture is a phenomenon all its own, and many people enjoy working with others, both customers and colleagues, who have similar interests and mindsets.
• Free Products. Since part of a budtender’s job is to know the products, many dispensaries give dispensary personnel a certain allowance of samples for learning purposes. That can be great if you’re an enthusiast.

Downsides of Budtending Jobs

The common downsides of budtender jobs are:

• (Usually) No Benefits. Most dispensaries don’t provide health insurance, 401k matching, paid time off, or anything similar. Be on the lookout for unicorn dispensaries that do.
• “The Public.” As anyone in a customer service job knows, some people can be difficult, to say the least. Cannabis has its share of problem customers.
• Corporatization. Once upon a time, dispensaries were small, privately-owned businesses, but that’s becoming rarer and rarer. Some budtenders report worsening work conditions and more emphasis on profit, so look for a dispensary that is good to its employees.
• High Turnover. This is often cited as one of the side effects of corporatization, but it’s also a fact of life in most customer service jobs. Even if you aren’t turned over, high turnover among your colleagues can make things uncertain and stressful.
• Legality and Liability. The legal status of cannabis feels more legitimized as state laws change all over the country, but for the moment, it is still federally illegal.  Allowing the sale of cannabis is a policy decision for whoever’s in the White House.
• Stigma. Although it’s a (fairly) legitimate industry these days, many other industries still look down on cannabis. Having budtender jobs on your resume could be a liability if you want to get hired somewhere else.

How Much Do Budtenders Make?

We haven’t mentioned pay yet because it can be a pro or a con, depending on your jurisdiction, employer, and store location.

Budtending was more lucrative in the early days, but its popularity among young workers has made it possible for dispensaries to hire staff for less. It’s more common now for some dispensaries to pay minimum wage.

The good news is that budtender pay is still above minimum wage in many places, especially since you can also earn tips. According to Salary.com, most budtenders now earn between $14 and $19 an hour, with a nationwide median hourly pay of $16.

While it’s notoriously difficult to get reliable and accurate estimates of tipped earnings, budtenders report at least $5-6 extra dollars an hour from tips, while others say it’s possible to double your official hourly pay.

Plus, unlike some other customer service or tipped work, it’s still fairly common among dispensary jobs to have the option of full-time hours.

All of this can add up to budtender jobs paying much better than regular retail.

Get the Best Budtender Training Courses Online

Budtender training is a legal requirement in many states and an employer preference in nearly all cases. As a heavily regulated (and federally precarious) industry, business owners and managers want to make sure that employees know how to comply with the law. Budtender training is often regulated and state-specific, so you must confirm the standards and accepted providers where you are.

Our cannabis handler courses are ANAB-accredited and state-approved in many jurisdictions, including Colorado. We’ll help you understand the laws and regulations you’ll need to follow, the compliance challenges you’ll face, and the best practices for staying on the right side of the law.

Enroll today!