Don't get your hopes up! You might be working as a bartender or hostess in a local pub near your home and think you have what it takes. Maybe you do, but its not as easy to get a casino job in Las Vegas as you might think.

But...I heard it was easy!

The casinos are booming and they are always looking for new faces to take on new roles. One problem I've seen so far for newcomers is that many casino employees have worked in the same position for more than five years. They really do love their jobs and they make a considerable amount of money.

Another problem is that of qualifications. As I said, you might be a good bartender, but the bartenders I spoke with say that it is very different from working in a regular bar. It requires experience in a high-volume environment as well as the ability to manage the gaming positions that surround most of the bars. Of course, some places like Bally's and the Imperial Palace will sometimes take on entry-level people. But, that only happens when they need new people to fill an immediate need.

Finally, Nevada and Las Vegas have set up some stringent requirements surrounding work in the gaming industry. You not only have to be qualified, but you also have to get your work cards. Work cards are special IDs that tell employers and the various commissions that you are able to work in the Las Vegas gaming industry. You have to go through interviews as well as a set of classes to familiarize yourself with the commissions' expectations.

Reading, Writing, and Rum & Coke

To be qualified for most casinos, you have to have some amount of experience in the hospitality industry. This means high-volume hospitality environments, not a mom-and-pop restaurant that dishes out a few drinks here and there. We're talking thousands of customers per shift. If not, your best bet is to take a class in bartending or dealing when you get here. Don't bother taking a bartending class before you head out as Las Vegas bartending requires a unique set of skills for serving the clientele. Some of the places I found while scouring the streets are:

• ABC Bartending
• PCI Dealers School
• Las Vegas School of Dealing
• Dealers Training Center

These schools say that they will teach you "Las Vegas Style Bartending" in a week or two and they will provide a qualification class to help you obtain your Alcohol Awareness Card. Of course, prepare yourself to have to put out the money up front and find a place to stay while going to class and job hunting. However, most of the schools in the area provide placement counseling to help you find a job when you graduate.

The Chicken or the Egg?

The work cards are the most important part of the entire process. If you've applied at any casinos so far, you probably heard "we'll call you in two weeks." Actually, some human resource personnel told me that this is a sweet way of saying "since you have no work cards, you're useless, and we're tossing your application in the garbage." Get your cards before you apply. But, here's a twist: you have to be sponsored by a gaming establishment to get a gaming card.

Somehow, somewhere, you have to weasel yourself into a situation such that a gaming establishment will hire you and sponsor you. But, if you don't have the cards, how can you get hired to obtain a sponsor? The best way to work around this is to go to one of the off-Strip video-poker bars and see if they will work with you. In some cases, you can finagle some obscure job for a while so you can get your sponsorship. In other cases, good networking helps to move you forward and get a sponsor. Here is the secret: one of the most impressive and amazing things about Las Vegas is that people are usually open to helping you if you ask.