With more and more states legalizing marijuana, the pot industry is a source of new jobs. If you’re wondering how to get a job in the weed industry, consider becoming a budtender.

What is a Budtender?

A budtender is a term for the retail face of a dispensary: a front-of-house sales professional – with the emphasis on professional.

Budtending is NOT a job for stoners. In fact, the booming marijuana industry is, in general, doing its best to do away with the slacker/stoner image.

Yes, a budtender is part bartender, serving up customers’ favorite blends; but there’s a lot more to the job than selling indica, sativa or hybrid strains. The job includes educating customers on the various cannabis products, in some cases assisting and guiding customers in using cannabis products for medical needs, offering product recommendations, and providing expert advice on dosage and product safety.

A budtender needs to have a high level of product knowledge to be able to assist customers in making the right choices for them. A budtender needs to be friendly, organized, responsible, and able to perform any medical marijuana-related tasks like data entry of patient profiles.

Budtending is a way to learn about the cannabis industry and get some great sales and customer service experience. People skills are a must, and individuals who are good at sales will excel and move up quickly. Dispensaries are actively looking for knowledgeable individuals who can sell large quantities of grams, CBD oils, edibles, and paraphernalia!

Many dispensaries start new budtenders at between $11 and $14 per hour, but some also offer bonuses or commissions, so you can make quite a nice living as a legal pot salesperson!

Are you qualified to be a budtender – and what can you do to get the job?

Be enthusiastic about what you’re selling.

Be friendly, and dedicated to a good customer experience.

Know your products. You will need to be able to answer all customer questions with authority – about various flowers, strains, hybrids, edibles, oils, etc. Educate yourself on medical uses for cannabis, and if possible, obtain a budtender certificate online. While the dispensary will offer some training, you need to know the basics before you interview.

Look and act professional. Tie-dyed, red-eyed, dreadlocked stoner types are not what the industry is looking for. This is a multi-billion dollar business and people who look and act professional are much more likely to get the job!

You must have a clean criminal record. Dispensaries, just like any other business, are looking for trustworthy people.

Obviously, becoming a budtender is only an option in states that have legalized marijuana for medical and/or recreational use. In other states, budtenders are just drug dealers.

If you want to be part of this booming industry, sharpen your knowledge about cannabis, and become a budtender!