Ask for the review nobody will schedule
Most bars do not do thirty-day reviews. Most managers will never proactively tell you how you are doing unless something is wrong.
So ask. At around the four-week mark, in the afternoon window when nobody is busy:
"Can I grab you for five minutes sometime this week? I'd like to know how I'm doing and what I should be working on."
Five minutes, framed around improvement rather than around what you want. This is a normal request and it is unusual enough that it registers.
What to ask in it
- "How am I doing?" Let them answer without filling the silence.
- "What's the main thing I should work on?" One thing. Push for a specific answer if the first one is general.
- "Is there anything I'm doing that's making anyone's job harder?" The question that gets you the information nobody volunteers.
- "What would I need to be doing to pick up more shifts?" Or better shifts, or to move from barback to bar — whichever is the real ask.
- "Anything you'd like me to take on?"