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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on September 19, 2010 at 9:39pm

There is only a "benefit" to certification if your place of employment values it and grants you some sort of premium because of it. Otherwise, certification is relatively hollow.

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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on September 19, 2010 at 10:21pm

While "certification" in and of itself may be hollow, the benefits to you would be in the doing and learning. Knowledge and skill, where ever learned, is of value.

Would/could also show a prospective employer you have intiative in honing your craft.

Here is what is currently developed for the Barista Guild cert' track.

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Permalink Reply by Jacob Casella on September 20, 2010 at 5:23am

If you're interested in taking any of these classes for their own sake, you might want to look into the certification while you're at it. I'm hoping that in the future, if these certifications get a good reputation, they will help create a class of career baristas. Right now if someone applies for a job at my store and they say "I'm a barista", I say, "great..." but it doesn't necessarily mean anything relevant. If we get enough baristas certified, we'll have this pool of people who employers know are really passionate about coffee, spent the money & time, passed at least basic tests of espresso preparation. Hopefully more coffee-shop owners will be willing to pay at least a little more to someone like that--they're more of a sure bet, might not need the same level of resource-investment as far as training goes, and are more likely to bring in more business with passionate attitude and well-prepared drinks. That's what I'm hoping will eventually happen with the certification, anyway. In the mean-time they are a nice motivation to go take a bunch of classes with awesome people, if you're not getting that level of training where you work.

I really hope the SCAA, BGA & others figure out how to fold some other schools/classes/trainers into fulfilling the pre-reqs: there are a lot of them out there, and the certification is both quite expensive (for baristas) and hard to get to.

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Permalink Reply by Jamie Rice on September 20, 2010 at 5:31am

Awesome feedback!! I'm attending the BGA's Camp Pull-A-Shot in October and they offer certification levels 1 & 2. I'm looking forward to it, I think it's going to be a lot of fun!!

Jacob Casella said:

If you're interested in taking any of these classes for their own sake, you might want to look into the certification while you're at it. I'm hoping that in the future, if these certifications get a good reputation, they will help create a class of career baristas. Right now if someone applies for a job at my store and they say "I'm a barista", I say, "great..." but it doesn't necessarily mean anything relevant. If we get enough baristas certified, we'll have this pool of people who employers know are really passionate about coffee, spent the money & time, passed at least basic tests of espresso preparation. Hopefully more coffee-shop owners will be willing to pay at least a little more to someone like that--they're more of a sure bet, might not need the same level of resource-investment as far as training goes, and are more likely to bring in more business with passionate attitude and well-prepared drinks. That's what I'm hoping will eventually happen with the certification, anyway. In the mean-time they are a nice motivation to go take a bunch of classes with awesome people, if you're not getting that level of training where you work. I really hope the SCAA, BGA & others figure out how to fold some other schools/classes/trainers into fulfilling the pre-reqs: there are a lot of them out there, and the certification is both quite expensive (for baristas) and hard to get to.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on September 20, 2010 at 5:43am

Perhaps I should delve a little further. Currently, certifications are hollow. While the BGA's certification program is ambitious, it lacks a track record of producing a certain level of barista.

As an owner/operator, barista "certifications" may have some value to me and my company if it is a "guarantee" of a particular and known skill-set. If a BGA Level 2 Certified Barista consistently meets a certain standard, then the reputation and credibility of the certification is enhanced. This is a discussion I've had with members of the BGA Exec Council - develop the program for consistent and predictable results. Lessen my training expenses and the certification is a valuable commodity. Deliver baristas with inconsistent results and the certification is worthless to me.

However, the others are right. If you're looking for your own personal development, then taking the certification classes can be a good thing. I got my start in espresso by taking an espresso course at NASCORE 2003.

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