Getting my foot in the door: becoming a barista?
Finished school, I'm living in San Francisco, and I want to work in the coffee industry. I have no professional food industry experience, and it seems all my applications get shot-down (expectantly, right?).
(My work experience - three years as an usher and one year tutoring at schools.)
What are someways to get hired/trained/learn about espresso?
I'm THIS CLOSE to buy a home espresso machine just to practice shots and steaming milk. Huge waste, gah, gah, gah! I already grind from a Virtuoso for my morning pour-over w/ my skillet-roasted beans (my roast has very funky results.)
Thanks for your comments!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on
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Why do you want to work in the coffee industry? Why and what do you like about coffee? What is it about the bean that talks to your soul? Who are you, what kind of person are you? How do you relate to people? What are your passions?
Write a cover letter not just a resume or filling out an application. Hang out at coffeehouses and get to know people. Observe and learn. Don't be a pest but be inquisitive. If your passion is there it will become known then if and when an opening arises you'll be in position as a candidate.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Cheung on
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Why do you want to work in the coffee industry? Why and what do you like about coffee? What is it about the bean that talks to your soul? Who are you, what kind of person are you? How do you relate to people? What are your passions?
Great points! Thanks! I need to answer those methodically for myself.
Don't be a pest but be inquisitive.
I'm very self-conscious about this. There's a certain ambivalence sometimes hanging out in coffee houses--the places I like to visit have TONS of people, and you can just see it in the barista's eyes, they're thinking: it's busy, it's stressful, let me answer this guy's question and be given peace. Even when the crowd is low, they just want a moment to relax. Understandable. Very double-edged.
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Permalink Reply by Southeast Grind on
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I get a lot of applicants that don't have any barista experience applying at my cafe, so know that you are not alone!
Personally, I will consider hiring someone without specialty coffee experience if they have front of house food service experience, so you it might not hurt going that route first. Also, I am more likely to give someone a shot if they are a regular at the cafe. This gives me the opportunity to feel familiar with their communication style and demeanor which are so important in customer service.
I have also had applicants tell me that they are willing to do the training on their own time which can be appealing to an owner because hiring and training is such a huge expense. One applicant was so passionate about wanting to learn that even though I couldn't hire him, I would invite him in to work with me so that I could show him the basics then he had that experience and reference under his belt. I highly suggest that you approach owners that you have a relationship with and find out if you could be their 'intern' if you are serious about being a barista. Don't be offended if they say no though, it's quite the balancing act to run a coffee shop!
Cheers mate,
Kacey
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Permalink Reply by Chelsea Liddy on
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Work at a Starbuck's, they'll hire anyone.
:P
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Permalink Reply by Ighart on
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Chelsea Liddy said:Work at a Starbuck's, they'll hire anyone.
:P
to be frank, i started of learning about coffee and felt in love with it in starbucks, although i don't get to hear much nice things about them, i would say that it is not too bad of a place to start with. Why/? because starbucks has a few things that are quite good compared to other smaller establishment
1. they have coffee and resource manual - which gives u a good basic knowledge about coffee. not to get too stuck up with it though cos coffee industry has gone more sophisticated..much more..than just basics...
2. best place to start learn about customer service, and work place culture - if anything sbux is good at, it is this. many cafe owner/managers fail to realize the culture they build will improve the store;s productivity, efficiency, working environment, etc..and end up with employees unsatisfied and politics in a less than 10 person team..
beware few things though...
1stly is the coffee culture in the sbux u're gona apply, not sure how are things going on at ur side of the planet. make sure they still practice and will teach about coffee..
2nd, make sure they are using 'portal filter' instead of buttons for espresso.
tip- go find some not so busy place store...
that said,
if u have a choice and don't wanna get into $bux,
tips..
employers in the coffee industry likes to see and feel passion, enthusiasm, and ppl taking initiative. because at the end of the day, being a barista, is a lot about self discipline, self directing, self learning..if u're not passionate enough to learn about coffee yourself, no training will ever be enough..
so go work for free, or keep bugging them to teach u something, even if u need to be irritating..let them see how much interest u have and how much u;re willing to give in order to master coffee..
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One applicant was so passionate about wanting to learn that even though I couldn't hire him, I would invite him in to work with me so that I could show him the basics then he had that experience and reference under his belt. I highly suggest that you approach owners that you have a relationship with
This is really helpful, thanks for the encouraging words. I applied to a cafe today. gahh. luck, please!
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Thanks for the advice David, is it about making first/second/7th/15th impression? To show and not tell -- but, how?
so go work for free, or keep bugging them to teach u something
YES. I think I needed this.
I'll let you guys know in a couple of weeks. I did apply for a random cafe yesterday. Random. Rolling the dice.
As for sbux, I did apply there, but no reply. (try again?!)
On a side note, when you guys decided to become baristas, was it a dramatic YES, or more like a Yeaaahhhh, this is what I like to be doing. What were other areas as a profession did you guys feel like you could have gone into? For me, my goals in the next ten years: be a barista, a writer, an artist, grow at least 50% of the veggies I eat. (I currently working at a high school as a writing tutor...but but def. not planning to go into education.)
on and on,
Richard
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Richard Cheung said:Thanks for the advice David, is it about making first/second/7th/15th impression? To show and not tell -- but, how?
so go work for free, or keep bugging them to teach u something
YES. I think I needed this.
I'll let you guys know in a couple of weeks. I did apply for a random cafe yesterday. Random. Rolling the dice.
As for sbux, I did apply there, but no reply. (try again?!)
On a side note, when you guys decided to become baristas, was it a dramatic YES, or more like a Yeaaahhhh, this is what I like to be doing. What were other areas as a profession did you guys feel like you could have gone into? For me, my goals in the next ten years: be a barista, a writer, an artist, grow at least 50% of the veggies I eat. (I currently working at a high school as a writing tutor...but but def. not planning to go into education.)
on and on,
Richard
i come from a country that has it's own coffee culture, most people don't know about arabica beans. all they have is robustas. at least the people i grew up in this kind of crowd. i learned about and found my passion in coffee when i met some very incredible ppl in sbux. that thought me see barista in a different way and seeing coffee as it is, can't say i've got it figured out yet but i started learning by keep bugging my supervisor to teach me stuffs. rmb i always use this sentense:" hey dude, u need to teach me something, anything?!" haha.. i'm kinda new in this also actually..coming 8months old as a barista. haha..hope to hear more from others that are more experienced as well.
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