Barista Interview Experience How to Interview Baristas at Coffee Shops?

Opening line: as someone who lurks in multiple coffee groups and roams across social platforms as a professional onlooker, this time I'm bringing you baristas' interview experiences.

Whether it's stories of baristas being interviewed or stories of interviewing for barista jobs, even a quick glance at the short descriptions shows how eye-popping they are.

A: Interviewer     B: Applicant

Shock Factor: 1 out of 5

A: You don't have any previous experience in the coffee industry. Why do you want to become a barista?

B: Because this job doesn't require much thinking. It's comfortable!

Same old line. Being a barista is not comfortable at all.

. A barista's work includes:

Shock Factor: 2 out of 5

A: Can you do latte art? Can you prepare pour-over coffee?

B: No.

A: Then why are you applying for the barista position?

B: Because I like coffee, and the work is comfortable!

B: And I'm a quick learner. I can pick up those coffee skills in two days!

Walking into an interview with no coffee background, even if you pass, means most of the work will be unrelated to coffee. There is no free lunch. Coffee shops hire people for labor and can provide basic product-service training and standards, but the chance of learning a great deal of coffee knowledge on the job, as people imagine, is very low.

If you genuinely want to learn coffee knowledge and skills, study independently by reading more professional books and following technical video sharing. If you don't know where to start, enroll in a coffee training course as a stepping stone into the coffee world, then keep breaking down the learning framework you were given and deepen your understanding through research.

Shock Factor: 3 out of 5

A: The probation salary won't be very high. Is that acceptable?

B: The work performance during probation won't be very good. Is that acceptable?

This conversation leaves you with mixed feelings, so I won't comment. The point of a probation period is to observe whether an applicant can meet the employer's requirements. Usually the probation period at a coffee shop runs 2 to 3 months. Probation pay is generally the base salary, and the main difference from a full employee is benefits and commissions.

Shock Factor: 4 out of 5

A: We require baristas to know latte art and pour-over, to write promotional content, and to have professional coffee knowledge.

B: Isn't this just for a holiday part-time position?

A: All baristas here have to know these things.

B: I'm just an amateur coffee enthusiast, a student here for a holiday part-time job. At 20 yuan an hour, do you still expect professionalism?

A: Yes. Professional coffee knowledge is required.

It is certainly important for baristas to have professional knowledge and skills, but recruiters sometimes need to set requirements according to the situation and offer reasonable pay when they do. As a full-time barista, meeting all of the requirements above is already very difficult, let alone for a part-time role. Since this is a holiday part-time position, someone to temporarily relieve holiday labor pressure, the other requirements should be built around what the position actually needs.

Shock Factor: 5 out of 5

B: I'm here for an interview.

A: Can you make espresso-based products? Can you make a latte for me to see?

B: Ah! You use semi-automatic machines here! I can't.

B: The places I worked before all used fully automatic coffee machines. You should switch to fully automatic machines, otherwise how can I make drinks?

It's not easy. Really not easy. Everyone has it tough. Being a barista, professional knowledge and skills are important, but knowing how to communicate effectively is also a required course. I hope everyone treats every job sincerely. No job is truly comfortable. If you feel it's unfair, you don't have to choose it in the first place. If you do choose it, you need the right attitude.

Finally, let's all share: do you remember any interview experiences you've had?

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the interview stories above inspired you to build your skills, a coffee with a clear, teachable structure is the best teacher. FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui is a natural-process lot with big tropical-fruit aromatics — strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit — low bitterness, and a smooth, juicy body. Its sweetness is easy to taste and easy to reproduce, which makes it ideal for practicing pour technique.

To sharpen your palate on acidity and balance, FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato is a rewarding second bean. A Kenyan washed single origin from the Sika region, grown at 1,550 to 1,750 meters from the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties and given the region's signature 72-hour double washed fermentation, it shows clear cherry tomato and dark plum acidity with a full, juice-like body, a sweet mid-palate, and a clean, lingering finish with brown sugar and green tea.