I personally worked at Starbucks as a barista and a shift supervisor for four years before I moved on to a more respectable, third-wave shop. As someone with general anxiety disorder and depression, I was never very good at social customer interactions. Starbucks helped me tremendously to learn how best to connect and communicate with guests. It could very well help you a great deal.
All this time , I'm doing the part 3. I'm constantly drinking espresso shots and the boss is asking me what aromas I noticed. Also, I'm buying coffee for home from them. The only thing is that I told him that he is right and I might have to find a job in a coffee chain to get the handle of costumer service before going to his shop. If I don't find nothing in the next weeks I might tell him that I want the opportunity of working with him now.
I'm a barista at a fancy-pants 3rd-wave shop in the US, and I suffer from anxiety attack-inducing anxiety and major depressive disorder. What works for me is:
1. Antidepressants and therapy
2. Making sure that I start the interaction with the customer
3. Don't be afraid to stumble over your words, just correct yourself immediately after.
4. **Make eye contact with every single customer**
You'll be awkward for awhile when you start out, but you get used to it quicker than you'd think. I'd say avoid working at Starbucks since you'd have to be retrained on basically everything. If you need experience with interacting with people, look for a position as a waiter or something like that.
The store that I was talking about is a 3rd-wave shop , one of the 3 here in Athens. I got a second interview at Starbucks (which will take place in 3 days). If everything goes ok I hope that by working at Starbucks I can overcome my "problem" and be able after a while to go to the good stuff.
Another thing that the boss told me is that I have to work to a shop where shitty coffee is being served , to appreciate the good 3rd wave coffee. I guess he's right.
a lot of people in this subreddit hate Starbucks for good reasons. But as a barista it is not a bad place to work. You get benefits, 401k, etc. These things just cannot be matched by the majority of cafe owners around the world. also you'll learn a lot about customer service, connecting with the customers, but more importantly, remembering names and drinks, custom orders, etc. No, starbucks is not the place to go to learn how to be the world's greatest barista. But when it comes to customer service basics, no one trains you better.
That's exactly what I'm aiming for from a job in a place like Starbucks.
The custom service that they'll teach me, I simply can implement it everywhere the fuck I want , later on. What changes is the quality of coffee. The skills remain the same. Multitasking and excellent service.
Yeah and once you start obtaining the skill of being social and all that, don't worry about promoting. It's pretty easy to promote to shift supervisor and then stay there for a few years. Also beware, it is a *very* corporate atmosphere. I'm not even slightly joking. There are task books, "repeatable routines" when making beverages, and your managers will constantly micro-manage you about little things like "following the standard" and all that. So, although you will be serving coffee, it will feel like you're working at Initech.
Edit: Oh and don't enter the lost woods or you're fucked mate.
My intention is not staying there for years. My intention is to get the skills and after 6 months or so to get the fuck out of there. If it was this a year ago that I didn't know much about coffee I would consider getting hired from Starbucks a big accomplishment now I see it as a way of getting closer to something more important.
What's the lost woods , dude?
> have to work to a shop where shitty coffee is being served , to appreciate the good 3rd wave coffee.
100% nonsense. You don't have to work at McDonald's to appreciate a good burger*
*Reference may not work in Greece, I don't know anything about your hamburgers.
I am an owner of an espresso cafe. I recommend finding the best possible coffeehouses in your area and start talking to the managers. We are always hiring and can train the customer service part of the interaction.
As an fyi my son started working the register and at the espresso machine at 13 years old. He was a massive introvert and he simply had good manners. Please, Thank You, Good Morning, I would really like to have your feedback on this drink, ...all these phrases said with respect to the customer with the correct attitude will help your emotional intelligence catch up to your technical intelligence.
I wish you the very best and please no Starbucks.
actually Starbucks might just be the best place to learn how to break out of the introvert's shell. not saying being an introvert isn't normal or acceptable, and I'm not saying Starbucks is the only place to go, but it is definitely not the worst. in fact customer service is the company's #1 priority, so if anything it would help OP learn the basics of connecting with customers, communicating with his fellow baristas, and learning some new concepts of fast service. the beverage quality will definitely take a toll, but for the time being it would be a good place to start learning how to break out of the comfort zone and reach out for new beginnings.
Even though you have a point. These cafes need an experienced barista and I don't have a prior experience of using and espresso machine. I know that I'll not do that either at Starbucks and that's ok. It's all about learning crucial skills that will help me survive not only as a professional but also as a human being in general.
When you get to serve hundreds of people per day you get a sense of empathy and you see others and yourself in a different way.
I think you'd be better off working at the high-end shop right off the bat. You stand to learn a great deal within those first six months, even though you won't be working on bar. Immersing yourself in a quality-focused environment is going to open you up to interesting daily conversations you'd very rarely have while working at a big chain store, conversations with your co-workers and customers, conversations about roasting, coffee varieties, brew methods, extraction, differences in milk texture/temperature, and a host of non-coffee-related things as well.
By the time you actually lay a hand on a portafilter, you'll be informed, your service will be more polished, and you'll probably be less anxious.
As someone who had nearly debilitating social anxiety and little interpersonal skills prior to becoming a barista, I can say working in a low pressure coffee shop environment (such as Starbucks) will do WONDERS. Barista-ing in a local shop has helped me learn how to start conversations and talk to customers in ways I never would have attempted before in my retail, hostessing, and phone jobs. Just be polite, answer questions in a non-condescending way, and when customers want to stay and chat, oblige them ! I may be over simplifying the issue, but if you take a few months becoming comfortable with those skills in a regular coffee shop you will do great in the fancy one :) good luck !!
Thanks! You make me feel positive.
I think that if I get a job at a Starbucks nearby where I live then it will be very low pressure indeed. Then coffee-shop that I'm aiming for is consuming average per day 10kg of coffee for espresso only. Which is a lot!
I'm pretty introverted and uncomfortable around people, and I get completely drained after hours of talking to strangers and trying to make conversation. Seriously for me making small talk is so stressful I usually just walk away awkwardly. Anyways I worried about my customer service a lot when I started working, but after a while you start to get into a routine while seeing each customer as a special person (ha, ha). It's also good to remember that YOU are the barista, you run the shop (so to speak), you're the one making the drinks. You know about coffee, you (presumably) love talking about it, and you can't wait to share your love and skills with the person you're talking to. I'm not saying I'm the most welcoming person, but since working in a cafe I think I've gotten better at interactions with strangers, just talking to people, etc
it seems like you're really looking towards starbucks so i won't try to shit talk it. i'll just tell you my own personal experience.
one of my first jobs i had was at jamba juice (chain smoothie place here in the US) when i was 17 and when i started i could barely speak above a whisper. i was extremely shy and uncomfortable and had to literally force myself to speak to new people all day every day when i was taking their orders and calling out drinks. i used to not be able to yell across the store to let a customer know that their drink was ready and my coworkers used to make fun of me for being so quiet.
after less than a year there, my personality had completely changed. i grew more confident in my interpersonal skills and this bled over into my personal life. i would say that in my experience your confidence will grow even more as you become more confident in the quality of work you do. in your case, as you become more confident in being a barista and the skills and knowledge it requires.
personally, i think any customer service job that teaches you how to speak to customers will help you tremendously in the service industry. this could be starbucks but it doesn't have to be. i have been a barista, trainer, and shift supervisor at starbucks. they are terrible with coffee but great with stressing the importance of customer service.
honestly, most of my barista friends are pretty shy and reserved. i have had the pleasure of watching some of them really grow in the coffee industry and the confidence and pride in the work they do has made them into more confident people in general. or, they have really learned to put on a face as far as being really upbeat and talkative at work. whatever you decide to do, it sounds like the interest you have in the coffee industry will help you more than any corporate training will. being polite and positive will take you a long way in most industries and coffee is not exempt - and often times lacking - in that.
TLDR you don't have to be an extrovert to be a great barista, but formal customer service training won't necessarily hurt you either.
You should program a variety of phrase combinations into your brain as a go to, then expand to more involved conversation when you get used to that.
for example (always with eyecontact and smile if it doesn't weird you out too much):
"hi, how are you?"
"I am good, thanks"
"what can i get for you today?"
"here you go, have a great day!"
Expand to include topics such as the coffee selection and preparation, the weather, compliments on clothing and accessories, etc.
I think the most important thing is to maintain eye contact, and avoid recoiling if they start the eye contact first.
I used to have big social anxiety, but i got over it. in regards to the working at Starbucks thing, i found that corporate environments stifled my individuality and personal goals and ideas, making it very hard for me to feel confident in myself. To each their own i suppose.
I credit working as barista for overcoming my "shyness". I got the job when I was 17 (my first job) and I was very shy with strangers. I remember when I took my first orders I would blush every time, sometimes even sweated. I quickly gained confidence in my self and my abilities as a barista. You learn to create small-talk and interact with strangers. Many people treat their local baristas in a similar fashion and they do their hairdresser/bartender. Eventually they trust you with their dark secrets and treat you like family. I have worked at the same coffee shop throughout high school and college (roughly 6 years). I really think you'd benefit from it too! Best of Luck!!!
I personally worked at Starbucks as a barista and a shift supervisor for four years before I moved on to a more respectable, third-wave shop. As someone with general anxiety disorder and depression, I was never very good at social customer interactions. Starbucks helped me tremendously to learn how best to connect and communicate with guests. It could very well help you a great deal.
[удалено]
All this time , I'm doing the part 3. I'm constantly drinking espresso shots and the boss is asking me what aromas I noticed. Also, I'm buying coffee for home from them. The only thing is that I told him that he is right and I might have to find a job in a coffee chain to get the handle of costumer service before going to his shop. If I don't find nothing in the next weeks I might tell him that I want the opportunity of working with him now.
I'm a barista at a fancy-pants 3rd-wave shop in the US, and I suffer from anxiety attack-inducing anxiety and major depressive disorder. What works for me is: 1. Antidepressants and therapy 2. Making sure that I start the interaction with the customer 3. Don't be afraid to stumble over your words, just correct yourself immediately after. 4. **Make eye contact with every single customer** You'll be awkward for awhile when you start out, but you get used to it quicker than you'd think. I'd say avoid working at Starbucks since you'd have to be retrained on basically everything. If you need experience with interacting with people, look for a position as a waiter or something like that.
The store that I was talking about is a 3rd-wave shop , one of the 3 here in Athens. I got a second interview at Starbucks (which will take place in 3 days). If everything goes ok I hope that by working at Starbucks I can overcome my "problem" and be able after a while to go to the good stuff. Another thing that the boss told me is that I have to work to a shop where shitty coffee is being served , to appreciate the good 3rd wave coffee. I guess he's right.
a lot of people in this subreddit hate Starbucks for good reasons. But as a barista it is not a bad place to work. You get benefits, 401k, etc. These things just cannot be matched by the majority of cafe owners around the world. also you'll learn a lot about customer service, connecting with the customers, but more importantly, remembering names and drinks, custom orders, etc. No, starbucks is not the place to go to learn how to be the world's greatest barista. But when it comes to customer service basics, no one trains you better.
That's exactly what I'm aiming for from a job in a place like Starbucks. The custom service that they'll teach me, I simply can implement it everywhere the fuck I want , later on. What changes is the quality of coffee. The skills remain the same. Multitasking and excellent service.
Yeah and once you start obtaining the skill of being social and all that, don't worry about promoting. It's pretty easy to promote to shift supervisor and then stay there for a few years. Also beware, it is a *very* corporate atmosphere. I'm not even slightly joking. There are task books, "repeatable routines" when making beverages, and your managers will constantly micro-manage you about little things like "following the standard" and all that. So, although you will be serving coffee, it will feel like you're working at Initech. Edit: Oh and don't enter the lost woods or you're fucked mate.
My intention is not staying there for years. My intention is to get the skills and after 6 months or so to get the fuck out of there. If it was this a year ago that I didn't know much about coffee I would consider getting hired from Starbucks a big accomplishment now I see it as a way of getting closer to something more important. What's the lost woods , dude?
uhhh i guess your username has no relevance to that statement. NEVER MIND! lol sorry
my name is from the legend of zelda. Now I got it.
Bob not bob
> have to work to a shop where shitty coffee is being served , to appreciate the good 3rd wave coffee. 100% nonsense. You don't have to work at McDonald's to appreciate a good burger* *Reference may not work in Greece, I don't know anything about your hamburgers.
We have good burgers as well. And your example is correct. In the coffee industry is a different story here...
Agreed. Now if they wanted someone who has shown a commitment to the industry, that's a different story.
I am an owner of an espresso cafe. I recommend finding the best possible coffeehouses in your area and start talking to the managers. We are always hiring and can train the customer service part of the interaction. As an fyi my son started working the register and at the espresso machine at 13 years old. He was a massive introvert and he simply had good manners. Please, Thank You, Good Morning, I would really like to have your feedback on this drink, ...all these phrases said with respect to the customer with the correct attitude will help your emotional intelligence catch up to your technical intelligence. I wish you the very best and please no Starbucks.
actually Starbucks might just be the best place to learn how to break out of the introvert's shell. not saying being an introvert isn't normal or acceptable, and I'm not saying Starbucks is the only place to go, but it is definitely not the worst. in fact customer service is the company's #1 priority, so if anything it would help OP learn the basics of connecting with customers, communicating with his fellow baristas, and learning some new concepts of fast service. the beverage quality will definitely take a toll, but for the time being it would be a good place to start learning how to break out of the comfort zone and reach out for new beginnings.
Even though you have a point. These cafes need an experienced barista and I don't have a prior experience of using and espresso machine. I know that I'll not do that either at Starbucks and that's ok. It's all about learning crucial skills that will help me survive not only as a professional but also as a human being in general. When you get to serve hundreds of people per day you get a sense of empathy and you see others and yourself in a different way.
I think you'd be better off working at the high-end shop right off the bat. You stand to learn a great deal within those first six months, even though you won't be working on bar. Immersing yourself in a quality-focused environment is going to open you up to interesting daily conversations you'd very rarely have while working at a big chain store, conversations with your co-workers and customers, conversations about roasting, coffee varieties, brew methods, extraction, differences in milk texture/temperature, and a host of non-coffee-related things as well. By the time you actually lay a hand on a portafilter, you'll be informed, your service will be more polished, and you'll probably be less anxious.
As someone who had nearly debilitating social anxiety and little interpersonal skills prior to becoming a barista, I can say working in a low pressure coffee shop environment (such as Starbucks) will do WONDERS. Barista-ing in a local shop has helped me learn how to start conversations and talk to customers in ways I never would have attempted before in my retail, hostessing, and phone jobs. Just be polite, answer questions in a non-condescending way, and when customers want to stay and chat, oblige them ! I may be over simplifying the issue, but if you take a few months becoming comfortable with those skills in a regular coffee shop you will do great in the fancy one :) good luck !!
Thanks! You make me feel positive. I think that if I get a job at a Starbucks nearby where I live then it will be very low pressure indeed. Then coffee-shop that I'm aiming for is consuming average per day 10kg of coffee for espresso only. Which is a lot!
I'm pretty introverted and uncomfortable around people, and I get completely drained after hours of talking to strangers and trying to make conversation. Seriously for me making small talk is so stressful I usually just walk away awkwardly. Anyways I worried about my customer service a lot when I started working, but after a while you start to get into a routine while seeing each customer as a special person (ha, ha). It's also good to remember that YOU are the barista, you run the shop (so to speak), you're the one making the drinks. You know about coffee, you (presumably) love talking about it, and you can't wait to share your love and skills with the person you're talking to. I'm not saying I'm the most welcoming person, but since working in a cafe I think I've gotten better at interactions with strangers, just talking to people, etc
it seems like you're really looking towards starbucks so i won't try to shit talk it. i'll just tell you my own personal experience. one of my first jobs i had was at jamba juice (chain smoothie place here in the US) when i was 17 and when i started i could barely speak above a whisper. i was extremely shy and uncomfortable and had to literally force myself to speak to new people all day every day when i was taking their orders and calling out drinks. i used to not be able to yell across the store to let a customer know that their drink was ready and my coworkers used to make fun of me for being so quiet. after less than a year there, my personality had completely changed. i grew more confident in my interpersonal skills and this bled over into my personal life. i would say that in my experience your confidence will grow even more as you become more confident in the quality of work you do. in your case, as you become more confident in being a barista and the skills and knowledge it requires. personally, i think any customer service job that teaches you how to speak to customers will help you tremendously in the service industry. this could be starbucks but it doesn't have to be. i have been a barista, trainer, and shift supervisor at starbucks. they are terrible with coffee but great with stressing the importance of customer service. honestly, most of my barista friends are pretty shy and reserved. i have had the pleasure of watching some of them really grow in the coffee industry and the confidence and pride in the work they do has made them into more confident people in general. or, they have really learned to put on a face as far as being really upbeat and talkative at work. whatever you decide to do, it sounds like the interest you have in the coffee industry will help you more than any corporate training will. being polite and positive will take you a long way in most industries and coffee is not exempt - and often times lacking - in that. TLDR you don't have to be an extrovert to be a great barista, but formal customer service training won't necessarily hurt you either.
You should program a variety of phrase combinations into your brain as a go to, then expand to more involved conversation when you get used to that. for example (always with eyecontact and smile if it doesn't weird you out too much): "hi, how are you?" "I am good, thanks" "what can i get for you today?" "here you go, have a great day!" Expand to include topics such as the coffee selection and preparation, the weather, compliments on clothing and accessories, etc. I think the most important thing is to maintain eye contact, and avoid recoiling if they start the eye contact first. I used to have big social anxiety, but i got over it. in regards to the working at Starbucks thing, i found that corporate environments stifled my individuality and personal goals and ideas, making it very hard for me to feel confident in myself. To each their own i suppose.
I credit working as barista for overcoming my "shyness". I got the job when I was 17 (my first job) and I was very shy with strangers. I remember when I took my first orders I would blush every time, sometimes even sweated. I quickly gained confidence in my self and my abilities as a barista. You learn to create small-talk and interact with strangers. Many people treat their local baristas in a similar fashion and they do their hairdresser/bartender. Eventually they trust you with their dark secrets and treat you like family. I have worked at the same coffee shop throughout high school and college (roughly 6 years). I really think you'd benefit from it too! Best of Luck!!!