Green Siren
Central, TX
Female, 26
After working all day in a cubicle, I'd spend my nights as your friendly, neighborhood Starbucks barista! I remembered your name, made each drink exactly to your specifications and did it all with a bright smile. I've served celebrities, worked both drive thru & cafe stores, worked every holiday and have kept the customers from knowing about all the craziness that goes on behind the scenes... until now. Ask me anything.
I think the first part of your question has been answered previously but I'll answer it again just to make sure. Getting hired at Starbucks is like getting hired at another customer service job, if you have good people skills and, in Starbucks case, prioritization skills and a specific store needs you, you'll probably be hired. Now, the specific store needs are the problem. Most stores only hire 3-4 times per year and received hundreds or thousands of applications. If you are a student and can work nights, apply to a store that is open late. Starbucks has a minimum of 4 hour shifts so you need to have AT LEAST 4 hours available from when you can get to the store after class. I worked one job until 5 pm, then worked at Starbucks from 5:30-close most nights. Also, weekend availability helps. The longer-term staff is going to get the better hours, so you have to be willing to work the crappy hours until you've been there awhile. Also they probably won't be willing to hire and train you for you to only stick around for 2-3 months, so if you're willing to stay longer you have a better chance.
TLDR; Matching available hours + people skills = hired
As far as networking, it depends on the store. Some store managers will ask the opinion of the other baristas and managers, others won't.
I'd probably go into the store you want to work at and, especially if you are already friends with the staff, ask them about their manager. Does s/he like to have an applicant come in check on their app? Does s/he ask for others opinions when hiring? This is heavily dependent on the individual SM. I've said before, mine really diskliked when people dropped in and she definitely did not ask her staff for opinions. Other SMs are very different, but best you can do is ask the people who work at the store you want to be at.
It already REALLY helps if you actually know the baristas. I'd have people ask me questions about getting hired, applying, etc all the time, which is fine, but I was more likely to make the effort to find out the answer for someone I already knew and liked rather than some John Doe off the street I'd never met before.
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It may be that none of the stores need new employees, that your hours don't match what they need, or that there are better applicants than you. There is advice above for the interview but sometimes the reasons you don't get hired are out of your control. Just keep gaining work experience and be the best employee you can be and when Starbucks needs someone, maybe you will be the best applicant at that time.
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The same thing you would for any other job. Either wait to be contacted or follow up on the application.
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This has been answered in previous questions. Thanks.
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Probably. I think most managers only access the applications when they need people, and if they don't need to hire anyone he wouldn't have accessed the applications. Unfortunately that's the only way to apply, but he should receive your application as soon as he's ready to hire!
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It depends on what shift you are... opening, mid and closing shifts all have different tasks. Since I mostly worked closing shifts, I'll talk about that one.
Usually upon arrival my shift manager would have me do a "spin," or to a quick touch up of the entire store. Then depending on where I was needed most, she'd put me on either bar or register. While we still had three people working, at a certain point I'd either be sent to deep clean the bathrooms or start to break down all the dishes that needed to be washed, and wash them. Once the dishes were washed one of the two baristas was usually sent home and 5-10 minutes before close the remaining one would pack up the pastries that were still good and throw out the expired ones. Finally, once the store closed one person would sweep and mop the floor, clean and set up the condiment bar for the following day, prep all the materials for the openers (measure out coffee, put tea bags into containers, etc) while the person on bar would clean the machine, set the clean cycle and prep the bar area for the openers (enough lids out, fill the espresso machines, etc).
Generally as a closer my job was to make sure a) we served customers to the best of our ability, b) the store was as clean as it could possibly be and c) we left the store in top condition for the openers to make their lives a little easier.
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I got about $20 per week... about $1 per hour worked. Definitely not a BIG PLUS but enough to be useful.
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