A dynamic retail job. Good people to work with and for.
Pros
- A strong company culture that really emphasizes people (partners and customers). - Convenient locations and ability to transfer to other stores, especially at the barista (entry) level. - Many dedicated partners will have a chance to develop further in the company. - Staff ("partners") generally knowledgeable and engaged in their work. - Hard work coupled with an engaging personality usually pays off. - Some room for negotiating work hours at most stores. You can change your availability (though no promises on hours). - The company has produced a huge variety of helpful learning materials for new partners, along with a range of manuals on maintaining store cleanliness, health standards, and so on. - Learn all about coffee and take pride in your drink making abilities. - Learn the basics of cash handling in a retail environment, and supplement that understanding as you're promoted. - If there's anything about the company or the day-to-day business of your store you're interested in, the company or your store will often provide a hands-on a way of learning more about it (your coffee passport, inventory transfers, skus, daily orders, standing orders, customer experience, store set-ups, etc.) - You will typically work with a team of engaging and dynamic employees from diverse backgrounds. - Competitive pay and benefits for this type of retail position. - Tips (up to a few dollars per hour extra at some stores; about $1.50/h at mine) and, again, benefits. - A great chance to think on your feet and solve practical retail problems. - Variety of ages and work ethics on the same team. When you're working with a well-oiled team, it's a beautiful thing. - Partner beverages allow you to stretch your creativity by trying new recipes or enjoying your favorites. - Your home store can be a place fellow partners like to visit even when they're not at work. How often do you say that about your other jobs? - Get to know your customers individually and remember drink orders for regulars, some of whom will insist that you're their favorite person to chat with or that you make their drink best. That'll put a smile on your face! - A personal pro: I'm multilingual and work in a diverse area, so I had the chance to use my Spanish, Japanese, Italian, French and even my remedial Arabic with customers. You'll find your own ways to connect with people, and you'll also find that working at a coffee shop is a great place to make those connections.
Cons
Think of these as "heads-ups" rather than cons/negatives. They weren't all cons for me: - Work hours and environment depend on management team (SM & ASM). Quality of manager can make or break a store. - You must be service oriented: friendly enough to engage with every customer but efficient enough to crank through a long line quickly. - Juggle opposing goals. Doing the lobby after the 10 minute timer rings, getting through that morning rush 2 minutes per customer with a smile and "thank you" with each drink, restocking pastry case, rebrewing coffee and introducing yourself to the new district manager may all be your #1 priority at the exact same moment. Be able to handle this. - If you work in a fast-paced store or during morning rush, be prepared to hustle, multi-task and make split-second decisions, especially as a supervisor or manager. - Figure out what to do with yourself and your partners during slow periods. What else can you clean on the Duty Roster? - Many shifts involve early morning/late evening hours (a plus for some). The manager makes the call on hours; you list your availability and then are assigned shifts. - Regular morning openers are often tired and working multiple jobs/taking classes at the same time. - Health benefits depend on hours worked. If you don't get enough hours, you can lose your insurance. - Creative individuals and think-on-your-feet partners that focus on providing better solutions to problems will end up clashing with "by-the-book" partners and those who swear by the current iteration of the ever-evolving set of rules. - Hard workers can be overused and underappreciated, even if unintentionally. I've been at 2 stores where mediocre workers drag quality of team down. - Variety of ages and work ethics on same team can be a pro and a con. - There's sometimes an upside-down distribution of smarts and experience where brilliant, talented, artistic, analytical or success-minded people are working for ho-hum management. How do we foster these employees without telling them to step in line and put their nose to the grindstone? Ideation needed. - You have to be on board with company culture (e.g. "thank you policy"), lingo (e.g. "partners") & activities (e.g. "coffee tastings").
