Job and Salary Hunting in the Starbucks? Here Are Our Top Tips

Starbucks coffee taste is almost the same wherever branch you go and the staffs treat the customer very nicely, so whether you apply for a part-time or a full-time employee, your service mind toward customers is very important. If you are looking for a job at Starbuck, we are going to share with you the job and salary hunting advice that can lead you to find the most suitable jobs and achieve a great career path.

Originated from the U.S, now Starbucks is not just coffee and food, but the brand itself has become a trending workplace for most millennials. It is the world’s largest and the most popular coffee chain is a company that is expected to grow nonstop in the future. 

Why Should You Work At Starbucks?

Before seeking jobs and salaries tips, let’s understand the most important reasons why Starbucks is the place that everyone would like to build or start their career. 

Starbucks, the world’s leading coffee shop brand, has maintained a unique position full of resources that cannot be rivaled for a long time. 

It is no wonder that job seekers, even those looking for a part-time job, want to work at Starbucks. The more you know about the various welfare benefits that make you want to work at Starbucks, the more you would like to work with them. The benefits briefly list as follow:

Health Coverage

You might already know that Starbucks thinks of its employees, not as just normal workers, but as partners for future growth. This behavior creates great and multiple health coverage for everyone in the company. They include medical, dental, accident coverage,  life insurance, and so on. 

Saving and Retirement

Starbucks has a competitive retirement plan for staff. It is called a 401(k) plan. In other words, it is a way of saving your salary through pretax payroll deduction. Plus, Starbucks offers many rewards and discounted company stock, and else. 

Employee Discounts

Starbucks is offering staff discounts to its employees, offering up to 30% discounts on beverages and food sold in stores.

Paid Time Off

It is an exclusive offer only available in Starbucks. The staff can get 7 days of paid salaries on public holidays, whereas other retail companies pay only half of the amount only. 

Parental Leave

Starbucks has guaranteed parental leave for up to two years. The legally guaranteed leave after childbirth is one year. The pregnant staff can leave work for around 3 months, and after giving birth to a child, they can work for only at least 20 hours per week. Additionally, they can request 6 months of recovery time to improve their health condition. So, it is considered a dream job for mothers with childcare. 

What Kind of Talents Does Starbucks Needs?

Here are the talents that Starbucks looks for!

1. Coffee Man: the man with knowledge and passion for coffee, who has full of talent and likes of coffee, and always aiming for the best. 

2. Culture Man: the man who can create and spread the cultural content knowing that the company provides the third space for cultural business. In other words, talented people know what the organization does and aims for. Even with just a small coffee bean, it has a huge meaning as a culture for coffee drinkers.

3. Customer Man: the man who can satisfy customers with their knowledge and passion.

He knows well that it is the customers’ behavior that determines the business’s future. The customer man needs to respect the customer’s curiosity. 

What Kinds of Job Positions are available at Starbucks, and How Much Salary Can You Get?

• Baristas

Coffee shops need baristas to offer a great cup of coffee to customers. Even if the salary itself is not high, it is too little in the industry. Besides, ‘welfare’ and ‘atmosphere’ are pretty good that Starbucks baristas would work with pride. 

Plus, the baristas will learn about making coffee, but they do ‘Role-playing’ education to understand and skill in customer service. Also, working hours actually increases as the position increases from a barista, supervisor, deputy manager, store manager, to regional manager. 

As of 2023, Starbucks baristas in the U.S can make almost $12 per hour on average, and earn around $25,000 yearly. The salaries might vary a bit depending on the location or city, skill level, or even experience. Besides, there is one of the unique job titles that are very interesting, which is Starbucks Work From Home-Barista. They can earn as much as $27 per hour which is equivalent to $57,000 annually. 

• Shift Managers

They collaborate with store managers to create the coffee shop plans and ensure that everything runs smoothly l including teamwork and customer service. 

Regarding the salary, the range starts from 7$ to 23$ per hour. Meanwhile, the typical salary for a shift manager of the company is around $14 per hour, and this amount just matches or meets the national average working wage. 

• Store Managers

Store managers are the ones who are responsible for daily operations and financial problems. They spend most of their time at stores to communicate with staff and customers for higher work efficiency.

As a store manager, you should work for more than 40 hours per week, no matter in which location or branch you apply. For instance, your work mainly focuses on hiring, training, scheduling the work. 

Moreover, store managers must be able to handle the disagreements between the staff and respond instantly to unexpected emergencies. Normally, store managers of Starbucks earn around $48000 of salaries per year. 

• Shift Supervisors

Shift supervisors generally lead the employees and make effective decisions for the daily store operations. If you would like to build your leadership skill, it is a good choice for you to apply. 

They contribute to the company’s success by assisting the store managers with scheduled shifts and supervise the training of the barista program as well. 

Additionally, store managers should have at least 2 years of work experience to work at Starbucks. So, if you would love to build or improve your management skills, it would be a great career experience for you. 

According to Starbucks management salaries, shift supervisors have more than $47000 yearly that is 7% higher than the national average salary level of the country. 

• Assistant Store Managers

Assistant store managers mainly focus on a customer service job in the company. They could develop career opportunities and improve their management skills by solving problems that happen every day. 

To be an assistant store manager, you need to have at least one year of working experience at Starbucks as a full-time worker. 

It is estimated assistant store managers receive almost $37000 yearly. This range meets the national average salary level, regardless of any city or location. 

Starbucks Recruitment Process

Starbucks currently operates more than 8900 stores nationwide under the direct management of each store that supervises the hiring process. 

The barista application process is simple. You can apply for baristas from all over the country through the regular recruitment notice on the Starbucks website page. Recruitment is done without discrimination based on gender, age, and educational background. 

At Starbucks, interviewing with employers is one of the most important recruitment processes, therefore, based on the understanding of the job position, you should answer the questions in short but clear. 

If you pass the document screening and interviewing, the company will contact you. Then, you will receive Starbucks culture and service training at the support center, and upon completion, you will start working at the store. 

Starbucks has a system that enables people to acquire expertise through a prescribed training course even if they do not have coffee knowledge or related experience. 

Candidates with a passion for delivering Starbucks coffee experiences to customers can take on the challenge. Indeed, the center often requires an understanding of the store, so it is mainly selected from store partners. 

For your information, Starbucks hires around 80000 new employees yearly including part-time, full-time, permanent workers. 

What do you need to pay attention to in your cover letter?

The cover letter consists of three items: ‘growth process’, ‘support motivation’, and ‘pros and cons’. 

Each store manager has different standards. However, ‘motivation for support’ is the most important part you must pay attention to. Because you can see how individuality is formed and expressed at Starbucks. 

Likewise, the contents of each candidate’s special experiences and thoughts related to Starbucks will stand out. Other than that, there are no specific expressions or styles to avoid, but it is difficult to read a cover letter that uses emoticons a lot.

What is the interview atmosphere like?

What kind of character is Starbucks trying to discover during that time?

There is a guide in the company that meets the ‘Starbucks mission and values, and it is applied according to the situation to ask questions. 

Interviewers tend to understand the applicant in advance by creating a comfortable conversational atmosphere. They ask if the application can adapt to the new work environment, cooperative spirit, and accessibility whether they are suitable to work for Starbucks.

A timid personality or impression is not a problem at all when entering the company. This is because education and coaching in stores can overcome and improve as much as possible. 

The most important thing is applicants must show a willingness to work hard and solve problems in the store.

Here are the top 10 possible questions that Starbucks usually asked the candidates

1. Brief self-introduction (Strengths & Weaknesses)
2. Questions related to job/work experience at Starbucks, and why you left the previous job. Tell us the ability to work as one team
3. What to do when an employee makes a mistake with a customer
4. What kind of person do you think you will be in 5 or 10 years?
5. Did you (previously) have genuine connections with customers while working?
6. There are rules, but what did you say to the workers who didn’t follow them? What are you going to do?
7. Have you ever trained new staff? (Yes. If you do, you will ask a tail question)
8. How did you help the employee? How did you make the new employee fit in?
9. Do you have any good memories at Starbucks?
10. Was there any staff who were rude to guests? If so, how did you do it?

Raw and Real Review of Starbucks Part-Time Job worker

First thing first, the application process can be a bit complicated as I am working as a franchisee. After submitting the documents, you will take an online personality test. 

If the documents are passed, the interview will be done with the manager of the Starbucks to which you applied, and the next one with the manager of the region to which the Starbucks branch you applied is located. 

If you pass all the interviews, you receive service training for two days at the Starbucks headquarter, and receive training on actual work at the store. After that, start working as a Starbucks barista. 

Although it is not a necessary condition, since a cafe has a high proportion of service jobs, it would be good to make a first impression with a smile.

Best advice for barista newbies

The people at Starbucks are all of the different ages and have different jobs. However, as barista newbies, we will be able to learn different perspectives and opinions while working together and communicating. 

Believe it or not, it is a good thing that you can get out of school and work part-time at the same time. At Starbucks, workers deal with lots of unexpected emergencies to keep the cafe run well. However, this experience will make you feel proud as you can live your life to face the reality of the world. 

If you can afford it, it is a good idea that you can work while studying in college. This is a great opportunity to broaden your view of life.

Final Thoughts

No doubt, more Starbucks stores will be opened in the future as this company is expanding its business area for more related products. Therefore, it’s great potential for you as a Starbucks job seeker to be ready when the opportunity arrives.

Overall, were these tips and reviews useful to you? The world that you are going to meet at Starbucks, the happy workplace that makes you achieve your career dream. Hopefully, you will display your capacity and layout your lives at Starbucks! We wish you all the best in finding a fantastic job at Starbucks!

References

• Empowered to live life well | Starbucks Career
• Connect with something bigger | Starbucks Career

Check out: come to work with me at Starbucks By Caroline Anne