How To Write The Perfect Barista Job Description

Writing a barista job description is an important part of making your business run smoothly. That’s because the success of your team and the happiness of your customers depends on the person you eventually hire. Obviously, you want to get it right the first time. The best way to ensure you get the right person for the job is to list the traits you really need even before you place an ad or conduct an interview. After you’ve made a list of those traits, the rest is pretty simple. Just use the template included with this article to build your barista job description around those traits.

To get you started, we’ll share the nine must-have traits for any good barista. We’ll then provide instructions for writing the perfect barista job description and give you a simple template you can use to create your own.

Traits That Make For A Great Barista

The ideal traits you choose to look for in a great barista will depend on what you need from your employees and how your business operates. But whether you’re managing a national chain with hundreds of locations, or a mom-and-pop operation with just one location, there are nine core traits that any good barista should exhibit. Use these traits as the basis for your list and then include them in your job description and look for them when you’re interviewing.

1. Organized

A great barista is an organized barista. This means that she should be able to manage tasks in a prompt manner and deliver a customer’s order as soon as possible. Organization is especially important during peak hours when customers are in a rush and expect fast service. An organized barista will be able to handle multiple tasks at the same time in order to provide the best customer service.

2. Friendly

A good barista shows genuine happiness to serve customers. Additionally, he understands that he is, in large part, responsible for the customer’s experience and that his friendliness plays a large role in making that experience pleasurable. This trait is shown through a relaxed tone of voice, pleasant attitude, and kind behavior even under stress.

3. Efficient

A good barista should always strive to be efficient in everything she does. That means not wasting time, avoiding mistakes, and doing high-quality work. Efficiency doesn’t mean she should be rushed. A barista who looks like she’s hurrying between tasks can become an unnecessary distraction for your customers. More than anything, she should strive to produce customer orders in a prompt fashion without looking hurried or flustered.

4. Good Manners

Good manners are important for any job that requires contact with customers. That’s because good manners can have a dramatic effect on the image of your business. You may serve the best venti triple mocha frappuccino in the state, but if your barista’s manners aren’t what they should be, customers will go elsewhere. Good manners means being polite, making eye contact, smiling, and paying attention when the customer talks.

5. Cleanly

Cleanliness is one of the most important characteristics of a business where food and drink are served. This cleanliness encompasses all aspects of the customer experience, from floors to tables to counters to the barista himself. A good barista places a priority on the image she creates by keeping her environment and her appearance neat and tidy.

6. Strong Communication

A good barista should be able to communicate effectively and clearly with other employees and customers alike. If there are questions, the barista should be able to answer them with relevant information so that the customer is satisfied. If instructions need to be given to another employee, the barista should be able to deliver that information quickly and concisely.
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7. Team-Orientated

Baristas should understand that they are part of a team that is working to create a good customer experience. The barista should understand that he is not working by himself, but as part of a larger group of people that are dependent on one another for success. When a team cooperates and works together well, they can make even the busiest times of the day seem like a walk in the park. That’s the kind of productive team you want to build in your business. It starts by hiring a barista who understands the importance of teamwork.

8. Adaptable

Baristas often have to deal with custom orders. Customers want to personalize their drinks so the employee taking or blending that order should be adaptable. The barista needs to put her own personal preferences aside and provide for the customer’s likes and dislikes. By being open to change, the barista can ensure that all customers will get what they want.

9. Detail Oriented

Attention to detail is an important quality for every barista. Customer orders can get quite complex. And whether the barista is entering that order into the POS software or actually making the order, he needs to have an eye for detail. It can be very easy to leave out one ingredient during busy hours, but that ingredient can mean the difference between a customer leaving pleased or displeased. A detail oriented barista will make sure that all orders are complete before delivering them to the customer.

Writing The Perfect Barista Job Description

At this point, you’ve listed the traits you’d like in a prospective employee, and we’ve talked about some of the basic traits that any good barista would need. Now let’s turn our attention to how you can use those traits to craft the perfect barista job description for your business.

Start by breaking the job description into four main sections: job title, job summary, responsibilities and duties, and qualifications and skills. Let’s look at those in a bit more detail so you can tailor them to your specific needs.

1. Job Title

According to job board Indeed.com, the job title should be kept as simple as possible. They recommend keeping your job description under eighty characters to draw the most attention. Keeping to that recommendation, start your barista job description with the simple job title: Barista. At only seven characters, that’s both simple and descriptive.

2. Job Summary

The job summary section is the place to begin listing all the traits of a great barista you came up with earlier. Start the job summary section by describing your restaurant and the role the prospective employee will play. When you’re describing how the employee fits in with your team, be sure to use words that describe your ideal traits. Listing as many of your ideal traits as possible in this section will help the job seeker determine if the job is truly right for them. Check out an example of this section in the sample job description towards the end of this article.

3. Responsibilities & Duties

The responsibilities and duties section is where you will list some of the main functions that the prospective employee will perform on a regular basis. You don’t have to list every possible job the employee may be asked to do on a daily basis, just the main ones. You can cover all your bases by including the words, “other jobs as necessary” at the end of the list.

Keep in mind that this section is more about the details of the job that the traits you came up with earlier. That said, you can still communicate the need for the employee to have these traits by using words like “memorize”, “friendly”, “team”, and others. See the sample barista job description below for more details.

4. Qualifications & Skills

This final section is where you’ll list things like education requirements, experience, personality traits, technical skills, and necessary certifications. Be sure to include some of the characteristics of a great barista that you established at the beginning of this process. Use words like “organized”, “friendly”, “prompt”, and any others that help describe the traits the successful candidate will have.

Sample Barista Job Description

Wanted: Barista

A local coffeehouse needs an organized, efficient, and friendly barista to join their team. If you enjoy providing excellent customer service and tasty coffee drinks, we want you to come dazzle our customers. The successful candidate will be responsible for cultivating a friendly relationship with customers while ensuring that they receive prompt service of our delicious fare.

Responsibilities include:

• Greet customers.
• Accurately input orders into POS system.
• Make drinks and food according to set recipe.
• Deliver customer orders in a timely manner.
• Inform customers about specials.
• Provide enthusiastic advice about products when asked.
• Work with other employees to ensure an excellent customer experience.
• Maintain cleanliness of all public areas.
• Maintain good personal appearance at all times.
• Other jobs as necessary.

Qualifications:

• At least 1 year of experience preferred.
• Familiarity with POS software.
• Ability to stay calm, organized, and efficient when busy.
• Able to memorize
• Flexibility and willingness to work weekends, evenings, and holidays as needed.
• High school diploma/GED preferred.
• Willingness to memorize a number of drinks and their ingredients.
• Enthusiasm for all things coffee.

Creating The Perfect Barista Job Description Doesn’t Have To Be Difficult

Writing a perfect barista job description doesn’t have to be a complicated task. Just identify the qualities you need in a good waiter then use the template above to build your description around those qualities. To discover more tools for restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops, and for help scheduling your employees, check out GetSling.com today.

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This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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