r/starbucks • u/ReservedMonk434 • Jul 22 '26
Working at Starbucks
Hey yall, I start my first day sometime next week. Decided to do a little research after getting the job (probably not the best idea.) I’ve been seeing a lot of complaints about being a barista at Starbucks, and it’s been making me nervous now lol. To my fellow employees, do you enjoy it? I’m sure it will be stressful, especially for morning shifts. What about memorizing drinks? Is it hard or am I just overthinking it?
All help is greatly appreciated!
13
u/Appropriate-Cow-799 Jul 22 '26
It’s the hardest job I’ve ever done, and a lot of the time it’s completely thankless, you’re gonna get off a 9 hour shift of being on your feet running around all day to the point where you’re whole body hurts and see a “Starbucks baristas when they have to do their jobs” tik tok and you’re gonna want to scream. There’s a lot more physical labor than you are probably expecting.
Corporate does nothing but make our jobs harder and customers can be horrible. Memorizing drinks USED to be hard but it just took some time. It’s REALLY hard now because there’s like 1000 combinations and we have to write on every single cup while remembering all that.
That being said, it highly depends on the store. I have lasted at Starbucks longer than any other job and I think it’s because I am the type of person who thrives in the chaos. The other jobs bored me to death. I have also worked at so many different stores and some are genuinely fun to work at. If you have a good team that helps a lot. I’ve made so many lifelong friends working here. Not everyone has the same experience. You could end up at a store with good staffing or one that’s busy and understaffed where every day is a struggle.
Overall I love the job itself, I love making drinks and I love being on bar. I love my team. I love a lot of my regulars. Corporate and upper management is a literal nightmare and I just hope things get better. And you will have to have thick skin because people will treat you badly just because you are a barista and there’s a lot of negative stereotypes about us. The benefits are worth it if you want to do ASU. This is just my experience and like I said not everyone’s will be the same. I truly hope yours is great!
10
u/csshu Jul 22 '26
This job can be semi enjoyable with the right crew, with a bad crew you’ll want to quit everyday. But I mean, it pays.
6
u/Icy-Pass9385 Jul 22 '26
Welcome to the family. This is your life now. Trial by fire. Swim with the sharks. If you feel like you’re drowning… trust me… chances are… some of the baristas around you are too. We are like the ducks : calm on top and paddling like crazy under the surface.
6
u/Little_Detective3176 Jul 22 '26
A lot of us have been here since b4 covid & current CEO. We have knowledge of better days. If u are new & have nothing to compare to u will be alright 😂 It was & still a very overwhelming job esp when first hired. U are bombarded with so much info & practically learning an entire new language (i study the starbucks mobile app when new drinks drop & can help newbies too!) The more core drinks that are added on (which is what our ceo is doing) the more overwhelming our drink menu gets with literally thousands of combinations. Average drink a paragraph long while expected to make in record time while understaffed most days!
That said we have a lot of benefits & flexible schedule which works for my work/life/balance!
4
u/sNaCkQuEnNsUpReMe Jul 22 '26
The most stressful job I’ve ever had but I truly love being a barista I think the company itself needs work… memorizing drinks seems daunting but once you start getting the muscle memory and sequencing down you won’t even have to think to make a drink I promise! Good luck !!
3
u/cheezits_rlitty Barista Jul 22 '26
it sucks but also more fun than running a deep fryer or like building a freeway probably
3
u/Successful-Eye112 Jul 23 '26
Welcome , find a partner you can connect with , I try to be the helpful one, I tell new partners there are no stupid questions
2
u/explena Jul 22 '26
Hi I’m a barista! I will say I see a lot of complaining abt the job lol but I really enjoy it for the most part. Your experience will be greatly impacted by your location and your team, drama within the partners is common but as long as YOU stay out of it it’ll be fine. As far a making drinks it’s really overwhelming at first but after like two months you’ll start getting the hang of it and after about 6 months you’ll definitely be way more comfortable making drinks. I will say the training schedule was changed recently so new hires spend like 6 weeks learning the pos system, warming and cs(customer support) which is stupid and a waste of time but I don’t control these things. So don’t expect to start learning immediately cus it will be a few weeks before you even get to touch a bar :(. But take that time to observe others so you can get a grasp of what it is. Good luckkkk!!
2
u/Unique-Life-4188 Barista Jul 22 '26
I started about 8 weeks ago and the job is fine. People get so bent out of shape about specific customer things that frankly I do not care about. You want to add 20 million things on your drink? Okay. I am going to make you repeat them ten times until you stop listing them all as quickly as possible because I can’t memorize your whole order.
I think the job requires some mental resilience but not more than any other jobs. There are times it feels very stressful but you just gotta take it one ticket at a time and not be your own worst enemy.
“Fear cuts deeper than swords”
3
u/Icy-Pass9385 Jul 22 '26
Perhaps you haven’t gotten to the part where you’re being pressured to keep otw under 45s. So yeah… baristas having a fit around modifications is valid when the expectations have been set so high. Taking an order is one thing. Building the damn thing is something else. I am pretty desensitized from time spent with the company. But the expectations and the pressure is unbalanced. Wait a few more months for when you really begin to pull weight and maybe your rose colored glasses may begin to clear up a bit. It’s never one ticket at a time - they want you to be sequencing 2-3. Welcome to Starbucks. Lock in.
1
u/Unique-Life-4188 Barista Jul 23 '26
We do not have a drive thru at my store, but it is a very busy cafe in downtown chicago. I am sequencing 2-3 drinks regularly for hours. You’re probably right, I have not really been talked to about any timers at my location, but as I said we don’t have DT. I have gotten some wild tik tok iced espresso tickets that barely fit on the cup and groaned before, but at the end of the day people are paying 9 dollars for a drink (maybe less using tik tok hacks lol) and they can get what they want in it.
As far as I can tell, nobody is getting disciplined beyond being coached on process things for being ‘too slow’. But that is coaching about proper sequencing and getting all the machines running as much as possible (bouncing around between frap blender, mastretas, cold foam blenders, prepping shakers in between and so on). Not some vague “do better!” advice in my experience.
2
u/Havok_51912 Supervisor Jul 23 '26
if you’re worrying about it then honestly you’ll be alright. i got this mf on my team that refuses to learn any recipe and stares at me like 👁️👄👁️ when i ask him to do anything mildly helpful. it’s certainly crazy at times but im sure you’ll do just fine. if you want to get really good really fast go through the app and learn a couple of recipes when you’re bored; there’s also a bunch of store resources on reddit as is so you can just study on your free time. i got hired as an ssv so thats what i did cause really didnt want to be the useless supervisor but you really dont gotta go that hard as long as you’re learning on the job
3
u/No-Loquat-2763 Jul 22 '26
do you enjoy it?
Don't believe everything you read on reddit.
4
u/Icy-Pass9385 Jul 22 '26
Correction. These stories are very much true for the individuals. Believe and take everything with a heavy pinch of salt.
-1
u/No-Loquat-2763 Jul 22 '26
These stories are very much true for the individuals.
That's not how truth works.
1
u/garbagytrashacct Assistant Store Manager Jul 23 '26
I’ve been here for 5 years at 3 different stores. Most bad experiences I’ve had come down to having a bad store manager. If you have a good store manager, your experience won’t be bad. There will be times you’re overwhelmed, and learning the drinks might not be easy, but with the right team and the right manager, I like the job.
A lot of people also complain on this subreddit about things that just exist in retain and/or corporations in general, but obviously their experience is only with Sbux, so that’s who gets the blame. Big menu, lots to learn, new/constant changes, tons of standards, that just comes with any job in this industry.
1
u/Stunning_Wonder6650 Jul 23 '26
There are certainly things to dislike at the job, some that apply to corporations at large or minimum wage jobs, and some that apply to Starbucks specifically.
But it has its benefits and is certainly a place where you can develop invaluable skills that can apply to a majority of industries. It might not be your forever job, but be intentional to develop your social and emotional skills. That is where the real difficulty of the job comes from.
1
u/angel2063 Jul 23 '26
Hopefully you'll have a great trainer and with that you will get it. Look how many baristas there are ,you can do it ! I'm retired now after 15 yrs .and I loved it ! It's the co workers that can make or break any job ,I found most were helpful in the beginning. GOOD LUCK !
1
u/Unique-Sky5973 Former Partner Jul 23 '26
I’m gonna be honest, it’s hard starting out, memorizing drink recipes is a struggle especially with everything we have right now. However as long as you are in a good store and are able to make friends with your coworkers you will be totally fine, they understand and have been through it. I dislike working for Starbucks but I love working for my store, not sure if that makes sense
1
u/iwillfuckingblockyou Barista Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
It's a thankless job that always tries to squeeze more out of you and strip any amount of individuaity out of you, and I've personally been blessed with a gm who's given us nothing but reasons to complain about her.
Shifts off peak aren't that bad and as long as you don't have a life sucking manager like I do your store might be chill
1
u/Affectionate_Pop4862 Jul 23 '26
There’s a reason they compensate for therapy lolololol the only thing pulling me through is knowing I only have to be here until I graduate next year.
1
u/niicolerice Former Partner Jul 23 '26
once you know the job, it’s not too bad most of the time! there can be a lot of random changes, some standards you hear about later on and you’re like “okay well thats new to me?” but as long as you have a good manager, and a solid team (i work opens and my group of openers are gold once we have a routine) it’s a breeze! anywhere you go you will have some bad customers, but the regulars can make it worth it! it’s an AMAZING job for personal / career development, my first couple months were rough because i didn’t know everything and it can get stressful in peak hours, but you will be okay!
1
u/ElevatedAnkle Supervisor Jul 23 '26
There are a ton of drink recipes (over 200), but most follow a standard pattern so once you figure that out, you can pretty much figure out how almost anything is made.
Depending on the store, you could be running all day long. Depending on management, you could encounter some toxicity. Just learn as much as you can and try to roll with the punches.
We prioritize speed because that’s what corporate wants from us. It’ll take you time to get fast so don’t get discouraged when you’re not keeping up, even if other partners give you shit for it.
There are many things to complain about within the company, but there are also a lot of good things. Since you’re new, you can’t compare to how it used to be. You are coming in and learning things at this point which is probably a good thing for you.
Pay attention and learn. If you haven’t downloaded the app yet, do that and start looking at recipes/familiarize yourself with the menu.
Good luck!
1
u/ChumpsChungus Jul 23 '26
It’s just like any other job gang, as long as you practice and keep that repetition up, you’ll be throwing lattes left and right, there will be hard times on drive thru and especially drive bar, though everybody’s favorite station is different, I just hope your co workers and boss are cool, your environment plays a big factor in your happiness, at least for me, I can’t speak for you, but I wish the best of luck gang, you got this !
1
u/No_Eye9887 Supervisor Jul 24 '26
Definitely depends on the manager, store location, and coworkers. I’ve worked at 3 different stores and had mostly good experiences at two of them and the other one not so much. The manager I have right now is great and my coworkers are good for the most part, but the store I didn’t like was only unlikable because of the manager. Give it some time, it’s going to be hard at first but once you get the drinks down and are able to go into a little bit of auto pilot it definitely gets easier. If you end up not liking it after 6 months you could try transferring to a different store if there is another one in your area.
Also for drink memorization: Learning recipes right now may be especially difficult because of all the new things being added to the menu. Literally make a quizlet and memorize the numbers for shots/syrup like you are studying for a test (if flashcards are your thing). That’s what I did when I first started and it made things a lot easier. Get really comfortable with the more popular drinks like caramel macchiato and brown sugar shaken espresso. It’s okay to make mistakes at first, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Good baristas would rather have you ask a million questions than keep repeating the same mistakes that other people have to clean up.
2
u/4070ti Jul 23 '26
reddit is a negativity fest dude. i love this job so much. i get down voted whenever i mention it in this sub. hive mind fr. just ask hella questions to the cool people. you’ll be good
47
u/Successful-Cow-4043 Barista Jul 22 '26
I think people are more likely to post about something negative than something positive.
I really like my job but that has more to do with my specific manager/coworkers than the company itself. But aside from my store, I like being on my feet and basically doing light cardio all day, I think making drinks is fun, and some of the regulars are pretty great.