How can I make my barista position more appealing on my resume?
May 19, 2011 5:26 PM   Subscribe

ResumeFilter: How can I make my barista position more appealing on my resume?

I'm a recent college graduate working as a Starbucks barista hoping to move on to a office job.

I realize it's important to quantify your accomplishments but I was wondering according to which specific measurements I should do this. Number of transactions? Gross sales? And in what time frame? By shift, day, or week? My store doesn't get that busy so maybe weekly measurements would be more appealing?

Some other bullet points I've included are resolving customer complaints, an award that I've received, and complying with food and health safety standards.

Any other suggestions? Thanks!
posted by AngryTypingGuy to Work & Money (5 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
There's not a lot to quantify with that position. Sbux evaluates you on your ability to toe the line, and your willingness to take on more responsibility. (That is, if they're not looking to promote you to shift supervisor, you're not doing it right.) So if you can show that you've sought out and been given more responsibility, that's probably the most quantifiable thing you could put on your resume.

Other stuff worth considering:
- Cash Drawer operation (shows you're trustworthy)
- Excellent Customer Service, Anticipation, Follow-through, etc.
- Prioritizing in high pressure situations
- Building relationships, networking, etc.

Oh, and you should mention any Apron awards you've received.
posted by carsonb at 5:33 PM on May 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


Your college degree is probably going to help you more than your part-time coffee job. Don't waste a lot of scarce resume space noting all the things a barista does, put down your dates, any awards, maybe a line or two about customer service and that's it. Use the bulk of your resume to talk up your degree and any extracurriculars.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:02 PM on May 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Try taking what you did as a barista and tie it in with whatever degree you received. Was it a business degree? Tie it in with noticing how a corporation works. Was it a liberal arts degree? Tie it in with creating an atmosphere.

Either way, as a barista trying to get an office job, you:
Worked as a part of a team to achieve weekly/monthly/whatever sales goals (demonstrates teamwork).
Like carsonb mentions, demonstrated great customer service, follow-thru etc and you can work in fast paced and high pressure environments. (ability to be graceful under pressure).

If you had any specific duties, you could also tie those into an office position. It's all in how you view it. It's all in the skills you acquired there, that you can associate with an office job.
posted by Polgara at 6:11 PM on May 19, 2011


There are 2 reasons to list anything on a resume: quantitative measure and qualitative measure of your fitness to the job. Quantitatively, any work experience is only worth mentioning if it provides you with knowledge or skill applicable to the position you seek. Qualitatively, you can integrate a number of experiences into a theme which demonstrate your personality, strength, aptitude... these generally are not resume material (where space and reader time force demand precision) and make better interview material.

So, I'd suggest you find other quantitative things (grade, achievement, recognition) to put in the resume; and highlight your retail experience in the cover letter or extra-curriculum activities to demonstrate your other un-measured qualities.
posted by curiousZ at 6:18 PM on May 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


As an employer, the only piece I look at in terms of these types of college jobs is how long you were employed. If you had three of these jobs over the course of three years, I would wonder about it, in a negative way. If you held a job at the same location for three or four years, I would see that as a positive.

That's about all it is worth to me, 'cuz i'm not hiring you to make my coffee.
posted by tomswift at 7:02 PM on May 19, 2011


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