Hiring staff: any interview tips...? - Barista Exchange2024-03-28T19:29:11Zhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview?commentId=1688216%3AComment%3A416830&feed=yes&xn_auth=noA couple that I have run acro…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-02:1688216:Comment:4168472009-04-02T17:46:06.599ZMike Spencehttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/MikeSpence
A couple that I have run across over the years that always provide good insight:<br />
1) We run a background check on each new hire - Anything we should know? (amazing what you learn).<br />
2) What do your parents do for a living - If their parents owned a business chances are they grew up with a good work ethic.<br />
3) If you really like and click with the person - be even more careful when hiring them. We tend to skip steps when we have that "what a great guy" attitude during the interview.
A couple that I have run across over the years that always provide good insight:<br />
1) We run a background check on each new hire - Anything we should know? (amazing what you learn).<br />
2) What do your parents do for a living - If their parents owned a business chances are they grew up with a good work ethic.<br />
3) If you really like and click with the person - be even more careful when hiring them. We tend to skip steps when we have that "what a great guy" attitude during the interview. The last question I always as…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-02:1688216:Comment:4168302009-04-02T17:25:06.600ZBarat Smithhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/BaratSmith
The last question I always ask is "Why should I hire you? What are you going to bring to us that no one else will?" Always a fun question to ask in a group setting.
The last question I always ask is "Why should I hire you? What are you going to bring to us that no one else will?" Always a fun question to ask in a group setting. They may be a wonderful emplo…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-02:1688216:Comment:4165122009-04-02T12:39:46.986ZTerikahttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/Terika
They may be a wonderful employee in all other aspects of the job, but they are never going to be a <i>great</i> barista, nor will they ever truly understand and participate in the coffee culture.<br />
<br />
<cite>Jonathan Meadows said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment416398"><div>Hiring a Barista that doesn't like coffee would be the equivalent of hiring a chef who doesn't really like food...<br></br> <br></br> <cite>Black Sheep Coffee…</cite></div>
</blockquote>
They may be a wonderful employee in all other aspects of the job, but they are never going to be a <i>great</i> barista, nor will they ever truly understand and participate in the coffee culture.<br />
<br />
<cite>Jonathan Meadows said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment416398"><div>Hiring a Barista that doesn't like coffee would be the equivalent of hiring a chef who doesn't really like food...<br/> <br/>
<cite>Black Sheep Coffee North said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment414870"><div>You'd be suprised how many people that have applied that respond to my question of "Do you like coffee?" to "Well sorta."<br/> I'm thinking then, well why do you want to work here?<br/> I don't know, I guess I see it as if you don't like coffee, then how are you going to be able to taste/pick apart bean characteristics, and such.<br/>
It sounds like the simplest question ever, however it's a very good one.</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote> Hiring a Barista that doesn't…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-02:1688216:Comment:4163982009-04-02T05:59:33.550ZJonathan Meadowshttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/JonathanMeadows
Hiring a Barista that doesn't like coffee would be the equivalent of hiring a chef who doesn't really like food...<br />
<br />
<cite>Black Sheep Coffee North said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment414870"><div>You'd be suprised how many people that have applied that respond to my question of "Do you like coffee?" to "Well sorta."<br></br> I'm thinking then, well why do you want to work here?<br></br> I don't know, I guess I see it as if…</div>
</blockquote>
Hiring a Barista that doesn't like coffee would be the equivalent of hiring a chef who doesn't really like food...<br />
<br />
<cite>Black Sheep Coffee North said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment414870"><div>You'd be suprised how many people that have applied that respond to my question of "Do you like coffee?" to "Well sorta."<br/> I'm thinking then, well why do you want to work here?<br/>
I don't know, I guess I see it as if you don't like coffee, then how are you going to be able to taste/pick apart bean characteristics, and such.<br/>
It sounds like the simplest question ever, however it's a very good one.</div>
</blockquote> The usual things like, "Do yo…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-02:1688216:Comment:4160182009-04-02T01:47:47.321ZBryan Wrayhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/BryanWray
The usual things like, "Do you have a car? How many customer service jobs have you worked at in the past? Are you a morning person or a night person? Introvert or extrovert?" I usually wrap up with "Have you worked in the industry before?" If they say yes, I'll ask them where. If it's commercial chain crap, then I ask them if they are ready to forget everything they have ever learned about coffee up until this point. If it's an independent I haven't heard of I do exactly what Jesse said, I ask…
The usual things like, "Do you have a car? How many customer service jobs have you worked at in the past? Are you a morning person or a night person? Introvert or extrovert?" I usually wrap up with "Have you worked in the industry before?" If they say yes, I'll ask them where. If it's commercial chain crap, then I ask them if they are ready to forget everything they have ever learned about coffee up until this point. If it's an independent I haven't heard of I do exactly what Jesse said, I ask them to make me a drink. If they have solid technique that needs a little tweaking then I'll say so. If they have horrible technique I usually don't hire them. Bad habits are very hard to break. I also ask what they think a reasonable amount of training time is. Also, instead of asking, "Do you like coffee" (to which any applicant with half a brain would reply 'yes' even if it was a lie) I ask, "What is your favorite thing about coffee as a drink?" After that I usually ask what their favorite things about coffee shops are. Finally I ask them what's in their back seat and trunk of their car (if they have one). If they can't clean up after themselves outside these walls, I don't suspect they will do so <i>inside</i> these walls either.<br />
<br />
-bry<br />
<br />
<cite>Black Sheep Coffee North said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment414870"><div>You'd be suprised how many people that have applied that respond to my question of "Do you like coffee?" to "Well sorta."<br/> I'm thinking then, well why do you want to work here?<br/>
I don't know, I guess I see it as if you don't like coffee, then how are you going to be able to taste/pick apart bean characteristics, and such.<br/>
It sounds like the simplest question ever, however it's a very good one.</div>
</blockquote> Wow awesome! Thanks for all y…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-01:1688216:Comment:4157932009-04-01T21:51:18.957Zevehttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/eve
Wow awesome! Thanks for all your great replies, they are definately not the answers I expected but I guess we are more looking for a person with a certain character than an enormous amount of knowledge.<br />
<br />
I love the idea for a group interview :-)
Wow awesome! Thanks for all your great replies, they are definately not the answers I expected but I guess we are more looking for a person with a certain character than an enormous amount of knowledge.<br />
<br />
I love the idea for a group interview :-) I had a boss that would ask t…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-01:1688216:Comment:4155602009-04-01T20:43:04.698ZTerikahttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/Terika
I had a boss that would ask the person to role play an interaction with a customer. Whether they eagerly jump in or they shift uncomfortably and say "do I have to?" can tell you a lot about their personality and the type of person you are interviewing.
I had a boss that would ask the person to role play an interaction with a customer. Whether they eagerly jump in or they shift uncomfortably and say "do I have to?" can tell you a lot about their personality and the type of person you are interviewing. my boss use to ask people two…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-01:1688216:Comment:4151362009-04-01T16:07:20.063Ztifhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/tif
my boss use to ask people two questions in their interview, and only two:<br />
1. what's your zodiac sign?<br />
2. what's your favorite color?<br />
<br />
obviously, you should ask more than this. but you may wanna include them :)
my boss use to ask people two questions in their interview, and only two:<br />
1. what's your zodiac sign?<br />
2. what's your favorite color?<br />
<br />
obviously, you should ask more than this. but you may wanna include them :) Wow, great advice here.
Bara…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-01:1688216:Comment:4151062009-04-01T15:36:41.550ZJon Mitchellhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/hoglover
Wow, great advice here.<br />
<br />
<cite>Barat Smith said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment415087"><div>I generally do group interviews to help each person feel more comfortable. Then I can get a feel for how they interact with someone they haven't met before. I ask them what observations they have about our store, and how they would improve it.<br></br> <br></br> The main thing I try to do in an interview is listen to how they are…</div>
</blockquote>
Wow, great advice here.<br />
<br />
<cite>Barat Smith said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topics/hiring-staff-any-interview#1688216Comment415087"><div>I generally do group interviews to help each person feel more comfortable. Then I can get a feel for how they interact with someone they haven't met before. I ask them what observations they have about our store, and how they would improve it.<br/> <br/>
The main thing I try to do in an interview is listen to how they are answering my questions. I've found that a potential employee will "say" a lot of things to get a job (especially right now), but that doesn't always mean they come through on their promises. Are they comfortable talking to you, are they nervous, do they maintain eye contact the whole time, are they confident in themselves.<br/>
<br/>
The most important thing for me though is the first impression. They will have about 1-3 minutes to leave a lasting impression with the customer, and I'm giving them about 20-30 minutes. If they haven't captured my attention in the first 5 minutes, that's the impression the customer will get.<br/>
<br/>
Hire slow. Fire fast.</div>
</blockquote> I generally do group intervie…tag:www.baristaexchange.com,2009-04-01:1688216:Comment:4150872009-04-01T15:22:25.051ZBarat Smithhttps://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/BaratSmith
I generally do group interviews to help each person feel more comfortable. Then I can get a feel for how they interact with someone they haven't met before. I ask them what observations they have about our store, and how they would improve it.<br />
<br />
The main thing I try to do in an interview is listen to how they are answering my questions. I've found that a potential employee will "say" a lot of things to get a job (especially right now), but that doesn't always mean they come through on their…
I generally do group interviews to help each person feel more comfortable. Then I can get a feel for how they interact with someone they haven't met before. I ask them what observations they have about our store, and how they would improve it.<br />
<br />
The main thing I try to do in an interview is listen to how they are answering my questions. I've found that a potential employee will "say" a lot of things to get a job (especially right now), but that doesn't always mean they come through on their promises. Are they comfortable talking to you, are they nervous, do they maintain eye contact the whole time, are they confident in themselves.<br />
<br />
The most important thing for me though is the first impression. They will have about 1-3 minutes to leave a lasting impression with the customer, and I'm giving them about 20-30 minutes. If they haven't captured my attention in the first 5 minutes, that's the impression the customer will get.<br />
<br />
Hire slow. Fire fast.