Sample Barista Resume

With coffee as one of the most consumed beverages worldwide, it is not surprising that the barista job has become popular.

Although becoming a barista does not require any formal education, the job itself is complex and interesting. Likewise, baristas have a broad range of exciting career prospects.

Baristas with no experience are trained on the job, while some take up online barista training.

So, if you are up for a barista job, start brewing your barista resume and cover letter.

Yes, we know writing an impressive barista resume and cover letter is challenging, so we have put together a guide and some tips on how to write your own perfect resume template and a cover letter.

Plus, we have included barista resume examples to help you win that job.

You may also want to use a resume builder to save on time take a look at our templates.

In 2016, CareerExplorer reported over half a million baristas in the US, with the barista job market expected to grow by 4.6% between 2016 and 2026.

Baristas earn an average base pay that ranges from $9 to $14 per hour (Payscale)

Annually, baristas may earn $18k to $31k if you include bonuses, overtime pay, tips, and other forms of cash income (Payscale)

How to Make a Barista Resume

The purpose of a resume is to capture the attention of the hiring manager.

“Aha! This person seems to be the right one for the job.”

That kind of reaction is what you want to get from a hiring manager.

And you can do that by submitting an awesome resume.

A perfect barista resume should:

• Appeal to the hiring manager visually.
• Showcase your capabilities, strengths, and potentials.
• Be relevant and customized for the job you must do.
• Pass the applicant tracking system.

The Layout of the Barista Resume

In coffee-making, you observe specific standards such as the right amount of ingredients for various blends from fresh coffee.

It is the same as writing a barista resume.

Let’s begin with the overall look of your resume.

Create a polished, organized, and professional one-page design: It is safer to use the traditional single-column layout because it is more suitable for applicant tracking systems than the modern and cleaner-looking two-column layout.

Leave enough white space :

• Use a one-inch margin on all sides. You may reduce this to a half-inch at the most to fit everything on a single page.
• Use space to separate sections of your resume.
• Use single-line spacing for the body of your resume.

Highlight the section headings of to make them more visible to the recruiter.

• You may enclose each section in a box to clearly indicate what each section contains.
• Headings should use a bigger font size of about 12 to 16 pts and must be bold.
• Emphasize section headings either through colored fonts or shaded boxes.

Use highly legible fonts.

• The body of your resume must be around 10 or 11 pts, while your name should be 18 to 24 pts.
• Your name should be bold.
• Stick to standard fonts that are suitable to applicant tracking systems and easy to read, such as Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Georgia, Helvetica or Times New Roman.

Include the following sections in your resume:

• Resume Hook (optional)
• Header/Contact Information
• Resume Title (optional)
• Professional Summary or Career Objective
• Work Experience
• Education
• Skills
• Additional Headings such as Award & Certificates, Language, Associations, and Interests

The Structure of the Barista Resume

You have three format options for your barista resume. Select the right resume format based on your experience and transferable skills.

Reverse Chronological Order Resume Format for Barista

This format is the most popular among hiring managers, but it may not be the best option for everyone.

If you have relevant work experience to showcase, the best format is the reverse chronological order, highlighting your professional history.

This format presents your work history, starting with your current job if you are still employed or your most recent job.

Functional Resume Format for Barista

Use the functional format for your resume, if your transferable barista skills are more worthy of attention than your work history.

It is also the best format for making a career change or having employment gaps you do not want to highlight.

Combination Resume Format for Barista

This format is best used by baristas who have acquired expertise in their field, and therefore have a broad skill set in coffee drinks preparation and service.

Those who intend to change their career path may also use this.

Avoid using this format if you apply for an entry-level position and your educational background deserves more attention.

The Perfect Header for Your Barista Resume

This section of your barista resume is probably the easiest to write, but you need to be conscious of what personal data to include in this section.

Your header must include the following:

• Your full name
• Your current job title, e.g., Barista, Shift Supervisor, Coffee Shop Trainee.
• Mobile Number - Double-check if you typed in the correct number.
• Email Address - Keep it professional. Junk your juvenile email addresses
• Location - Include this only if you are applying for a barista job abroad.
• Relevant Social Media - This information is optional, but limit it to your LinkedIn profile if you must include a social media footprint.
• Mailing Address - You can include this in your barista resume only if the job ad mentions that job applicants must be residents of a particular area.

Example of a Good Header from a Barista Resume Sample

Check out the below professional barista resume sample

CORRECT

JOSEPH TAYLOR

Barista

joseph.taylor@gmail.com (123) 456 7890 LinkedIn.com/in/josephtaylor

The header example shows all essential contact information, including a professional email address. But, again, the applicant's name stands out from the rest of the content.

Example Of a Bad Header for a Barista

These sample barista resumes show you how not to write your header

INCORRECT

JOSEPH TAYLOR

smartjoe@gmail.com (123) 456 7890

LinkedIn.com/in/josephtaylor joesmart.roberts

101 White Green Boulevard, Berkeley, California

Joseph’s name is not visible enough to catch attention, and he forgot to include a reference title to what he does. Also, there is no need to clutter up space with his home address unless it’s been requested in the job advert.

Although there is nothing wrong with how the contact information is laid out, the email address is unprofessional.

Is a Photo Required in the Barista Resume?

No, unless the job ad specifically requires it.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warns against asking for a photo before being hired for a job.

Photos are required only for jobs dependent on the applicants' physical appearance, e.g., models.

Your profile picture in your LinkedIn account can take the place of a photo attached to your resume.

If you are applying for a barista job abroad where photos are still required, observe the following guidelines:

• Use a headshot where you are directly facing the camera.
• Look clean and tidy with your job-appropriate outfit.
• Choose a photo that projects your friendly and positive attitude.

Choosing Your Barista Resume Title

Although an optional item in the resume, the title is as valuable as the other sections.

The title makes your resume personalized as it sums up for the hiring manager where your barista experience and skills have brought your career.

Your title must highlight your relevant barista skills if you are applying for an entry-level position.

Your title should be brief but relevant. Ideally, it should contain keywords that match the job posting. Place your title after your contact information.

If we were to put a title on Michelle Roberts' resume above, we might write:

How to Write the Professional Summary of a Barista Resume

An experienced job seeker must write a professional barista resume summary.

It should contain three to four statements summarizing your professional history, achievements, and immediate career goal.

Those statements may be expressed in either a bulleted list or in paragraph form.

Look at this well-written professional summary example.

CORRECT

Customer-oriented and friendly barista with 3+ years of work experience. Highly skilled in the use and maintenance of espresso machines. Three-time best employee award recipient for contributing at least 5% increase in sales and delivery of excellent customer service. Aiming to join Coffee Treats as Barista Team Leader to assist in improving customer satisfaction

Compare the previous example with this one.

INCORRECT

Food server at a cafe for more than 3 years. Knowledgeable in coffee machines. Assisted in improving sales performance and provided exceptional service. Hopes to join Coffee Treats as Barista.

The first example is an impressive summary. In four short statements, the job applicant managed to share their personal traits, work experience, skills, and achievements with the hiring manager.

The last statement in the professional summary is brilliant. It spoke of the applicant’s intention to help the company.

On the other hand, the second statement simply relayed how long the applicant worked but did not sell any accomplishment or skill to the hiring manager.

How do you write your professional summary if you have no experience?

You won’t write a professional barista resume summary; instead, you will be writing a barista resume objective that highlights your personal traits and skills that match those specified in the job posting.

Below is an example of an attention-getting barista resume objective

CORRECT

Completed 120 hours of internship with a hotel chain's restaurant with a 90% evaluation score. Successfully organized the schools' annual cook-off with over 20 participating students, faculty, and school staff. Aims to join Coffee Dream as a barista to leverage customer service skills.

What can you say about this sample objective?

INCORRECT

Interested to work as a barista at Coffee Dream to acquire skills and apply what I learned in Culinary Arts. Sociable, as proven by my involvement in campus activities, fast-learner and friendly.

Despite the lack of experience, the first and correct objective example demonstrated the applicant's capabilities to fit the role.

In contrast, the second example showed how to lose the chance to be interviewed. Apart from sounding weak, it seemed uninspired, making you wonder if the applicant really wants the job.

Writing an Impressive Work Experience in the Barista Resume

For experienced job seekers, the work experience section is the most crucial part of your resume.

The previous sections have caught the hiring manager’s attention enough to read through your professional history.

Your challenge now is to keep them engaged and convince them that you are the right fit for the job.

How to Describe Your Professional Experiences on Your Barista Resume

Reverse-chronologically present your professional history

Start with your current or most recent job, then work your way through your first job.

For every job, indicate your job title, the company you worked for, and the period covered. No need for the exact dates; limit it to the month and year.

Use three to five bullet points to highlight relevant duties and responsibilities.

If possible, include at least one significant achievement in those bullet points.

Start each duty with a powerful action verb to create impact.

No experience to showcase? That’s alright.

Rely on your experiences as an intern or as a volunteer worker.

Think of the campus activities you participated in.

Which of those allowed you to demonstrate the traits and skills mentioned in the job posting?

They may not be professional experiences, but they reflect your capabilities just as well.

Example of Work Experience for an Entry Level Barista Resume

If you are a job seeker with no professional experience, here is an example of how you can write your work experience.

Example of Work Experience for an Experienced Barista Resume

Experienced baristas may get an idea from this work experience example.

Education in the Barista Resume

A barista role does not require educational qualifications, but employers generally prefer

candidates to have at least a high school diploma.

So, do you still need to include an education section?

Of course! You still need to show your educational background to boost your chances of landing the barista role you want.

Education vs. Work Experience in a Barista Resume

Which between the two should be given more emphasis?

It depends on which will increase your chances of being hired.

If you have relevant experience, put your Work Experience next to your summary.

If you do not have the experience, put your Education next to your objective.

If you have minimal experience, decide which is more relevant to the job.

How to Present Your Education in a Barista Resume

For college graduates, include the following:

• Your degree
• Name of school attended
• School’s location
• Year Graduated

If your college education is still ongoing, simply indicate the expected year of graduation. You may include relevant coursework.

You don't need to include your high school education unless you do not have any form of a college education.

Example of the Education Section of a Barista

Below is a sample Education section of a college student’s barista resume

Relevant Barista Resume Skills

What skills should you write in a barista resume? This is a common question, especially among freshers.

Look for barista job descriptions, and from there, you can determine what skills are essential to the barista position you would like to secure.

These are some of the skills the hiring manager needs to see:

Hard Skills:

• Food Safety and Hygiene
• Coffee Bean Grinding
• Espresso Machine
• Coffee Brewing
• Cash Handling
• Inventory Management
• Kitchen Operations
• Upselling and Cross-Selling

Soft Skills:

• Customer Service Skills
• Time Management
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Organizing Skills
• Teamwork
• Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
• Interpersonal Skills

Entry Level Barista Skills

The list of skills above is the specific skills a hiring manager would look for in job candidates.

However, they know that those applying for an entry-level barista role would not have all of those skills yet.

Instead, a hiring manager would look for the following skills and capabilities:

• Interpersonal Skills
• Customer Service
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Ability to comprehend and follow instructions in a professional manner
• Familiarity with basic kitchen equipment and ability to keep a clean and organized workspace
• Teamwork

Experienced Barista Skills

Job applicants with sufficient barista experience should demonstrate everything in the list above, although in varying degrees depending on the barista’s length of experience.

More seasoned baristas should have additional skills, such as:

• Ability to train new baristas
• Marketing
• Leadership
• Negotiation
• Quality Management

The Ideal Resume Hook for a Barista Resume

“Work hard. Have fun. Make history.” - Amazon’s tagline.

Three short statements yet say a lot about the brand.

The resume hook is similar to a tagline - your tagline.

It should concisely describe who you are relative to the barista position.

Let’s use these qualifications for a barista as reference:

“Strong verbal communication skills, basic numeric skills, ability to multitask, ability to spot and solve problems immediately, excellent customer service skills, ability to follow instructions, hospitality experience preferred”

Example of a tagline for an entry-level barista

An inexperienced applicant may write their tagline as:

Example of a tagline for an experienced barista

A possible tagline for an experienced barista would be:

Other Relevant Headings for Your Barista Resume

Besides your work experience, academic background, and skills, hiring managers would be interested in other facets of your personality that would be relevant to the job. So let's look at these other headings.

Computer Skills and Certifications for a Barista

This category reveals your enthusiasm for learning, which is an ideal trait for someone applying for any job.

Language for a Barista

Speaking other languages is a big plus when you are working in the hospitality business, where non-English speaking customers are most likely to visit.

Associations for a Barista

Are you a member of any social and socio-civic organizations or similar groups?

Your membership in such clubs and organizations can give you a competitive edge over other job candidates.

Involvement in clubs hones your people skills and other soft skills such as time management, conflict resolution, and communication skills.

Interests and Hobbies for Barista’s

Interests and hobbies are things you pursue outside of your work. Although they are not work-related, they give the hiring manager a glimpse of who you are and if you can fit in with the team.

Although there's nothing wrong with them, they do not reveal much about your character traits compared to photography, travel, blogging, sports, writing, or art.

Summary: Key Points for Writing a Barista Resume

Let's do a recap of how to write an excellent barista resume:

• Create a sleek, organized, and professional design for your resume. You may use a barista resume template for this.
• Use a format that is appropriate to your professional experience and credentials.
• Tailor the content of your resume by using keywords found in the job ad or job description.
• Include details that are relevant to the barista role.
• Emphasize sections of your resume that will give you a competitive advantage.

The Cover Letter: A Perfect Partner for Your Barista Resume

Writing a cover letter indicates that you are serious about going after the job. It is not easy to compose a letter, and if you took the time to write a cover letter, you earn brownie points with the hiring manager.

Your resume may showcase your credentials, but the cover letter elaborates on why you are suitable for the job.

On a single page, cite in one paragraph your key qualifications. If there were relevant credentials that you had to omit because they won't fit in the resume, use the cover letter to highlight them.

Proceed with two- to three-paragraph explanation of why you are the best fit for the job. Then, mention how the company can benefit when they choose you.

Close your cover letter with a date and time when you will make a follow-up.

Frequently Asked Questions for a Barista Resume

What Should a Barista Put On their Resume?

To create the best barista resume you can, you should put on your resume the critical skills and qualifications you bring to the job role.

Likewise, you should highlight your value-adding contribution to your current or previous jobs by citing your accomplishments, especially those achieved outside of your day-to-day duties.

How would you describe a Starbucks barista on a resume?

With Starbucks’ stature in the coffee business, people have high expectations from Starbucks baristas, who serve as frontliners.

The duties of Starbucks baristas go beyond food and drinks preparation and service, housekeeping, inventory management, and the usual stuff we see in a barista job description.

Starbucks baristas are expected to educate their customers on the history of each coffee blend, create sales opportunities, personalise the customer experience by writing the customers name on each cup, ask customers for feedback, and offer demonstrations using brewing equipment.

Given those expectations, we can describe a Starbucks barista as somebody passionate about learning and sharing knowledge, has outstanding communication skills, demonstrates consistent customer service excellence, and with an entrepreneurial spirit.

What Skills Does a Barista Need?

Barista skills equip you with the abilities you need to meet the demands of a coffee shop. Below are some of the skills that will transform you into a top-notch barista that can serve great coffee.

• Ability to differentiate blends of coffee. Basic coffee knowledge can be helpful at the entry-level.

  If you know how to differentiate a latte from a cappuccino or Americanos, you will quickly adapt to the role.

• Cash Management. Most baristas are tasked to process payments using either a POS or a cash register.
• Communication. A barista should be able to exchange timely information with customers and co-workers clearly and effectively.
• Customer Service. It begins with being friendly and polite to customers.

  A barista must be sensitive to the signals sent by customers so they can anticipate and assist them with their needs.

  The ultimate goal of this skill is to provide customers with a pleasant coffee shop experience.

• Multitasking. Coffee shop traffic may go crazy during certain hours of the day or days of the week.

  On such occasions, a barista should be able to pull through and complete their duties as quickly as possible, without sacrificing the quality of the served drinks or the service itself.

• Teamwork. This skill is crucial for keeping customers happy.

  If a coffee shops crew cannot work well as a team, service slip-ups are likely to happen.

  A barista should have the ability to work productively with the rest of the team and participate in a positive team environment.

What Qualities Make a Good Barista?

A good barista is:

• Adaptable. Baristas work in a fast-paced environment where slight changes to the way they do things become necessary.

  A good barista accepts these changes good-naturedly.

• Amiable. They love to be with people and would go out of their way to provide customers a happy experience.

  More than the ready smile, a good barista maintains his pleasant attitude even under stress.

• Detail-oriented. A good barista easily recognizes cues from customers and immediately spots abnormalities in operations, enabling them to react promptly and appropriately.
• Organized. A good barista has an efficient system for managing tasks such as preparing and serving customer’s orders.
• Well-mannered. No matter how excellent the coffee is, customers will go somewhere else if the barista is rude and unpleasant. A good barista is attentive, humble, and polite,