The majority of proprietors of coffee shops wait much too long to hire a manager, yet the reasons why are straightforward to comprehend. It takes a significant amount of trust to hire a manager. A manager effectively acts as a stand-in for “you” as the proprietor of a coffee business. Where do you even start looking for someone that is capable of doing the same thing that you do?
The fact of the matter is that the proprietors of most coffee shops put much too much emphasis on finding someone who is essentially a “mini-me” of themselves, and not nearly enough on determining whether or not the candidate is qualified for the position. It is not only acceptable but also desirable to work for a company that employs managers that operate somewhat differently than you do. If you are prepared to allow your vision for the company become more adaptable, a capable manager may prove to be an invaluable asset in the expansion of your organisation.
The fact that you’re employing a manager to make your life simpler is perhaps the most essential reason. Training, feedback from employees, inventory management, and report writing are all responsibilities that a qualified manager is more than capable of taking on and relieving you of. Some people who own businesses have trouble accepting the fact that they need assistance, yet ignoring the fact that you require assistance is a fast track to burnout. If you are honest about the fact that managing a coffee shop involves a lot of tasks that are more effectively performed by two individuals than by one, the process of recruiting new managers will go much more smoothly.
In light of all of this, the answers to the following questions are ones that we’ve discovered to be a very decent indicator of success in a managerial capacity. They are directly pertinent to the position that is currently being filled, much as our barista interview questions. Keep in mind that the capacity of a prospective manager to accomplish the job is what is most crucial, regardless of how well or poorly you get along with them on a personal level.
A word on open-ended questions: the majority of the questions presented here are, to varying degrees, quite open-ended. It is important to keep in mind that interviews are a particularly nerve-wracking experience; yet, open-ended questions may be helpful since they provide candidates the opportunity to apply their own personal experiences. It is not always a sign that an applicant is not qualified for the position if they are unable to provide a convincing sample of their previous work. As the person conducting the interview, it is beneficial to have some examples of your own prepared to use as a prompt for the applicant or to create a hypothetical situation for them to reply to. If you conduct an interview and ask open-ended questions without addressing the stressors involved, you run the risk of missing out on some excellent recruits.
Wondering How To Land A Job in a Coffee Shop? Check Out These 5 Tips!
Tell me about a time you had to make a decision quickly without all of the information.
How did you handle it?
There’s no getting past the fact that coffee shops are quite busy places. During the course of the day, there is continuous pressure on a manager to make snap judgments. Working at a coffee shop may provide a variety of challenges, some of which may include interactions with customers, some with supplies or equipment, and still others with a variety of other types of problems. Your boss ought to be able to handle stress in the same way that you do and come up with sensible conclusions when they’re under pressure.
To provide an adequate response to this question, the applicant should first paint a picture for you, after which they should describe their line of reasoning and the steps they took. You are free to judge their answer, but it is much more essential for you to learn how they went about solving the problem. It’s a good indicator if they go through the possible possibilities fast and then choose the one that they believe will either work the best or be the least problematic.
If you were to provide an example of your own, you might say something along the lines of, “Our machine began acting up when we had a line of customers, so I let everyone know and gave some alternative drink options if a customer didn’t want to take a risk on our quirky machine that day.” Was it the most effective course of action? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact that a decision was reached promptly is what really important. You may always come back at a later time to reflect on what you might have done differently the next time around.
Tell me about a time you’ve experienced a big change.
How did you handle it? What, if anything did you learn from it?
This question is more concerned with the applicant’s perspective on personal development, in contrast to the last question, which was more centred on day-to-day challenges. The desire to advance oneself is a valuable quality in any worker, but it is an attribute that is far more desirable in a manager than it is in a barista. You should, ideally, be able to obtain an understanding of how the candidate reacts to challenging situations and how they choose to make the most of it.
Starting your own company could be the best thing to use as an illustration of what you should do for yourself. The process of getting started almost surely involves a lot of significant changes; thus, I am curious how you personally prepared for them and dealt with them. What do you get out of being around them? It’s possible that this was the impetus for you to start looking for a manager. After attempting to take on too much, I recognised that I need assistance in order to make this work.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
How did you handle it? What did you learn from it?
No matter how skilled a management is, they will always make some errors. Because your manager serves as an example for the other workers, it is of the utmost importance that you choose someone who is able to admit when they are wrong.
The need of gaining wisdom from past blunders is another important aspect of this subject. It is inevitable that mistakes may be made, but you should inquire about the actions the applicant has taken to avoid repeating the error in the future. It is to the candidate’s advantage to have incorporated as many checks as possible. For instance, if they had previously forgotten to purchase sufficient quantities of an item, a good explanation would be that they have now established recurrent alerts to remind them of this fact, in addition to adding it to a checklist. A strong managerial quality is the ability to proactively eliminate the possibility of future errors.
You have certain choices available to you when it comes to presenting your own personal example. Consider an error you’ve made in the past and how you overcame it in a manner that gives you confidence, and then see if the applicant can come up with an answer that’s comparable to your own. You also have the option of presenting the applicant with a mistake for which you are unsure of whether or not you have provided a satisfactory solution. You may use this as a test to see whether or not the candidate is someone who will be able to assist you in conceiving of solutions that you do not already have.
We have daily (weekly, monthly) team sales goals as a store. What would you do to achieve those goals?
How would you communicate those goals to the team? What would your follow-up look like?
A variation of this question is usually an excellent idea to ask, even if you haven’t previously established precise sales targets for the company. It is essential for the manager to always have the store’s financial information in the forefront of their mind. Although cost reducing is not required for everything, coffee shops often do not have the luxury of spending money on unnecessary extras.
A manager also has to be ready to urge other members of the team to think about sales. It is easy to walk into work at a coffee shop and only think about cleaning, preparing coffee, and taking orders, but being a successful barista also involves a significant aspect of salesmanship. Your manager should be able to assist the team in developing methods to increase the average ticket price of transactions, assist other members of the team in setting their own targets, and provide coaching to those members of the team who struggle with attaining those goals.
In the end, you are running a company, and every competent manager is aware of this fact. Creating a happy and supportive team is a tremendous asset to a successful company, but the efforts of that team need to be focused toward producing money in order for the organisation to be successful.
The majority of proprietors of coffee shops wait much too long to hire a manager, yet the reasons why are straightforward to comprehend. It takes a significant amount of trust to hire a manager. A manager effectively acts as a stand-in for “you” as the proprietor of a coffee business. Where do you even start looking for someone that is capable of doing the same thing that you do?
The fact of the matter is that the proprietors of most coffee shops put much too much emphasis on finding someone who is essentially a “mini-me” of themselves, and not nearly enough on determining whether or not the candidate is qualified for the position. It is not only acceptable but also desirable to work for a company that employs managers that operate somewhat differently than you do. If you are prepared to allow your vision for the company become more adaptable, a capable manager may prove to be an invaluable asset in the expansion of your organisation.
The fact that you’re employing a manager to make your life simpler is perhaps the most essential reason. Training, feedback from employees, inventory management, and report writing are all responsibilities that a qualified manager is more than capable of taking on and relieving you of. Some people who own businesses have trouble accepting the fact that they need assistance, yet ignoring the fact that you require assistance is a fast track to burnout. If you are honest about the fact that managing a coffee shop involves a lot of tasks that are more effectively performed by two individuals than by one, the process of recruiting new managers will go much more smoothly.
In light of all of this, the answers to the following questions are ones that we’ve discovered to be a very decent indicator of success in a managerial capacity. They are directly pertinent to the position that is currently being filled, much as our barista interview questions. Keep in mind that the capacity of a prospective manager to accomplish the job is what is most crucial, regardless of how well or poorly you get along with them on a personal level.
A word on open-ended questions: the majority of the questions presented here are, to varying degrees, quite open-ended. It is important to keep in mind that interviews are a particularly nerve-wracking experience; yet, open-ended questions may be helpful since they provide candidates the opportunity to apply their own personal experiences. It is not always a sign that an applicant is not qualified for the position if they are unable to provide a convincing sample of their previous work. As the person conducting the interview, it is beneficial to have some examples of your own prepared to use as a prompt for the applicant or to create a hypothetical situation for them to reply to. If you conduct an interview and ask open-ended questions without addressing the stressors involved, you run the risk of missing out on some excellent recruits.
Tell me about a time you had to make a decision quickly without all of the information.
How did you handle it?
There’s no getting past the fact that coffee shops are quite busy places. During the course of the day, there is continuous pressure on a manager to make snap judgments. Working at a coffee shop may provide a variety of challenges, some of which may include interactions with customers, some with supplies or equipment, and still others with a variety of other types of problems. Your boss ought to be able to handle stress in the same way that you do and come up with sensible conclusions when they’re under pressure.
To provide an adequate response to this question, the applicant should first paint a picture for you, after which they should describe their line of reasoning and the steps they took. You are free to judge their answer, but it is much more essential for you to learn how they went about solving the problem. It’s a good indicator if they go through the possible possibilities fast and then choose the one that they believe will either work the best or be the least problematic.
If you were to provide an example of your own, you might say something along the lines of, “Our machine began acting up when we had a line of customers, so I let everyone know and gave some alternative drink options if a customer didn’t want to take a risk on our quirky machine that day.” Was it the most effective course of action? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact that a decision was reached promptly is what really important. You may always come back at a later time to reflect on what you might have done differently the next time around.
Tell me about a time you’ve experienced a big change.
How did you handle it? What, if anything did you learn from it?
This question is more concerned with the applicant’s perspective on personal development, in contrast to the last question, which was more centred on day-to-day challenges. The desire to advance oneself is a valuable quality in any worker, but it is an attribute that is far more desirable in a manager than it is in a barista. You should, ideally, be able to obtain an understanding of how the candidate reacts to challenging situations and how they choose to make the most of it.
Starting your own company could be the best thing to use as an illustration of what you should do for yourself. The process of getting started almost surely involves a lot of significant changes; thus, I am curious how you personally prepared for them and dealt with them. What do you get out of being around them? It’s possible that this was the impetus for you to start looking for a manager. After attempting to take on too much, I recognised that I need assistance in order to make this work.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
How did you handle it? What did you learn from it?
No matter how skilled a management is, they will always make some errors. Because your manager serves as an example for the other workers, it is of the utmost importance that you choose someone who is able to admit when they are wrong.
The need of gaining wisdom from past blunders is another important aspect of this subject. It is inevitable that mistakes may be made, but you should inquire about the actions the applicant has taken to avoid repeating the error in the future. It is to the candidate’s advantage to have incorporated as many checks as possible. For instance, if they had previously forgotten to purchase sufficient quantities of an item, a good explanation would be that they have now established recurrent alerts to remind them of this fact, in addition to adding it to a checklist. A strong managerial quality is the ability to proactively eliminate the possibility of future errors.
You have certain choices available to you when it comes to presenting your own personal example. Consider an error you’ve made in the past and how you overcame it in a manner that gives you confidence, and then see if the applicant can come up with an answer that’s comparable to your own. You also have the option of presenting the applicant with a mistake for which you are unsure of whether or not you have provided a satisfactory solution. You may use this as a test to see whether or not the candidate is someone who will be able to assist you in conceiving of solutions that you do not already have.
We have daily (weekly, monthly) team sales goals as a store. What would you do to achieve those goals?
How would you communicate those goals to the team? What would your follow-up look like?
A variation of this question is usually an excellent idea to ask, even if you haven’t previously established precise sales targets for the company. It is essential for the manager to always have the store’s financial information in the forefront of their mind. Although cost reducing is not required for everything, coffee shops often do not have the luxury of spending money on unnecessary extras.
In addition to this, a manager has to be confident in their ability to inspire other members of the team to think about sales. It is easy to walk into work at a coffee shop and only think about cleaning, preparing coffee, and taking orders, but being a successful barista also involves a significant aspect of salesmanship. Your manager should be able to assist the team in developing methods to increase the average ticket price of transactions, assist other members of the team in setting their own targets, and provide coaching to those members of the team who struggle with attaining those goals.
In the end, you are running a company, and every competent manager is aware of this fact. Creating a happy and supportive team is a tremendous asset to a successful company, but the efforts of that team need to be focused toward producing money in order for the organisation to be successful.