I want to work at Starbucks
Before all the Aussies hate on me for applying to Starbucks rather than a “real” coffeeshop, let me ask a few questions in anticipation of their reactions:
What does it mean to be a “real” coffeeshop?
What is “real” coffee?
This makes me think about my cheeky musing on whether all coffee made in Vietnam is technically Vietnamese coffee.
I initially hadn’t thought about applying to work at Starbucks (I’ve been eyeing casual roles in order to supplement my current non-existent income while I search for brand strategist roles—hit me up if you have an in here). I’d applied to be an gelato scooper (no response 😔 ), yoga instructor (some success🤞🏼), and lingerie sales associate (this will probably be a separate post 👻 ), but not a barista because often the pre-requisite was to know how to make coffee (catch-22).
But then I came across Amanda Gordon’s The Case.
The Case is a weekly brand strategy newsletter that is thought-provoking, fun to read, and, well, makes the case for brand. In my quest to stay up-to-date on the latest brand news and become immersed in Sydney’s brand strategy community, I stumbled upon Amanda and her work and instantly fell in love (I reached out to her to connect and fangirl, so tbc!). One of her recent newsletters profiles Starbucks and their latest brand strategy: a pivot back to its original roots as a community coffeehouse.
Hence I ask: What does it mean to be a “real” coffeehouse, and what does it mean to serve “real” coffee?
I’m obsessed with brand and love good brand (Know your identity. Storytell the shit out of it. Stay authentic inside and out.) so Starbucks’ reinvestment in brand, coupled with my dream of learning how to make espresso-based drinks and passion for creating community, spurred my desire to go apply to be a barista.
The most surprising thing that I’ve come across during the interview process for casual roles is how the interview process has changed over the years. Back when I was applying for hourly jobs (McDonald’s crew member 🍔) you would see a sign advertising “Help Wanted”, walk in, make an inquiry, and have a very informal interview—they just wanted to make sure you were competent and weren’t an asshole. My friends had similar experiences as well; the only times I remember interviews being slightly more rigorous were when children were involved (summer camp counselor).
Nothing illustrates this better than my interview process with Starbucks.
The first step was to submit my application, which consisted of uploading my resume to their internal job site (things are digital now!) and writing a cover letter (I am actually quite keen on the role so this was fine). After that, I received an email asking me to do a first round interview because everyone who applies gets to do a first interview! I think this is great because it gives everyone a chance to build their interviewing skills (one I’m sorely out of practice with) and get feedback on how they might improve (more on that later).
Props to the Marketing team for trying to show that Starbucks is a diverse place to work.
As you may have noticed from the email, the first interview was through chat, using AI (❗). Wow has technology advanced since my interviewing days.
Unfortunately I neglected to take a screenshot of this, but it essentially was like interacting with one of those virtual assistant chat bots on a travel website. They (it?) made some (pre-written) conversation, I responded in turn, and then they asked me questions about my experience and I responded to the best of my written ability while trying not to spend too much time crafting the perfect response (I’d given myself a time limit of 30 min for the interview process, starting from the actual application, in order to be more efficient and better prioritize my time.
After I submitted my response, I received an automated email thanking me for my time. It also said that they’d send me a personality assessment based on my interview responses (I still have not opened it) and that the team (AI?) would review my answers and be in touch quickly if I was invited to next steps.
I received a follow-up email less than a minute later (same time-stamp on this and the above) inviting me to the second round of interviews: still with AI but this time via video. I had a 48 hour window to complete this round.
In all honesty, I just winged it. I don’t think I did very, a large part because I haven’t practiced interviewing in a while (please ignore if you’re a recruiter stalking my online presence), had recently experienced a bout of self-doubt that left me unable to think of any accomplishments (if you are a recruiter please know I do have a lot of accomplishments), and frankly didn’t think I needed to do all that well to move on (okay I know this was pretty stupid of me).
In writing all of this, I have not heard back from Starbucks about my video interview. I’m guessing it’s a no since their last email said they’d be in touch if I was invited to the next step and it’s already been 24 hours (remember, email response from the first interview was < 60 seconds). Part of me is a bit bummed (I would’ve really liked to learn how to make coffee!) and a bit disappointed in myself (damn, I should’ve tried harder and taken it more seriously), but hey — like my dad would say — I learned a lot from this experience and got to write a blog post about it!
☕
Thoughts? Drop me a comment below!