Starbucks

[snarfersnarf]

I know this might get a lot of grief since Starbucks is a large corporation but check this out before you judge. This job would not work out for a lot of you who prefer to stay as far away from society as possible. I understand that and hopefully one day I will be able to do that sustainably. In the meantime this job is crucial on so many levels which I will explain. 

I just moved into my van and I am still employed by Starbucks. I worked on and off with the company through my twenties (I am 29 currently). It is a great fallback since I can be rehired if I have left on good terms. I lost my job a few months back and I was able to jump back on at Starbucks with little problems since I was a good worker before I quit. I have worked as a barista for other cafes as well so the work is second nature to me at this point. It pays a little better than min. wage in my state, but we get small incremental raises the longer we stay with them. This is where it gets very worth it,

THE BENEFITS. The benefit package is really sweet and you only have to average 20 hours a week in order to qualify! You could, in theory, work 3 days in a row and have 4 to explore. I have back problems and am taking care of some other health/dental things before I hit the road indefinitely in the spring. 

1. Starbucks offers health insurance. 
2. I will also be setting my 401K up in a few months. 
3. When I am with the company long enough, I think it is a year, you get stock in the company. 
4. Do you want to take classes? Consider working with Starbucks, they pay for online classes through Arizona State University. You have to pay for half of it up front through a loan if necessary, but they reimburse you when you pass your classes at the end of the semester. You do have to pay for books and anything you need, like a laptop. I was able to list my books and laptop on my taxes and got a lot of that money back. Last time I was with the company I took advantage of this. I took a few film studies courses which were very fun. I also took some basic science classes because I grew up in a young earth creationist family, so I wanted to learn some things I never got a chance to hear as a kid. I did wind up taking out a loan way larger than I needed because I am irresponsible like that. I am still paying that and will be paying that for another year or two. As long as you are responsible it is a great way to earn some credits or even complete a degree. 
5. You also get a free lb of coffee beans, instant coffee, or tea a week which saves a ton of money for me. 
6. Endless free beverages when on the clock, and a free sandwich or food item per shift. 
7. You aren't supposed to, but at the end of the night everyone takes the pastries and out of date food and drinks home with them. You could feed yourself entirely off of that stuff if you weren't afraid of having a stroke. I have high cholesterol and am trying to lower that by eating better so I don't eat it anymore. I do grab stuff for my friends though. I used to stock my buddies family fridge after work every week. Everyone's mother loved me haha! 
8. You get free Spotify premium as an employee of Starbucks. It was part of the deal Spotify made with Starbucks to use them for their radio playlists. This is cool so you can save playlists and albums so you can still listen to your favorite tunes in the boonies. 
9. I get ice for my cooler, wash my dirty dishes, and get filtered water during my closing shifts. 
10. While on the road you get a discount on coffee. 
11. Their bathrooms are typically pretty clean and is its own enclosed bathroom where you can change and brush your teeth without anyone judging you. 
12. The biggest reason I am back at starbucks other than the reasons I have listed is the fact that I can transfer almost anywhere in the country (even across seas) very easily. I am going to be going to Fort Collins or New England after I get enough money to get my van set up and some money to travel on. When the time gets near, all I have to do is talk to my manager about transferring to a location I want to be based out of for the next few months. I plan on being in either place at least for the next 3-6 months so when the time is to move to the next place, I can put in a request for a transfer to another location. I think I am missing some perks, but you get the idea.

This job is also challenging to people who have not worked in the service industry or a cafe before. You do deal with some overly privileged brats to put it nicely. If you can brush off people like that and focus on the customers that are actually really cool you can handle it. You really do meet some cool people at the bucks. Typically the people you work with are cool as long as they do their end of the work during the shift. It's just fucking coffee, man. I find I say that about a lot of things in life, but it will help you keep your sanity in check if you can trivialize it like that. You will get covered in sugar syrups and concentrates if you work on the bar. Something to consider if bathing is an issue. I hope this helps anyone out there figure. I am not getting any money for new hires so this comes from a sincere position. Actually you do get money for recommending someone who stays with the company at least 6 months, so tell them snarfersnarf sent ya. :heart:

(Moderators note: This is a great post but hard to read. I changed nothing, just added formatting)

 

[sometimesido]

I also used to work at Starbucks as a Barista about 15 years ago. It was a good way to meet new people. The education reimbursement sounds pretty awesome too.

 

[snarfersnarf]

They like to hire Veterans too, I saw your signature.

 

[user 15722]

Perhaps you might consider contacting corporate and applying for a position to make inspections of ALL Starbucks and reporting your discoveries back to them. Quality control is what it's all about.

Someone does this for them.

You could either work solely for the main office, or, hire on at individual locations and present your findings as part of another salaried position?
( Well, I dunno if that option would work because of lightning fast background checks. )

...I walked into a pizza chain store Once-Upon-a-Time and a young girl behind the counter was talking enthusiastically with her co-worker about Hepatitis Type xxx that she, or her friend had... I really really did not consider it to be an appropriate topic for food service workers to be involved in as I stepped up to the order window !!! Yikes !

Their corporate offices sure would want to know about such things... wheels

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Perhaps you might consider contacting corporate and applying for a position to make inspections of ALL Starbucks and reporting your discoveries back to them.  Quality control is what it's all about.

Someone does this for them.

You could either work solely for the main office, or, hire on at individual locations and present your findings as part of another salaried position?
( Well, I dunno if that option would work because of lightning fast background checks. )

When I was a fulltimer previously and knew I would be in an area (100+/- miles) I would occasionally offer (successfully) to work as an independent contractor security/auditor reviewing security tapes and sales receipts for small/medium companies that either had small or no security departments.  It never hurts to ask/offer a service that can help a company's bottom line; especially when similar positions would be more "unique" and/or temporary/sporadic (and you can often/sometimes set your own reasonable compensation).

 

[Travelmonkey]

I like Starbucks and think Howard Schultz has his customers' and employees' interests as a top priority. They get a bum rap for the price of their product but I always thought this was silly; one needs to manage one's budget... When I was working I'd go almost every workday. Since I've switched careers, I go maybe 2x a month.

 

[CityWoman]

In NYC, the one really yucky thing I see Sbux employees having to do is clean the bathrooms after mentally ill homeless people mess them up with shit and piss all over the place. I feel so sorry for them. They have a lot of drunks and homeless to deal with. In the right part of the country, good be a good gig, I'm sure.

And I don't know how they get away with blasting the most awful music -- one employee told me he puts his own ipod in the system, and he was playing all kinds of horrible gangster rap with cursing and sexist lyrics. And so loud you cannot have a convo or hear yourself think. At every Sbux I've been to, I have to ask them to lower the music.

As far as trying to get a gig reporting on quality, as some have suggested, Sbux already contracts with established mystery shopping companies for that. So you'd have to register with an MSC but it's ind. contractor work with no benies.

 

[snarfersnarf]

Perhaps you might consider contacting corporate and applying for a position to make inspections of ALL Starbucks and reporting your discoveries back to them.  Quality control is what it's all about.

Someone does this for them.

You could either work solely for the main office, or, hire on at individual locations and present your findings as part of another salaried position?
( Well, I dunno if that option would work because of lightning fast background checks. )

...I walked into a pizza chain store Once-Upon-a-Time and a young girl behind the counter was talking enthusiastically with her co-worker about Hepatitis Type xxx that she, or her friend had...  I really really did not consider it to be an appropriate topic for food service workers to be involved in as I stepped up to the order window !!!  Yikes !

Their corporate offices sure would want to know about such things...   wheels

Thanks for the response. That is such a good idea. I might have to talk to my DM to see if such a position exists. They are typically open to employees ideas. The crazy things you hear from behind the counter, it is nuts!

 

[snarfersnarf]

In NYC, the one really yucky thing I see Sbux employees having to do is clean the bathrooms after mentally ill homeless people mess them up with shit and piss all over the place.  I feel so sorry for them.  They have a lot of drunks and homeless to deal with.  In the right part of the country, good be a good gig, I'm sure.

And I don't know how they get away with blasting the most awful music -- one employee told me he puts his own ipod in the system, and he was playing all kinds of horrible gangster rap with cursing and sexist lyrics.  And so loud you cannot have a convo or hear yourself think.  At every Sbux I've been to, I have to ask them to lower the music.

As far as trying to get a gig reporting on quality, as some have suggested, Sbux already contracts with established mystery shopping companies for that.  So you'd have to register with an MSC but it's ind. contractor work with no benies.

Holy hell, what is wrong with people? I refused to clean up the ladies room one time because it was covered in period blood. It was like someone intentionally spread their blood everywhere. I told my manager I wasn't paid well enough to deal with that. He understood and did it. I felt bad, but seriously. You get a few really creepy people too. A voyeur cam was found in the men's room at my first store the week before I started. A co worker of mine was telling me that she worked at a store they called The Wasp. He would look at porn and then go to the bathroom and I won't describe what he did after that. PM me for details if you are curious. So yeah, there is a few really bad things you deal with. I know a dude who just transferred to a store in NYC, I will have to ask him if he has seen any crazy shit yet. I would absolutely not want to work in a major city. Also, if you can avoid it, don't work at a drive thru location. they stay way busier at all times.  

The music hasn't been too bad since I have been back. They played a song by The Breeders and Big Star today. We can pick between a handful of playlists as well. I usually just put it on reggae. Sometimes they will intentionally put the music louder close to closing time to encourage the stragglers to exit before 5 min after closing.

 

[snarfersnarf]

I like Starbucks and think Howard Schultz has his customers' and employees' interests as a top priority.  They get a bum rap for the price of their product but I always thought this was silly; one needs to manage one's budget...  When I was working I'd go almost every workday.  Since I've switched careers, I go maybe 2x a month.

I almost quit drinking coffee altogether when I stopped working here last time. It adds up for sure. A medium drink with maybe one or two modifiers will run you a good $6 easily. Some people will come every day multiple times a day. Let's just say they come one time a day that is $42 a week if you don't get a snack or tip. It adds up to $2,184 a year! That is modest for some people too. We have people that will come through with their huge white SUVs loaded with kids and each kid gets a drink and cake pops. I am not trying to judge anyone for how they spend their money, but it is unreal to me. I have been hoarding the instant via packets for my weekly markout, which is amazing for camping. It is just microground coffee, so you can mix it with cold water if you don't want to boil water. I use them for long kayak trips, and for on the road. It doesn't taste as good but it gets the job done. You also become everyone's best friend when you have coffee to offer them out on the road/river/woods. Another thing you should consider when you pay a lot of money for their coffee beans, they try to treat the farmers well too.

 

[snarfersnarf]

When I was a fulltimer previously and knew I would be in an area (100+/- miles) I would occasionally offer (successfully) to work as an independent contractor security/auditor reviewing security tapes and sales receipts for small/medium companies that either had small or no security departments.  It never hurts to ask/offer a service that can help a company's bottom line; especially when similar positions would be more "unique" and/or temporary/sporadic (and you can often/sometimes set your own reasonable compensation).

Great input, thanks! I just left the beer wholesale industry as a craft beer specialist. I have been thinking of doing basically what you described for small to medium sized breweries and try to gain new placements and points of distribution. Very interesting idea to do that with security. Did you have to create a company or LLC or anything like that to do this? I'd be interested in more details as it sounds like I could do a similar thing, just with sales outside of starbucks.

 

[duckwonder]

Good for you with Starbucks!  I avoid them in the city when I'm home because I have a Varisimo (ha!) but when I went out for the first time in the van, yes I actually did bring the Varisimo but can't do that when boondocking for a long time, I panicked so I went to Starbucks and told them what I was doing.  They asked if I had the app, no, I did not.  I immediately got it, loaded $100 to it and used the heck out of that thing!  I got so many stars that I had free coffee for over 5000 miles, not kidding!!!!  Pretty awesome.  Hard to find a great company to work for these days and you can't beat their benes for part-time.  I'd say they have quite an asset in you.  Stick with it.  

 

[snarfersnarf]

Good for you with Starbucks!  I avoid them in the city when I'm home because I have a Varisimo (ha!) but when I went out for the first time in the van, yes I actually did bring the Varisimo but can't do that when boondocking for a long time, I panicked so I went to Starbucks and told them what I was doing.  They asked if I had the app, no, I did not.  I immediately got it, loaded $100 to it and used the heck out of that thing!  I got so many stars that I had free coffee for over 5000 miles, not kidding!!!!  Pretty awesome.  Hard to find a great company to work for these days and you can't beat their benes for part-time.  I'd say they have quite an asset in you.  Stick with it.  

thanks for the kind words! I can get the Varisimo pods for my weekly markout as well if I ever get one. Check out those via packets for when you are boondocking! they aren't as tasty, but are so easy.