People love to spend their days in coffee shops. These establishments are used by people to unwind while some do their work there. They are quite popular. You will meet different people every day. To work in these establishments requires flexibility and a great attitude. You can get employed with a high school diploma. It is important to know the nature of the questions to expect in this interview. Below we look at 25 common questions and their sample answers.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
Based on the job description on the vacancy notice, I believe that my skills, qualities, and qualifications match the job requirements. In my experience, I have worked in different coffee establishments and I am well equipped with different skills to handle any particular work. I can work as a cashier, barista, and waiter and can also clean tables as well as the floors. I am also a good communicator and great at customer service. I am also a great planner and multi-tasker. I also work well in a team and I believe I will make a great addition to the coffee shop.
2. What Are The Roles You Expect To Handle For This Position?
Working in a coffee shop exposes you to a wide variety of roles. You need to be agile and flexible to handle any role available. You should be great at cashiering and making coffee too. You should be able to clean and wait tables at the same time. You should also have basic pastry-making skills as this will come in handy in making accompaniments to serve with the coffee. I am confident in my pastry-making skills and I believe it will offer an additional advantage to the organization. Throughout my work life, I have enjoyed working in coffee shops and therefore I have developed these skills that will help me deliver great results here.
3. What Are The Qualities You Need To Be Successful For This Role?
In this role, I will be at the forefront of the organization serving clients. I will greet customers and assist with their menu choices based on their preferences and diet restrictions. I expect that I will share the product knowledge to assist customers to make informed choices of the different coffees and the pastries. I will take their orders for drinks and food. I will also stay around the dining area to respond to guests’ needs. I will also deliver the food to client tables from the kitchen. I will ensure that the order details have been translated accordingly. I will ensure that the orders are served on time too.
4. What Major Challenges Did You Face During Your Last Job? How Did You Manage Them?
At the start of my career, I had trouble handling some difficult customers. I would get offended easily by interacting with them. I spoke with my colleagues about it and realized that some clients are generally rude. To manage this I just laugh it off and continue with the service. I do not get offended. I also try to joke with them to match their energy. However, when it becomes disrespectful, I let them get served by someone else.
5. Describe Your Daily Routine In A Coffee Shop?
The opening shift starts with cleaning and ensuring that everything is set for the day. We prepare and brew our morning coffee batch according to our expectations of the day. Pastries are prepared so that they can be served with the coffee. Any missing supplies are ordered or procured from the market so that we do not run out of something in the middle of serving guests. I will welcome the walk-in clients and assist them to get seated. I will take orders placed by clients and follow up on them. I must deliver an appealing meal or beverage to the table. I will clear the tables and transfer the dishes to the dishwashing area. I will also follow up on any takeaway orders that clients leave with me to pick up later.
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience?
I have four years of experience in different coffee shops around town. I believe this experience will come in handy in my role here. In the years that I have worked in this role, I was able to develop key sales skills such as communication and interpersonal skills. I have the confidence to handle different types of clients and ensure their needs are satisfied. Over the past year, I have developed my customer handling skills and undertaken courses to develop customer service skills. This I believe is at the heart of the continuous improvement strategies of the coffee shop.
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Are Required For This Role?
Working in a coffee shop requires that you have an upbeat personality. You should be passionate, creative, and tech-savvy. You need a confident and go-getter mindset to ensure you deliver your best to the clients. You need to be able to multi-task as you may be required to handle more than one role. You should be flexible too and committed to achieving great results. Over the years, I have challenged myself to develop these skills and I believe they will be instrumental in making my work here easy.
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge You Foresee In This Job?
The main challenge that I have encountered in working in coffee shops s the high turnover of staff thereby you may be called upon to handle extra shifts or duties. This has been a challenge in my previous roles too. This may be because the young generation loses interest quickly and are eager to enter into new challenges. As someone who enjoys working in coffee shops because I love the sense of community, it brings may be discouraging. I will work on keeping my motivation up so that I do not struggle with work.
9. How Do You Stay Motivated At Work?
I am motivated by feeling a sense of belonging to my workplace. I like working in a coffee shop as it feels like it is a family. I enjoy meeting clients and working towards their order fulfillment. I am motivated by seeing a sense of satisfaction on their faces after enjoying a sumptuous meal or beverage. I also get energized by working as part of a team and having a close collaboration with the team members. Being able to serve and listen to people gives me fulfillment as I get to interact with people from all walks of life.
10. Describe A Time You Failed In This Role And The Lesson You Learned?
As a fresher in the industry, I took the time to develop the confidence to be able to serve clients well. I was shy and carried the same to my work. As much as I knew the menu very well, I was not confident enough to offer food or beverage suggestions to the clients. I would just wait on them to decide what they wanted to have. I realized this will be a challenge in my career and therefore decided to invest in building my confidence so that it makes it easy to sell.
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Qualified For This Role?
I do have the skills you need plus the experience to support it. I have worked in coffee shops and enjoyed it. I believe that I will enjoy my work here also. I have worked in this field for close to five years now. Through interactions with clients and the staff, I have learned a lot. I know there is a lot to learn as I go on too. I am willing and open to learning as I share my experiences also to better the organization I am working for. I believe that with my skill set and experience, I will be a key contributor to the growth of the coffee shop.
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievement
In my previous job, I had mastered the art of upselling menu items. I would offer suggestions on menu items that would bring in big profit margins. As a result, I got recognition as the best performing waitertwo years in a row. My friendliness and charm made me a darling to the customers’ hence very good reviews for the company.
13. Have You Ever Had To Explain A Missing Menu Item To A Customer?
Yes, I have had to explain why particular items may miss yet they are included in the menu. I have worked in places where we prioritized fresh local produce and some would be available seasonally. When they are out of season they may be hard to come by. For example, pears are fruits available by season. We had famous pear cinnamon muffins that were a hit with customers. When the pears were offseason we would not get enough supplies to sustain demand. As a result, clients would be agitated and express their frustration of missing their favorite pastry. I would maintain calmness and explain why they would not get to enjoy their pastry on that day. They would appreciate the explanation.
14. If Your Relatives Visited The Coffee Shop, Would You Give Them A Free Treat?
I am honest and of high integrity and would not want to disappoint my employer. At my place of work, I stay loyal to my employer and would treat my relatives as just any customer. I would encourage them to come to buy from my employer because they will be supporting a business that I work in. This ensures that I market my employer also. Giving free treats amounts to theft and pilferage of my employer’s resources which is not my style of work.
15. What Do You Do When A Customer Asks A Question That You Don’t Know How To Reply?
I will request that the customer waits as I consult with management to give them an appropriate answer. This strategy always works rather than telling them that I do not know. Once I consult I come back to the customer with full information plus any other that is relevant to their questions.
16. Describe Your Communication Skills.
My writing, as well as spoken English, is excellent. I ensure I am clear and precise in my communication. I also seek clarification from the customer to ensure they understand what I was communicating. I have zero instances where I was misunderstood by the clients or my colleagues.
17. Describe Your Computer Skills.
I am excellent with computers and have a diploma in Information Technology to improve my skills. I am great with Microsoft Office applications. I have experience in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint after using them for almost six years. I am also great the Google Suite products. I have utilized them in my work before to manage various reports in one location. I am great at managing the Google calendar and therefore can assist in ensuring my work is very organized. These skills have enabled me to handle my work with ease. I have also worked with accounting software as a cashier and can use them while handling cashier duties as well.
18. How Do You Manage Stress?
I enjoy exercising in the early mornings. I like to start my days with 30 minutes to an hour exercise session. It gets me energized and relieves stress and anxiety to ensure that I have a clear mind. Exercise keeps my stress levels in check. I also relieve stress by taking walks, especially after my shift. This helps clear my mind and makes me function better. I also perform breathing exercises in the course of duty that has assisted in ensuring I remain calm always and serve with a smile.
19. Most Of The Tasks In A Coffee Shop Are Repetitive, How Do You Handle Such?
I would not call my daily tasks repetitive tasks. Rather, I would prefer to call them daily tasks. Just like we breathe daily, we do not get tired of breathing. I am disciplined and committed to handling the daily tasks and do not get bored by them. It also gives me a chance to keep improving my skills as I challenge myself to work better every day. This also ensures that I get new ways to handle my daily tasks.
20. Have You Ever Dealt With A Difficult Coworker?
I have had a coworker who would be extremely rude to clients at times. He did not need a provocation from a client but would just be plain nasty with them. Other times he would be on his best behavior. This trend raised concerns and we had to share it with the business owner. Upon interrogation, it was found that my colleague had a personality disorder which he had a medical prescription for. His mood would change on the days he chose not to take his medication. He agreed to ensure he does not miss his medication. Work became smooth after that.
21. How Will Your Former Colleagues Describe You?
My colleagues would say I am great at multi-tasking and speaking to clients. They have always lauded my customer service skills and think I am a breath of fresh air in every room that I enter.
22. How Important Is Sanitizing For The Coffee Shop?
The coronavirus has caused havoc all through the world. Un-sanitized areas are the hiding places of the virus. To defeat the virus, we need to keep sanitizing surfaces to contain the spread of the virus. It is important, especially for coffee shops to sanitize regularly because different people are being served at different times. I, therefore, understand the importance of constantly sanitizing.
23. The Coffee Shop May Have Some Stressful Situations, How Will You Cope With This?
I like to continue focusing on the tasks at hand first. I stay calm despite the situation because if I panic everything will be messed up. I also do some breathing exercises so that I do not get overwhelmed and forget to focus on the tasks at hand.
24. How Do You Ensure A Great Customer Experience For Clients?
It is in my nature to ensure that I deliver a great customer experience to each client I interact with. However, one customer stands out. He is a frequent customer with dietary restrictions. He asks for modifications to be done on his orders. I have memorized his preferences and have therefore become easy to serve him as fast as possible when he walks in. He normally leaves good reviews on the website and also gives generous tips as a result of his orders being as requested.
25. During Some Seasons Of The Year The Work Shifts May Be Longer, Are You Comfortable With That?
Yes, I am flexible. I realize that there are busy seasons and I am more than willing to offer extra hours to my work here. I love my job and can go the extra mile to ensure the guests are comfortable and satisfied with the services offered.
Conclusion
You have unique skills to succeed in any interview having interacted with different customers in the coffee shops. Apply your selling skills in the interview. Sell yourself effectively to the interviewer. Ensure you leave a good impression.
