Barista Resume: 20+ Examples of Job Descriptions & Skills

Baristas play a crucial role in creating a welcoming atmosphere in cafes and coffee shops and ensuring that customers enjoy their coffee experience. They're responsible for preparing and serving various coffee and tea beverages, managing transactions, and providing exceptional customer service. Abilities required in these positions include using espresso machines, customer service skills, and maintaining cleanliness in their work area. 

To secure this job, you need a tasty barista resume.

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Barista Resume Example

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Entry-Level / Junior Barista Resume Example

An entry-level barista is a beginner role in the coffee industry, focusing on preparing and serving coffee and other beverages, maintaining a clean workspace, and providing excellent customer service. This position is ideal for individuals who are passionate about coffee and eager to learn more about the craft. Here’s a sample entry-level barista resume:

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Mid-Level Barista Resume Example

A mid-level barista, often referred to as an experienced barista, has honed their skills and gained considerable experience in coffee preparation, customer service, and inventory management. This role includes additional responsibilities such as training new staff and managing busy shifts. Here’s a sample mid-level barista resume:

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Experienced / Senior Barista Resume Example

A senior barista, also known as a lead barista, is a highly experienced role that involves overseeing café operations, training junior staff, and ensuring the highest quality of service and coffee preparation. This position requires excellent leadership and customer service skills. Here’s a sample senior barista resume:

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Resume Templates for Baristas

We’ve analyzed 11 million resumes made in the Zety Resume Builder. Here are the top three templates baristas choose for their resumes.

Cascade

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It's important to have a document that clearly separates every resume section from each other, and Cascade does it perfectly. It’s a two-column modern resume template that highlights all the important information with ease. Baristas are not wrong to choose this as their main resume template.

Concept

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A white background and black text—a simple yet elegant pairing. The Concept is a creative resume template that combines a traditional look with a touch of an infographic resume. That creates a great effect that easily stands out among other documents.

Crisp

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A minimalist resume template works well for every professional. Crisp is no different, but it helps your resume stand out by using eye-catching elements, including some smart resume icons. It’s a great choice for baristas of all experience levels.

How to Write a Barista Resume

1. Structure Your Barista Resume Template Properly

A barista resume written without a properly formatted template is like old coffee left in a drip carafe—bland and bitter. To serve up an aromatic and flavorful barista resume, ensure its layout is structured just right before you start writing.

Here’s how to format a barista resume template:

• Layout: stick with reverse-chronological order.
• Subheadings: use bold title headings so cafe managers find what they want quickly.
• Fonts: choose the best resume fonts that are legible and standard.
• Font size: keep font size to 11–12pt in general text, and 2–4pts larger for titles.
• Margins: keep a 1” margin on all sides of your coffee barista resume.
• Line spacing: use single line spacing in the body text of your cafe resume.
• Sections: don’t skimp on white space—it makes your resume easier to read. 
• Filetype: export your resume in PDF format unless they specifically say otherwise.

And here’s a brief outline of what a barista resume should include:

• Header: include relevant contact details at the top of your Dunkin Donuts resume.
• Introduction: write a compelling paragraph that gives your professional background.
• Work experience: document your previous work history and past job duties.
• Education: add your academic history and any school-related accomplishments.
• Skills: give a list of relevant cafe skills and barista skills for a resume.
• Extra sections: cafe awards, food service certifications, second languages, etc.

Read more about resume formatting: How to Select the Ideal Resume Format

2. Start With a Barista Resume Work Experience Section

Employment of food and beverage servers, including baristas, will grow 2 percent from 2022 to 2032. You’ve got to get your resume work history section just right to have a shot at your barista job interview.

Here’s how to write a great job experience section on a resume for a coffee shop:

• Start with your most recent job title and go back in reverse chronological order.
• List your position title, the company’s or cafe’s name and location, and the dates you were employed there.
• Give several bullet points detailing your job responsibilities tailored in a way that is relevant to this particular barista job.
• Give one or two numbered achievements to prove how capable you’d be as their next barista or cafe supervisor.
• Begin each bullet point entry with an action verb for maximum impact.

Take a look at these barista resume keywords:

Barista Keywords for a Resume

• Skilled in brewing various coffee beverages.
• Providing excellent and friendly service.
• Efficiently managing café supplies.
• Accurately taking and processing orders.
• Creating visually appealing latte art.
• Maintaining a clean and organized café.
• Training new baristas on café operations.
• Managing transactions and handling cash.
• Creating and updating beverage menus.
• Addressing and resolving customer issues.
• Handling multiple tasks efficiently in a busy environment.
• Ensuring adherence to health and safety standards.

See these action verbs used in those keywords? Here’s some more you can use on your barista resume:

Barista Resume Action Verbs

• Brewed
• Served
• Managed
• Trained
• Prepared
• Created
• Handled
• Maintained
• Assisted
• Implemented
• Increased
• Developed
• Improved
• Resolved
• Organized

Read more about adding work experience onto a resume: Tips for Creating a Resume’s Work Experience Section.

3. Highlight Your Education on Your Resume for a Coffee Shop

You don't need a college degree for barista jobs unless you’re applying to become a cafe supervisor or a Costa regional manager. However, you do need to create a great resume education section if you want a chance at landing the job.

Here’s what to include in this part of your barista resume:

• Earned degree 
• Relevant coursework
• GPA score (if equal to or higher than 3.5)
• Latin honors (optionally)

Pro Tip: When you haven’t finished your college degree yet, add high school below as a second entry, just like in this example. And if your education area is more impressive than your work experience, swap their places so the restaurant manager gets the yummiest bits first.

4. List Barista Skills on a Resume 

If you want to bring out the flavor on your barista resume, include just the right skills. You can’t list every skill in your arsenal, just like you don’t add every ingredient in the cabinet into a single beverage.

Here’s how to add the perfect touch of barista skills to a resume:

• First, identify the various skills you have related to making coffee, serving customers, and working at a cafe.
• Next, get out the barista job description and look through the job requirements portion—that’s where you’ll find the most important resume keywords they’re looking for. 
• In the skills section, include 5–10 of the most relevant skills, those which were identified in both of the above steps.
• Include both hard skills and soft skills in your barista resume skills list.

Have a look at these common skills for baristas and cafe jobs:

25+ Necessary Skills for a Barista Resume

• Customer Service Skills
• Latte Art & Milk Steaming
• Food Safety and Hygiene
• Coffee Bean Grinding
• Espresso Machine & Tamping
• Knowledge of Coffee Brews & Roasts
• Brewing Coffee Manually & Automatically
• Speed and Efficiency
• Arithmetic & Cash Handling
• Point-of-Sale System (POS)
• Ability to Work Well Under Pressure
• Food & Beverage Pairing
• Fast-Paced Work
• Friendliness & Tact
• Stock & Inventory Management
• Time Management Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Decision-Making Skills
• Organizational Skills
• Collaboration & Teamwork Skills
• Project Management Skills
• Computer Skills (for POS and Cash Registers)
• Interpersonal Skills
• Technical Skills (Operating Kitchen Machinery)
• Critical Thinking Skills

Get the difference right. Visit our guide: Hard Skills vs Soft Skills

5. Include Additional Sections to Your Barista Resume

Extra resume sections help you stand out among all the other resumes for barista jobs. Use them right and you get a resume that’s hard to skip.

Here are a few top examples of additional sections to include on a barista resume:

1. Industry Certificates or Licenses
   A barista course will help secure a job at the cafe, especially if you don’t have barista experience. Do you have a food handling license? Add that to your resume for barista gigs, as well.
2. Volunteer Work
   Volunteering boosts hireability, especially if it’s relevant to barista jobs. Have you worked in a shelter’s food kitchen or volunteered to serve students at a school cafeteria? That’s a great experience to add to your coffee-making resume. 
3. Knowledge of a Second Language
   Proficiency in a second language is valuable now more than ever before. If you’re applying in a neighborhood where customers speak a foreign language in large numbers, knowing that language definitely gives you the edge over other barista candidates.
4. Passions & Pastimes
   As an ambassador for the cafe, the cafe owner wants to see well-rounded baristas. Show off your interests and hobbies on a resume for barista jobs to give them a taste of your full self.

6. Compile the Best Bits Into a Barista Resume Objective or Summary

The heading statement comes in two flavors: the summary statement and the objective statement.

What’s the difference between these two?

• Are you an experienced coffee craftsperson? Use the resume summary to give the cafe owner or restaurant manager a quick glimpse into your background.
• Are you new to barista jobs? Use the resume objective to show some passion for the job and a statement of your career goals. It’s a great choice for a resume with little experience.

Here’s how to create both types of resume profiles:

1. Begin with an adjective like "friendly" or "experienced." 

2. Mention your title (barista). 

3. Include your years of experience (e.g., 2, 3+, 5). 

4. State your goal (e.g., improve customer satisfaction at BrewHouse). 

5. Highlight your biggest school or work accomplishment (e.g., increased customer satisfaction scores by 15%). 

6. Proofread to eliminate all errors.

Need help with writing your heading statement? Have a look at this guide: How to Start a Resume

7. Add a Cover Letter to Your Barista Resume

Cover letters are very important, whether for an entry-level barista resume or a Peet's shift supervisor resume.

Here’s how to write a cover letter for barista jobs:

• Format your cover letter properly first.
• Write a cover letter opening statement that draws the reader in from the start.
• Talk up your barista experience, cafe skills, customer service, and other related talents.
• Prove you’re as good as you say by using numbered accomplishments.
• Learn how to end a cover letter right with a powerful closing statement and CTA.

The cover letter is king. In an industry where hundreds of generic resumes get thrown across the counter every month—the cover letter is what makes you stand out. Something with a personality that explains why you'd fit that particular cafe’s ethos and vibe. Lydia Papaphilippopoulos-Snape owner of specialty coffee shop, Warwick Street Kitchen, in Leamington Spa, UK

Ace it with our guide: Barista Cover Letter

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Here are a few other food service-related resume examples:

• Starbucks Resume
• Food Service Resume
• Fast Food Resume
• Server Resume
• Fine Dining Resume
• Catering Resume
• Restaurant Resume
• Waitress Resume
• Bartender Resume
• Best Resume Examples for Any Job

About Zety’s Editorial Process

This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• https://www.bls.gov/ooh/food-preparation-and-serving/food-and-beverage-serving-and-related-workers.htm#tab-6
• https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm