Crafting a CV that accurately showcases your unique skills amidst a crowded field of applicants is a challenge many baristas encounter. Our guide offers tailored advice to elevate your resume, ensuring your coffee-making expertise and customer service prowess won't go unnoticed by potential employers.
- Applying the simplest CV design, so that recruiters can easily understand your expertise, skills, and professional background;
- Ensuring you stand out with your header, summary or objective statement, and a designated skills section;
- Creating your CV experience section - no matter how much expertise you have;
- Using real life professional CV examples to enhance the structure and outline of your profile.
If you still have no muse to write your professional CV, find some more industry-leading examples.
How to ensure your profile stands out with your barista CV format
It's sort of a Catch 22. You want your barista CV to stand out amongst a pile of candidate profiles, yet you don't want it to be too over the top that it's unreadable. Where is the perfect balance between your CV format simple, while using it to shift the focus to what matters most. That is - your expertise. When creating your barista CV:- list your experience in the reverse chronological order - starting with your latest roles;
- include a header with your professional contact information and - optionally - your photograph;
- organise vital and relevant CV sections - e.g. your experience, skills, summary/ objective, education - closer to the top;
- use no more than two pages to illustrate your professional expertise;
- format your information using plenty of white space and standard (2.54 cm) margins, with colours to accent key information.
Once you've completed your information, export your barista CV in PDF, as this format is more likely to stay intact when read by the Applicant Tracker System or the ATS. A few words of advice about the ATS - or the software used to assess your profile:
- Generic fonts, e.g. Arial and Times New Roman, are ATS-compliant, yet many candidates stick with these safe choices. Ensure your CV stands out by using a more modern, and simple, fonts like Lato, Exo 2, Volkhov;
- All serif and sans-serif fonts are ATS-friendly. Avoid the likes of fancy decorative or script typography, as this may render your information to be illegible;
- Both single- and double-column formatted CVs could be assessed by the ATS;
- Integrating simple infographics, icons, and charts across your CV won't hurt your chances during the ATS assessment.
PRO TIP
Use bold or italics sparingly to draw attention to key points, such as job titles, company names, or significant achievements. Overusing these formatting options can dilute their impact.
The top sections on a barista CV
- Barista experience demonstrating hands-on knowledge.
- Coffee education and certifications ensure expert skills.
- Customer service skills to showcase interpersonal abilities.
- Knowledge of coffee equipment shows technical proficiency.
- Awards and recognitions validate exceptional barista talents.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your passion for coffee by detailing any relevant training, such as barista courses or certifications, and express your enthusiasm for learning about different coffee types and brewing methods.
- Showcase your customer service skills by mentioning specific experiences where you provided excellent service, dealt with challenging situations, or received positive feedback or awards.
- Emphasize your ability to work in a fast-paced environment, citing instances where you efficiently managed high volumes of orders without compromising on the quality of coffee served.
- Demonstrate your teamwork aptitude by illustrating how you have effectively collaborated with colleagues, contributed to a positive workspace, and supported in training new team members.
- Include your knowledge of health and safety standards in a café setting, particularly around hygiene practices, and describe your experience in maintaining a clean and organised work area.
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Making a good first impression with your barista CV header
Your typical CV header consists of Your typical CV header consists of contact details and a headline. Make sure to list your professional phone number, email address, and a link to your professional portfolio (or, alternatively, your LinkedIn profile). When writing your CV headline , ensure it's:
- tailored to the job you're applying for;
- highlights your unique value as a professional;
- concise, yet matches relevant job ad keywords.
You can, for examples, list your current job title or a particular skill as part of your headline. Now, if you decide on including your photo in your CV header, ensure it's a professional one, rather than one from your graduation or night out. You may happen to have plenty more questions on how to make best the use of your CV headline. We'll help you with some real-world examples, below.
Examples of good CV headlines for barista:
- Lead Barista & Coffee Educator | Latte Art Expert | SCA Certified | Hospitality Management | 8+ Years Experience
- Senior Barista | Specialty Coffee Passionate | Customer Service Excellence | Team Leadership | 5 Years Experience
- Junior Barista | Fast-paced environments | Coffee Quality Enthusiast | Barista Level 1 Certificate | New Talent
- Head Barista | Coffee Menu Development | Experienced Trainer | Brewing Techniques Specialist | 10 Years Craftsmanship
- Professional Barista | Third-Wave Coffee Advocate | Inventory Management | Espresso Mastery | 6 Years in Coffee Industry
- Assistant Barista | Customer Engagement Focus | Efficient Workflow Implementer | Bean Origin Aficionado | 2 Years Experience
Catching recruiters' attention with your barista CV summary or objective
Located closer to the top of your CV, both the summary and objective are no more than five sentences long and serve as an introduction to your experience. What is more, you could use either to entice recruiters to read on. Select the:
- Summary, if you happen to have plenty of relevant experience. Feature your most impressive accomplishments and up to three skills that are relevant to the job you're applying for;
- Objective, if you're just starting your career off. Provide your career goals and answer how you see the role you are applying for will match your professional growth.
Judging which one you need to add to your barista CV may at times seem difficult. That’s why you need to check out how professionals, with similar to your experience, have written their summary or objective, in the examples below:
CV summaries for a barista job:
- With over 5 years of experience in high-paced metropolitan coffee shops, this seasoned barista has mastered the art of espresso-based drinks, excels in latte art, and boasts a record for exceptional customer service. Recognised for leading the team in monthly sales at a bustling London café.
- Dedicated barista with a decade-long tenure at a renowned artisanal coffee house in Edinburgh, specialising in coffee bean knowledge, blending techniques, and the painstaking art of manual brewing methods. Twice awarded 'Barista of the Year' by a local gourmet association.
- Former sommelier with 4 years' experience at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris pivoting into coffee craft with deep expertise in flavour profiling and a desire to apply a connoisseur's palate to the world of specialty coffees in a prestigious Melbourne coffee establishment.
- Accomplished pastry chef with 3 years' experience at a celebrated New York patisserie making the transition to barista with a zeal to blend the aromatic world of baking with the sensory experience of coffee, seeking to contribute and expand culinary dimensions at a boutique Toronto café.
- Eager to immerse in the culture of artisanal coffee preparation, my objective is to bring my passion for customer service and enthusiasm for learning to a Brighton-based coffee shop, while growing with the team and championing the art of exceptional beverage craftsmanship.
- Aspiring to begin a career in coffee excellence with no previous industry experience but armed with a strong work ethic and a passion for the diverse world of beans and brews, I aim to dedicate my interpersonal and fast-learning skills to an iconic Edinburgh coffee venue.
The best formula for your barista CV experience section
The CV experience section is the space where many candidates go wrong by merely listing their work history and duties. Don't do that. Instead, use the job description to better understand what matters most for the role and integrate these keywords across your CV. Thus, you should focus on:
- showcasing your accomplishments to hint that you're results-oriented;
- highlighting your skill set by integrating job keywords, technologies, and transferrable skills in your experience bullets;
- listing your roles in reverse chronological order, starting with the latest and most senior, to hint at how you have grown your career;
- featuring metrics, in the form of percentage, numbers, etc. to make your success more tangible.
When writing each experience bullet, start with a strong, actionable verb, then follow it up with a skill, accomplishment, or metric. Use these professional examples to perfect your CV experience section:
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Expertly prepared a wide range of coffee drinks, including espresso, cappuccino, and latte, ensuring taste and presentation adhered to the highest standards.
- Maintained a consistent quality of grind by adjusting the grinder throughout the day, accounting for environmental changes such as humidity and temperature.
- Engaged customers with a warm and friendly demeanour, providing recommendations and answering queries about our coffee selection and preparation methods.
- Implemented efficiency strategies for the coffee station, reducing average customer wait time by 20% without compromising the quality of the beverage.
- Conducted inventory management for coffee supplies, placing orders for beans and other essentials before stock levels became critical.
- Maintained cleanliness and sanitary conditions of the coffee machine, grinders, and surrounding work area, adhering to health and safety regulations and daily cleaning schedules.
- Led barista training for new team members, focusing on proper techniques, customer service, and our coffee house's specific recipes and presentation guidelines.
- Explored and suggested the integration of new coffee products, including single-origin beans and alternative milk options, which increased our customer base by 15%.
- Resolved customer complaints with patience and diplomacy, maintaining a positive atmosphere and ensuring repeat patronage through excellent service recovery protocols.
- Developed and maintained relationships with a regular clientele at a high-volume coffee shop, resulting in a 20% increase in customer loyalty metrics.
- Conducted training for new hires on coffee-making techniques and customer service standards, significantly reducing the learning curve and improving team efficiency.
- Played a key role in implementing a waste reduction program that cut down on single-use cup usage by 35%, aligning with the company's sustainability goals.
- Mastered the art of latte art, becoming a customer favorite and driving increased sales of premium coffee beverages by 25%.
- Optimized the inventory management process for coffee supplies, reducing excess stock by 15% and minimizing product waste.
- Collaborated with the team to redesign the café layout, enhancing customer flow and seating capacity to accommodate an additional 20 patrons daily.
- Implemented a customer feedback system that led to an improved beverage menu, catering to local taste preferences and seasonal trends.
- Managed cash-handling procedures, balancing the till with 100% accuracy on a daily basis and training staff to maintain financial integrity.
- Initiated a coffee education series for customers, increasing interest in premium coffees and directly contributing to a 15% rise in sales of special reserve products.
- Crafted unique coffee blends in collaboration with local roasters, enhancing the shop's reputation for exclusive offerings and boosting sales by 30%.
- Spearheaded a cold brew program that quickly became a market differentiator and accounted for an additional 10% in total beverage revenue.
- Organized community events within the café, including live music and art showcases, that drew in additional crowds during traditionally slow hours.
- Contributed to menu development by suggesting and testing new flavor profiles for seasonal drinks, successfully adding five new offerings to the permanent menu.
- Managed inventory and negotiated with suppliers to secure volume discounts, which led to a 10% reduction in cost of goods sold.
- Coordinated with local businesses for joint promotional opportunities, thereby broadening the customer base and increasing weekly revenue by approximately 15%.
Swapping your professional experience (when you have none) with skills and more
Never underestimate the importance of relevancе when it comes to your barista CV. Even if you don't happen to have much or any standard (full-time contract) professional experience, this doesn't mean you shouldn't apply for the role. Instead of a bespoke CV experience section:
- Showcase more prominently any internships, part-time roles, and volunteer experience that are applicable to the role and have taught you job-crucial skills;
- Feature a strengths or achievements section with your transferrable skills or talents you've obtained thanks to your work or life experience;
- Write an objective statement that clearly outlines your values as a candidate and defines your career ambitions;
- List your education or certificates that match the job profile closer to the top of your CV.
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PRO TIP
Describe how each job helped you grow or learn something new, showing a continuous development path in your career.
Hard skills and soft skills to showcase your unique skill set on your barista CV
Did you know that your CV will mostly likely be assessed by recruiters based on skill alignment? And that means that the way you feature your key skills across different CV sections will play a crucial role in landing you that first interview. We recommend you add your:
- technical capabilities or hard skills in your CV experience, certificates, projects, etc. Use your past accomplishments to prove your technical capabilities. List up to a dozen different software or hardware in your dedicated skills section to match the job keywords;
- personal and communication skills or soft skills in your CV strengths, achievements, summary/ objective, etc. Soft skills are a bit more difficult to prove. How do you define your aptitude in active listening? So, instead of just listing the skill name, include a tangible metric to show your success.
On a final note, when you're in a hurry to create your profile, you may misspell a particular technology or soft skill. That's why we suggest you copy and paste the particular skill name (or keyword), directly from the job advert. This would also help you to pass any initial Applicant Tracker System (ATS) tests.
Top skills for your barista CV:
Espresso machine operation
Coffee bean grinding
Milk steaming and frothing
Latte art
Knowledge of coffee blends and roasts
Food safety and hygiene
Cash register operation
Inventory management
Equipment maintenance
Drink preparation
Customer service
Communication
Attention to detail
Multitasking
Patience
Adaptability
Problem-solving
Time management
Teamwork
Passion for coffee
PRO TIP
Order your skills based on the relevance to the role you're applying for, ensuring the most pertinent skills catch the employer's attention first.
CV education and certificates: your academic background as proof of your skill set
A common misconception about your barista CV education is that you only need it, if you have less professional experience. That is completely false. The CV education section serves to back up your technical (and sometimes personal) capabilities, fill in gaps in your work history, and show you have the initial industry background and know-how. When creating your education section:
- List your degrees in the reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent (and relevant) ones first;
- Include your degree and university names, start and graduation dates. It's optional to also denote you received a "First-Class Honours" for diplomas that are more relevant to the role;
- Curate your relevant university coursework, projects, or thesis work if you happen to have less professional expertise and need to integrate more job keywords and skills.
Your professional qualifications don't need to stop at your academic background. It's advisable to also select up to three of your most noteworthy (and relevant) industry certificates and feature them in a dedicated section. Once more, include the certificate name, the institution that issued it out, and the date you obtained it on. You could feature both hard skills and soft skills certificates, as in the examples below:
PRO TIP
Focus on describing skills in the context of the outcomes they’ve helped you achieve, linking them directly to tangible results or successes in your career.
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Key takeaways
Write your professional barista CV by studying and understanding what the role expectations are. You should next:
- Focus on tailoring your content to answer specific requirements by integrating advert keywords through various CV sections;
- Balance your technical know-how with your personal skills to showcase what the unique value would be of working with you;
- Ensure your CV grammar and spelling (especially of your key information and contact details) is correct;
- Write a CV summary, if your experience is relevant, and an objective, if your career ambitions are more impressive;
- Use active language by including strong, action verbs across your experience, summary/objective, achievements sections.
