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I was scouring through some old posts and have found quite a number of posts from CSers (TG comes to mind) who have wanted to / thought about / managed to find some work behind a commercial machine. Many of those posts had reservations in regards to not having enough cafe experience.
i landed a job at veneziano one morning per week. i have been an avid home geek for maybe two years slowly progressing from little steam toys up the food chain. I immersed myself in theory and literature and read hundreds and hundreds of posts - in true snob style. Each shot was practice. Each milk pitcher was too.
I too, thought I would NEVER land a job at a cafe. I went out hunting and had three interviews at local cafes. ALL were knocked back with managers looking for "experience". I had even brought along with me a CV, and a sheet on "what I knew" about coffee, as well as pics of my latte art. It didnt seem to be sufficient proof of my enthusiasm.
I thought to myself that I would start begging for a job ANYWHERE, at ANY cafe with a machine just to gain some experience. I was beginning to get desperate. I am VERY fortunate that I seemed to be in the right place at the right time and was hired by David Makin. Im still working at The First Pour so I must be doing SOMETHING right (even though Im doing plenty of things not-so-right).
Having worked for about 6 weeks now I see where Im lacking (and thats in many areas). I understand why managers are hesitant - the gamble is perhaps too great. I have to be honest, that I dont find the work all that easy - that said I do have high expectations of what I produce and will throw away shots and milk if theyre not right.
I think it was you Scoota Gal who mentioned that working at a cafe was just like working at home if youre in the right frame of mind. I havent yet found that mindset, but hope to soon.
I guess what Im trying to say (but taking the scenic tour) is that if you are a snob, and you have the passion, then more than likely you will be able to be pulling nice shots and steaming velvety milk in a very short space of time.
The more of US that are out there behind machines - the better will be our options of finding consumable coffee (outside of our homes) - and that can only be a good thing.
end rant
aaron
i landed a job at veneziano one morning per week. i have been an avid home geek for maybe two years slowly progressing from little steam toys up the food chain. I immersed myself in theory and literature and read hundreds and hundreds of posts - in true snob style. Each shot was practice. Each milk pitcher was too.
I too, thought I would NEVER land a job at a cafe. I went out hunting and had three interviews at local cafes. ALL were knocked back with managers looking for "experience". I had even brought along with me a CV, and a sheet on "what I knew" about coffee, as well as pics of my latte art. It didnt seem to be sufficient proof of my enthusiasm.
I thought to myself that I would start begging for a job ANYWHERE, at ANY cafe with a machine just to gain some experience. I was beginning to get desperate. I am VERY fortunate that I seemed to be in the right place at the right time and was hired by David Makin. Im still working at The First Pour so I must be doing SOMETHING right (even though Im doing plenty of things not-so-right).
Having worked for about 6 weeks now I see where Im lacking (and thats in many areas). I understand why managers are hesitant - the gamble is perhaps too great. I have to be honest, that I dont find the work all that easy - that said I do have high expectations of what I produce and will throw away shots and milk if theyre not right.
I think it was you Scoota Gal who mentioned that working at a cafe was just like working at home if youre in the right frame of mind. I havent yet found that mindset, but hope to soon.
I guess what Im trying to say (but taking the scenic tour) is that if you are a snob, and you have the passion, then more than likely you will be able to be pulling nice shots and steaming velvety milk in a very short space of time.
The more of US that are out there behind machines - the better will be our options of finding consumable coffee (outside of our homes) - and that can only be a good thing.
end rant
aaron
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