How to Hire Employees for a Coffee Shop

Hiring the right employee is one of the biggest investments you can make in the success of your coffee shop. A good hire will make your work easy, fun and worry-free; a bad hire can do just the opposite. As the owner or manager, it's in your best interest to do your due diligence in finding and hiring the right employees.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Post a help-wanted sign in your store. Make sure your employees know that you are accepting applications. You can also post help-wanted ads on-line, and in student or community newspapers but they can be expensive for the number of responses you might receive.

2. Use a good job application template. Be sure the application asks for the applicant's availability, job history, salary expectations and references.

3. Interview applicants who meet your scheduling needs and salary offered. You can try to chat with applicants briefly when they drop off their application to immediately screen out people who are not friendly, professional or presentable. Remember that the impression you get when you meet an applicant is the same one your customers will get; if the applicant isn't friendly and presentable now, she probably won't be any better later.

4. Check references. If your applicant has listed some previous employment, call the employer to verify that the applicant actually worked there during the time listed. For applicants without previous or recent work history, ask for a personal reference such as a teacher or volunteer coordinator who can vouch for them.

5. Offer the job to the applicant who best meets your requirements. Be careful not to compare applicants to one another and simply hire the best of the bunch. The applicant's overall appearance and demeanor, availability, and salary expectations should all meet your needs.

Tips & Warnings

• Get employee and customer referrals. Look to your current employees and customers to recommend people to work for you. Part-time employees are typically students or mothers with school-aged children who need a few hours of paid work each week. Let your employees and customers know you are looking for new employees by posting a help wanted sign in your shop.
• The job application is a binding document - falsifying any information on the application is fair grounds for dismissal of an employee. The same goes for an employee who later changes the hours or days she is available for work from what she put on her original application.
• As a courtesy you should call anyone else you've interviewed and let them know that you will not be offering them a job. You do not and should not go into any details other than that you have hired a more suitable candidate.