Admittedly, working at a coffee shop is not what most people envision doing after school or university, but the job market doesn’t always agree with our future plans, unfortunately. If you are unable to find the dream job you want right after graduation or until the time that you do, working as a barista can be more rewarding than you think, and surprisingly so!
To get a better idea of what we are discussing here, go through the following benefits. We’ll explain
why an in-between career as a barista can be one of the best options for fresh college graduates on
the job hunt.
Surprisingly High Demand (even in this current takeaway environment, a good Barista with accredited Barista training and skills is worth their weight in gold)
Factually speaking, your career opportunities will expand after you have gained even a few months
of experience at a local McCafe or any good coffee shop. With some relevant experience as a barista,
you will be hireable at nearly any café in Australia. It may not be the most glamorous job, but the
wider employability is a serious plus.
Even if it’s just a small, local coffee shop, as long as you know how to brew quality coffee in its many
variations, and your latte art is not too shabby either, you might actually be surprised at how
employable that makes you here.
There are a few very practical reasons as to why café workers are in such demand. To shed some
light on the phenomenon, we can summarise those reasons as follows.
Australia Loves Its Coffee
A large number of people from all circles of life are highly dependent on their daily dose of
cappuccino in Australia, and this trend is not about to change anytime soon. If anything, stats show
that people these days drink more coffee than they did before, which is the reason why coffee shops
are such a huge industry here and abroad.
To put more weight behind that statement, let’s take a look at a few hard stats, which establishes
the Australian love for coffee beyond all doubts.
- 88% of the entire Australian adult population drinks coffee
- 27% of Aussies drink multiple cups every single day and admit they cannot go without it
- 84% of the population spends money in cafes or at an external source of coffee during the
week - 75% Aussies drink at least a cup of coffee every single day
- 1.92 kgs of coffee beans per person were consumed on average by Australians in 2018
Someone has to Brew All those Beans!
1.9 million, 60kg bags of coffee beans were consumed by Aussies in 2017; someone has to brew all
those beans, right? This is the main reason why there is hardly ever unemployment in the café business today, even when many of the much more lucrative career choices have lost their appeal.
As a matter of fact, Australia is the best country in the world to be a barista since the earning
potential isn’t too shabby here either, but we will get to that part later on.
The Café Business Itself is Growing Substantially Every Year
If we were to take some of the key statistics provided by Statista, then the following facts serve as
clear reminders that the coffee shop business in Australia is not just booming but also growing at a
rapid pace.
- In 2019, the Australian cafe industry had managed to generate roughly AUD 5 billion in
revenue - It is expected that about AUD 1.57 billion will be further added to that figure in 2020
- This should see the total revenue figure for this year easily cross the AUD 6.5 billion mark
- Even in these Covid time, an additional 96,000 baristas are estimated to be employed in the industry by the end of 2020
Wider Employment Opportunities Across the Entire Food Retail Industry
After you train as a barista and manage to gain significant experience in the café business, your
opportunities for employment will actually be far wider than you realize. Becoming a barista is
actually a skill that’s applicable and useful across the entire food retail industry, which means that
you will also be able to find employment in nearly any restaurant, diner, bakery, bed & breakfast,
and the like.
In other words, if it’s a place where food is being cooked/served/retailed, your experience of
working in the public food retail industry will be looked upon favourably. Furthermore, since so
many Aussies love their coffee, the beverage is served in the majority of food and drink joints in the
country, whether they can be called a café or not.
As you will already be adept as a barista, it’s highly probable that your employability will extend to
such establishments as well. Unlike how it is in the United States, it doesn’t matter whether you
worked in a big coffee chain or not. As long as you are a good barista, you will be in demand. Aside
from that, the following facts will also go in your favour.
- Experience as a barista means that you also have experience in dealing with a lot of
customers at once - Knowing how to deal with customers who are not always the friendliest is considered to be an extremely important trait in food retail
- Any barista who has worked a large coffee shop will know the basics of sales
- Social skills and communication skills are essential to work in a cafe anywhere, so that’s another reason why business owners prefer to hire experienced baristas
- Baristas are seen as more reliable and less temperamental employees to hire since they are particularly good when it comes to handling rush hour trade
Eliminating the Education – Employment Gap
Irrespective of one’s qualifications, a gap between college education and employment is not
something that employers appreciate too much, unfortunately. If you cannot find the kind of
employment that you are looking for right away, don’t just sit around doing nothing. Become a
barista to eliminate that much-dreaded education – employment gap from your resume!
Besides, you might be surprised at how well baristas are paid in Australia, which is one more reason
why it’s such an excellent in-between career choice for fresh graduates. We are not just discussing
pocket money here, but serious, rent-paying wages are up for grabs!
You can Earn a Surprisingly Good Income as a Barista!
Not that it’s a great secret or anything, but people who have never worked in Aussie cafes do not
really have any idea regarding how well baristas are paid. Based on gathered facts from authentic
sources, take a look at the following to acquaint yourself with the kind of wages we are discussing.
- The average barista earns around AUD $49,277 per annum or AUD 25.27 every hour
AUD 60,000 – 65,000 per year is the expected salary of an experienced Aussie barista - The lowest you can earn as a barista is AUD 39,000
- If you can get in at Hudson’s Coffee, expect to earn AUD 23 per hour from the first day!
- In case you can land yourself a job on the Gold Coast or in Perth as a barista, you will be
earning more than the national average by 2% – 3%
As you can probably tell by now, this is not a salary that can be considered as light by any means.
Of course, as a university graduate, you likely expect to earn much more down the line, but as an inbetweener, becoming a barista in Australia can indeed pay surprisingly well.
You Will Learn to Love the Flexibility
You get paid handsomely, and by the hour. Even better, you will get to choose your hours for the most part, except in special circumstances, of course. Flexible hours make it easier to look for jobs, complete more courses on the side, get an internship, and to just take some time out and relax.
After all, dealing with so many people on a regular basis can get a bit stressful, but the flexible
schedule should afford you the breaks, whenever you need them.
You Get Free Coffee!
This may not be the most convincing reason to choose a career, but it’s a perk to enjoy all the same!
If you are an Aussie who is thinking about working as a barista, chances are that you are not too shy about drinking a cup or two yourself! Being a barista pretty much guarantees that you won’t have to spend a dollar of your hard-earned money on coffee, as long as you are the one making it.
You will also be able to bring home the best coffee beans available in Australia at special, employee
discounts, which can make a huge difference, depending on your taste in beans.
To sum it all up, one would have to admit that being a barista in Australia is not the same as it is in
any other part of the world!
Now the real question is, how good are you at making a strong, skinny, extra frothy, almond latte?