Barista cover letter example

Visiting a café or coffee house is not about the product. In truth, it likely never has been. People drop into a café for the experience, the service, and the feeling of partaking in a ritual that hundreds of thousands of people around the world enjoy. When you are applying for a barista role, this should form part of your barista cover letter story.

Whether they are rushing in and out or settling down with a book in a cosy corner, the moment that a customer walks through the door, they expect a certain level of service from the barista behind the counter. Sure, the modern coffee machines do the technical heavy lifting, but it is the baristas who make the experience so compelling.

While a CV might contain the basics of where you have worked, your technical skills and other functional considerations, the barista cover letter should be brimming with passion for your calling. Some baristas take immense pride in their coffee art. Others love a good natter with the regulars. Still more simply love the energy of the coffee shop.

At Resume.io, we can support you in your job search. We offer resources, expert-backed writing guides, and cover letter examples. The barista cover letter should contain all these sentiments and more. When you come to write it, you should consider the following:

• How to share your coffee story within a standard cover letter format.
• Translating the specifics of excellent customer service into text.
• How to write the cover letter (with a cover letter sample)
• How to quantify certain aspects of your career success.
• Writing a barista cover letter with no experience.

Best format for a barista cover letter

Much like there is a process for making each type of coffee, every barista cover letter should follow a set format. How you want your cover letter to hit will inevitably depend on the ingredients, but the overall structure should be standard. 

Just as a hiring manager knows what a flat white should taste like, so they know what to expect when they read a cover letter. The structure is standard for any profession — do not deviate from it:

• The cover letter header
• The greeting / salutation
• The cover letter intro
• The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
• The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and call-to-action)

The job duties of a barista will vary depending on the employer, so make sure that you study the job description carefully before you apply. You may be applying for different jobs, so tailor the cover letter for each opportunity. Sharing a generic cover letter which talks about things that you will not be expected to do in your future job will impress no one.

As the cover letter is essentially a sales document, so use each paragraph to share a different aspect of your story. Being a barista is no easy task, so start with your motivation and personality. What drives you to delight every single customer that is waiting patiently in that line? When you start to flag physically, how do you keep a smile on your face?

Writing a cover letter to encompass these aspects of your application is no simple matter. There is more to it than meets the eye. Our comprehensive cover letter guide offers some advice around some of the most popular questions and also covers some of the less obvious aspects such as what font to choose or how much white space to include.

This barista cover letter example should offer some ideas:

Cover letter header

The barista cover letter header should offer a splash of colour and artistry. Maybe pick a template with an intricate design – that hints at your ability to create bewildering coffee art? Functionally it should contain your full name, email address and mobile details, but you know the impact of an image. It can be so much more than that. Just make sure that it doesn’t take up too much space. You can include a link to social media if you share your artistry there.

You don’t need to include your full address on the cover letter header – just your city and state will be fine. You can share the full details later when it comes to the offer stage. Also, there is no need to include the “inside address” of the employer. That is a convention left over from the days of snail mail. Just include the hiring manager and their position.

Cover letter greeting

There is nothing difficult about the greeting for a barista cover letter. Start the salutation with a “Dear Mr/Mrs Surname” and make sure that you spell it correctly. The name of the hiring manager should be in the job description, and there is nothing stopping you popping into the café and checking if it is not there.

If you are not able to do this, a warm “Dear _____ team” is fine and much preference to the outdated “To whom it may concern.” In any case, you are a barista, you should take pride in getting the name right on the wide of the cup. Do the same in the barista cover letter.

Cover letter introduction

The introduction of the cover letter should get straight to the most important part of your job: customer service. Making a fantastic coffee is a practical skill that most people can learn but choosing to greet every customer with a smile making them feel welcome is something that not every stressed barista will do. Make it clear that this is why you go to work.

The introduction should also ideally cover your length of experience — veteran baristas are in demand, so lead with it if you have worked as a barista for a while. Some students will come in and out of the profession, but there are others who live and breathe it. Turnover is sometimes an issue. Show the employer why you want to stick around.

Cover letter middle part (body)

The middle part of a barista cover letter should be a mix of technical and interpersonal skills, with a couple of stories mixed in to show just how much you love your work. Talk about your previous employers in terms of their culture and mention the scale of your work — how many customers did you serve per hour, what was the average spend, what sort of food and snack offer did you carry? All these things will paint a picture for your future employer.

If you have not got much barista experience, it is worth sharing other examples of customer service roles. If you delight in going above and beyond to help others, it is likely that you will have done different roles in this vein in the past. All this experience is useful and should be included.

As you are writing your cover letter, it is worthwhile asking a former colleague for their perspective. They worked alongside you and might be able to offer a unique view on your character. It is important to find a working environment that you will enjoy, so chatting through your plans with someone who understands the industry is useful.

If you’re not sure how to get this part right, refer back to our cover letter sample. 

How to close a barista cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)

The closing lines of a barista cover letter is where the hiring manager starts to ask the most important question: “Do I want to work with this person?” It is rare that a hiring manager won’t be alongside the applicant at certain points, so make sure that you end on a positive and personable note. Tell them what it is like to work with you.

Lastly, finish with a call to action to ask for an interview. As the role is a practical one, meeting and showing off your coffee making skills is a great way of establishing rapport. At the very least, show that you have popped into the establishment and are aware of the ambiance. Take a look at our cover letter sample for some more inspiration.

Barista cover letter with no experience

Not every barista applicant will have experience of serving coffee, but most will have worked in a customer service environment. Becoming a barista with zero customer facing experience is a tough ask, but also not impossible. Don’t let a lack of experience put you off.

Try to include the following in your barista cover letter with no experience:

• Share details of any previous customer service jobs.
• Make sure that the word customer appears at least a couple of times.
• Demonstrate that you have an ability to pick up technical processes.
• Mention that you are numerate and confident in handling money, etc.

A no experience barista cover letter cannot just focus on your personality. You should tell your story to prove that you have the potential to be a success.

Basic mistakes in a barista application letter (and how to avoid them)

No barista wants to get an order wrong. That is embarrassing, it shows that you don’t listen to your customers, and it complicates the work of others. Attention to detail in a hectic environment is one of the most important attributes of a barista, so ideally you should avoid the following errors in your cover letter:

• Spelling is not a core part of the job but using online software such as Grammarly takes no time. Don’t let the employer doubt your attention to detail.
• The cover letter should not repeat your CV, so focus on your personality, motivations and why you love serving customers.
• Don’t be too formal with your language. Write the cover letter as a friendly barista who loves talking to other people. Get a friend to check that it sounds like you.

Key takeaways

1. Put customer service at the heart of the barista cover letter. Share a portfolio of coffee designs if you have one. Customer recommendations would also go down well.
2. Include as much relevant work experience as possible – it doesn’t all have to come from a coffee background. Make sure that your technical skills are highlighted.
3. Put yourself in the position of the hiring manager. What do you think that would want to read about when taking on a new barista. What would be important to you?
4. Ensure that the cover letter looks great with our cover letter templates.

While being a barista is a very specific occupation, you can also find inspiration in other service-led careers. These different examples may offer a useful perspective:

• Customer service cover letter example
• Sales assistant cover letter sample
• Supermarket cover letter example
• Retail cover letter sample