The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Interview Questions & Tips

Navigating the Hiring Process

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf applicants encounter a fairly simply interview process. Individuals looking for part-time, entry-level jobs generally sit through a single interview, while applicants in search of managerial roles often encounter one additional job interview than entry-level job seekers. Upon entering the interview, applicants often receive free drinks from the hiring managers or from other applicants while waiting to be seen. Coffee Bean interviews involve question and answer sessions with hiring managers. For entry-level applicants, hiring personnel generally includes store managers. Aspiring managers often meet with area or district managers.

What to Expect During the Interview

Successful Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf applicants recommend applicants should take the offer of a complimentary beverage, which demonstrates genuine interest in the brand and common courtesy. The ability to act in a kind and courteous manner exemplifies the expectations The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf holds for customer service jobs. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf interview questions touch on specifics of customer service and the coffee shop industry, such as:

• "Can you describe a time in which you personally received bad customer service and how it made you feel?"
• "If someone was on their phone as they approached the register, would you serve the person or ask them to step aside?"
• "If we called your references, what would they say about you?"

Following Through With the hiring Process

A typical worker with an outspoken and engaging personality fairs well during The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf hiring process. The face-to-face formats of job interviews conducted allow hiring managers to see firsthand how applicants interact with others in a social setting. Sometimes Coffee Bean hiring managers will schedule second interviews with applicants. Job seekers should prepare for multiple job interviews, even though the coffeehouse chain generally only puts candidates through one round of interviews. Wear casual to business-formal clothing. Certain locations may impose restrictions on visible tattoos or piercings. On the safe side, arrive to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf interviews without piercings and body art covered. Applicants may ask further questions about work environments, which may include inquiries into grooming and appearances requirements, if any.

Coffee Bean Barista Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Coffee Bean Barista: I was a barista/cashier. I would just have to serve the customer their coffee, or if it were really busy, I would help out with the cashier duties.

Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Coffee Bean Barista: Very friendly. The entire staff is pretty young, and my manager was really cool.

Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
Coffee Bean Barista: I’d have the morning shift, so I would go in at roughly 5:30, set up everything – pastries, coffee, coffee bean bags, and that’s about it. Usually, we’d have rush hour because people like their coffee before they go to work. Time went by really quickly. I would be off by 11 o’clock or so. That was about five hours that went by really quickly.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Coffee Bean Barista: It was online, and then I believe I just had to take a survey that consisted of 45 questions or so. And then after that, I believe I passed and whatnot. They called me by phone letting me know if I could set up an interview with the guy that was going to be my boss, and then I just had an interview with him. He said that he was going to call me back within two or three days. He called me back and let me know I got the job.

Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Coffee Bean Barista: How I work under pressure, what can I bring to the company, can it get better, my work schedule/when I’m available, have I worked with people before, have I dealt with money before, things like that.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Coffee Bean Barista: I don’t know – to just love it, enjoy it. Like I said I love that job. If you’re going to apply for Coffee Bean, I suggest you… I believe it’s better than Starbucks. I suggest you go to the Coffee Bean first, and then try it out, and if you don’t get hired, go to Starbucks. And you get free drinks. Every employee is entitled to one free drink a day. I don’t know. Aim for Coffee Bean, and if not, go somewhere else.

Coffee Bean Cashier Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Coffee Bean Cashier: I was a cashier, which means I would greet the customers, take their orders, personalize with them, engage with them, and that was pretty much it. It was more of a social role as well as the handling the money and ordering the drinks.

Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Coffee Bean Cashier: It was pretty nice. The employees were easy to get along with. Since it was a coffee shop, they would get rushes of people, so some people would get impatient; some others were nice. It was a good work environment.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Coffee Bean Cashier: Before I went in, I applied online, and then one day, I walked in and I talked to the manager. I said, “Did you get my application?” She said she’d go over it, then she called me for an interview. After that, I got the job.

Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Coffee Bean Cashier: They would ask pretty basic questions, like what I was like, strengths, weaknesses, work ethic, kind of stuff like that.

Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
Coffee Bean Cashier: I would have to say that I was really driven towards getting the job, because it was my first job. I was telling her I was willing to work hours, morning, night, just that I was available at all times, and I was really enthusiastic about it.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Coffee Bean Cashier: I would definitely tell them that it’s going to be a lot of work the first few months, because you have to go through training stuff, but once you get through it, it’s a really great place to work at. I really enjoyed it. The people are great. The experience is really great, since you get to learn a lot of different things. I really enjoyed it as my first job.

Coffee Bean Team Member Interview Video

Video Transcript

Interviewer: Please describe your job title and primary duties.
Coffee Bean Team Member: My job title is a barista at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and the job duties revolve around cleaning, making drinks – hot and cold – and lattes, iced lattes, tea lattes, blended drinks. Their specialties are iced blended… and just engage the customer and make sure it’s a great environment.

Interviewer: What was the work environment like?
Coffee Bean Team Member: The atmosphere at Coffee Bean is very friendly and outgoing. They really want a very outgoing team member to join their team, because their whole motto is to be friendly and just to make sure the customer enjoys and is satisfied with the customer service that they’re receiving.

Interviewer: Please describe a typical day as an employee.
Coffee Bean Team Member: A customer comes in, orders a drink, you cater the drink to their special needs, and whatever they like, you do. Basically, make sure the lobby is clean, make sure everything’s looking great, so the customer has a great experience.

Interviewer: How would you describe the application and interview process?
Coffee Bean Team Member: The application process would definitely be to apply online and through applying online, the website, I think, puts your application into a field category and saying people that are really qualified and just qualified or not qualified. Once you’re in that qualified category, they take you in. You go into an in-person interview, and they interview you. And if they like you, I guess you got the job.

Interviewer: What questions did the interviewer ask during the job interview?
Coffee Bean Team Member: They want to know that you’re outgoing, you’re really friendly, you do well under pressure, because you do have to send out the drinks at a right amount of time, and they just want to know that you’re an overall friendly person that will get along with customer interaction.

Interviewer: What set you apart from other candidates?
Coffee Bean Team Member: I wasn’t nervous during my interview. I was very calm and collected, and it was more of talking to a friend than talking to someone who was going to be my boss, because I feel like you need that first step of being friendly and showing who you are and how you’re outside and bringing that into the aspect of the working in the shop.

Interviewer: What other advice would you give to a job seeker looking to gain employment?
Coffee Bean Team Member: I would tell them to definitely be very outgoing and be open with engaging in conversations with people you meet for two seconds, because these people come order a drink. It’s very good to engage them and make sure that… let them know that they’re having a… they will have a good day if they come in for their morning coffee, and it will just make their day better so they will return, and it’ll be a very friendly on-and-off experience with that customer that you’ll have.

Related Links:
The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Application