Starbucks employment
 

I'm thinking of picking up a few hours a week at Starbucks, if they'll have me. Anyone ever work there?

As a freelance writer, I have two problems. One is no regular check. Yes, I get paid well for my work, but I'm subject to the vagaries of various pay systems and their paperwork--it can be months before I'll see that $4,000 check, for example, for a project I completed. Even if I just make 100 bucks a week, that's album money and a few groceries while waiting for the windfalls.

The other thing is I'm very homebound in this job. I do get out to talk with people and research the stories, of course, but not daily. I feel I sort of need some easy interaction with other human beings.

Plus I'll get a pound of coffee free a month, and all the coffee I can drink during my shift.

Whatcha think?

You're selling out! gmku!

Hee hee, yeah, ain't it fun! Wonder if I'll get a free Sonic Youth Starbucks CD.

I work at starfuz.. Its a good job. Pay not so great but there's other perks like the coffee and most of the people i work with are great. You do have to do a bit of training but its not hard..

I don't need great pay. I realize it's slave labor, but all I'm after is that bit of pocket change every week. And the coffee, of course. In spite of its corporate-ness, the stores always seem like nice places.

From what I read over at http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/ it seems it mostly depends on what your local managers are like. But you probably would never have to pay for coffee again.

Is there a big university in your town.? Maybe you could work as an assistant dishwasher for a sorority or something? Or work in ladies shoes in a big dept store. Sorry, I'm pervy this morning. I'm just thinking of possibly interesting jobs that don't pay much.

I would apply at the record shop if I thought I had half a chance. Maybe I will anyway.

Apply at Costco instead, they pay well. Also if you are part-time you still get full benefits.

Fuck yeah. And cheap (yet of better than average quality) pizza!

I have lots of friends that work at starbucks. or have worked there.it is a good place to work. you start off at aruond $6.50-$7.00 an hour, which is not much but better than mcdonalds or being a waiter, and there are tips, and there are benefits even for part time employees.
plus there are so many HOT HOT HOT women that love starbucks. you could have a rock hard wood all day long gmku, stave off the viagra for another couple of years. ;)

don;t tell mrs. gmku why you come home every day ready to go balls deep for an hour....

None around here. My sister-in-law's in the corporate side of it, and she thinks it's a wonderful company. Seems very fair-minded toward employees.

no no no no no sir, fuck no, and no.

first of all-- and this is the important-- there is no reason you should have to "wait months before you see that $4000 check". i'll explain more below.

second-- your wife gets a steady paycheck from the feds. should be sufficient to cover most basic expenses, no?

and third-- there are other ways than working retail if you want to be out among people.

look, im self-employed too, and i used to get ripped off, paid late, etc. no more.

the reason is simple-- well not so simple-- but a) i work with contracts now , b) i don't work with wankers who don't have money to pay upfront.

yeah, my contracts often specify a 50% down payment or partial payments whenever an important milestone is completed. this is no joke. i can't finance my client's projects. contracts also specify penalties for late payment, etc.

and then at this point i have gotten good at sniffing bullshit-- i have good clients that require no contracts, people who pay the second i ask them, and i cultivate those. i can do small jobs for them without down payment because i know i'll have my money the moment i'm done.

rather than running back to the retail trenches, i suggest finding a lawyer and an accountant and getting your shit organized. you have to price late payments into the cost of doing business and you have to be able to say you neeed 20 or 30 or 50% down when you sign up for a gig.

now, if you are looking for an extra paycheck, i would suggest something that increases your visibility as a writer. something good for marketing. imagine you're whipping up a latte and one of your corporate clients shows up-- the same one you've told all about your professionalism-- no-- just no. if you were 22 and out of college and were working on a novel i'd say starbucks is a good company with benefits for part timers bla bla bla. let your kids work a starbucks. but you could maybe get a teaching gig at a local college, or pick up some journo work at a local paper or magazine, or write record reviews for no pay-- something that will increase your prestige with your clients and will make them pay you more.

anyway, you need an accountant and a lawyer. find them.

and if you need to see people, you can always take your laptop to starbucks and write there. pick a coffee shop and make it your home. become a regular. have "your" table. you'll make friends in no time.

Good advice. And I do this generally (advances), except in cases where the "system" just absolutely makes no allowances for it. Govt, universities, etc., are tough about this. Nonprofits (environmental groups, etc) seem more understanding. Commercial magazines? Forget about it. At least the regionals I've dealt with. The pay is terrible. And the schedules are brutal. As a former editor, I'm used to planning magazines months in advance--as spring's issue is on the designer's desk, you're already editing stories for the summer, and planning ideas for the fall. So when I started offering my services to local editors, I was thinking they'd assign me stories with deadlines monts down the road. No, these guys are like working a mere few weeks in advance of an issue's press date. Why!?

Nah, I'd do this for the pocket change, just for that coffee and album money, you know. It feels a bit bohemian, but frankly if a client's going to get snobby about me picking up a few bucks in retail, that client might not be somebody I'd like to work for. I know freelance writers who do this all the time, actually--work here and there for short periods, often during dry times when the writing isn't going well. I think it helps recharge the batteries for one thing. And isn't that the benefit of going freelance? Having the freedom to keep options open a bit?

for governments i ask partial payments for the completion of each "phase"

say "research"-- it's a good way to say "down payment".

well seems you mind is made up so good luck to you. i'd never do that, but if you don't mind, well, go for it.

then again-- teaching, no? you can make $3-4K per course as an adjunct.

Nah, I haven't made up my mind. Just toying with it.

I am keeping my eyes open for teaching jobs, actually. Something in a community college, that kind of thing, a class or two a couple nights a week. Very hard to find around here, though.

oh. hm.

what ever happened to your record store project, now?

ps- advertising copy. there's good money in it.

The record store. Yeah, sigh. Too much competition, too little start-up cash. Too hard.

is the coffee good? i've never been to a starbucks.

there are no starbucks in this country!

I've had better at my favorite local shops, frankly. Local places especially that use the drip method of making each cup of coffee. Starbucks makes their regular brew by the big pot full, so the taste is not as good as individually brewed cups. But their specialties--mochas and the like--are fairly good.

i need to try it once i spot one.
our coffee is good (seriously), you should try it.
that's probably one of the reasons there are no starbucks here.

Yeah, I was spoiled living in Iowa City. They have great locally-owned coffee shops that all used, as I mention above, the individual drip method as opposed to making it by the pot. There is a world of difference. When I left Iowa City, there was about one coffee place on every block downtown, each an independent, plus one Starbucks.

In 1992, when my wife and I moved back to Iowa City and were searching for employment, one of our thoughts was to open a coffee shop. There were none at the time in Iowa City. We seriously considered it, and then decided, nah, it would never fly. Within a year, there were at least three very successful coffee shops downtown.

starbucks burns their coffee to keep better on the shelf. most of their copffee is roasted/burned weeks or even a few months in advance and shipped out. I would love to find a cofeee place that roasted on site.

STORY
- Once, about 10 years ago, my grandmother and an aunt and uncle came to visit us from Puerto Rico. My grandma brought over a big bag of green un-roasted puerto rican cofeee beans. She used a giant aluminum cooking pot and our outdoor propane grill to roast the beans and OH fuck did they smell fantastric. it took her some time but she roasted them to a nice deep brown and then we ground them and made coffee and HOLY fuck the coffe was SWEET and dlicious without adding any sugar at all! I love my shit with sugar but the fresh rioasted and brewed cofee was so fucking flavorful...

I know some people who work at starbucks and say it's fantastic, fun, easy, and pays well.

i just hate coffee shops, whats wrong with a nice cup of tea and a sandwich.
but yeah why not, go ahead.

tea is not my thing. I enjoy it when it is served to me, but I am Puerto Rican and we drink COFFEEEE

little tiny cups of espresso over a tablespoon of sweetened condesed milk. we call it a CORTADITO, which means "the little cut one"

Strong Coffee just doesnt agree with me at all, makes my mouth feel like theres a layer of moss and death inside it. A good selection of teas is the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYqpKpSh69s

Im Steven Fry, youre... the other bloke.

tea does not have th caffeine I need man

the smell of coffee alone makes me wake up. teh smell of tea make sme think, "I will take a sweet sweet nap now..."

I like storng flavors though, dark chocolate, strong coffee, port wine, cigars, kind bud, wet horny pussy, garlic....

yeah its a great entry level job but the man has kids in college. i think it's the wrong kind of job for him, unless he's having an american beauty moment.

I think I'd rather not, actually. It's dawning on me that this could be, like, you know, work. With a bossman and stuff.

no shit-- and your boss will be your kid's age and have an iq of 101 and will take out his hatred of older men on you. "hey dude dont forget to clean the bathrooms before you go home". yikes.

& I'll be all like, "Fuck you, dude. I don't do bathrooms."

fucking lazy american....

;)

and then he'll be like "you think you're better than the rest of us? you're fired!"

spare yourself the disgrace & look for ways to increase your business. seriously. subscribe to some trade journals & read this too

http://books.google.com/books?id=qfQq5MbXKhAC&dq=renegade+writer&pg=PP1&ot s=cj5mgkdDsF&sig=eBQX8E5V4iBcbUCRBLhwAQ3tzKs&hl=en &prev=http://www.google.com/search?q=renegade+writer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail

it's got great advice on recycling articles & other junk

also, read some shit on marketing, creating buzz, etc. once you're "established" business will come to you & you'll pick & choose your clients.

and find yourself a good bar if you need human contact.

& I'll say it while applying my eyeliner in the women's mirror! Ha, that'll show em.

I seriously have so much work now that I've had turn stuff away. I hate doing that, too, but I've had to. I have nothing against any assignment,mind you, but it kills me when big-time editors (at least regionally big-time--big fish in Columbia's litttle pond) call up and want something tomorrow for peanuts. It's like they think writers are happy to get paid what they could make in a shift at McDonalds (or Starbucks for that matter).

hm... then you probably need to increase your fees (new years is a good excuse) and come up with some realistic accounting so that you can budget your paychecks.

if some editor calls you with bullshit offers it's ok to tell them you're an established writer that will not work for peanuts and you charge X amount, but maybe then can find an english major to do it for their price-- ha ha ha.

seriously. someone called me yesterday looking for someone to do data entry. i suggested a temp agency.

No, I think it just has more to do with the fresh start of everything. It took a couple months to start getting noticed, and then the assignments were for things with deadlines fairly far along (meaning even with a few good advances final payments were/are a ways off). The momentum's happening, the money just needs to catch up, and then (providing the momentum keeps happening), I should start seeing a more reliable flow to all this. Like, I cna look ahead and see a watershed month--I'm just not there yet.

Yeah, I've actually done a couple things here for crap money. Like less that 10 cents a word! And it involved travel, time on the phone, not too mention the actual writing. I seriously could have done better selling my plasma! But I took them because they will get my name in print in some surprisingly prestigious regional magazines.

It's weird. These magazines are great. They're big and glossy, lots of advertisers, and lots of great writing, photography, etc., and enjoy a good reputation. But the pay absolutely stinks!

I might do a few of these a year, just to keep my name out there and to add to the portfolio.