Baristas
Prepare or serve specialty coffee or other beverages. Serve food such as baked goods or sandwiches to patrons.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Service Orientation
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Food Production
- English Language
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Prepare or serve hot or cold beverages, such as coffee, espresso drinks, blended coffees, or teas.
- Clean or sanitize work areas, utensils, or equipment.
- Clean service or seating areas.
- Check temperatures of freezers, refrigerators, or heating equipment to ensure proper functioning.
- Describe menu items to customers, or suggest products that might appeal to them.
- Order, receive, or stock supplies or retail products.
- Provide customers with product details, such as coffee blend or preparation descriptions.
- Receive and process customer payments.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (63.9% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (57.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (60.2%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Baristas is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 35-3023 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 99% of occupations compared | 100% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 96% of occupations compared | 76% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 69% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 61% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 99% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 75% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 92% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 97% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 0%
- Constant contact with others: 100%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 2.17%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 21.7%
- Extremely important: 76.13%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 2.17%
- Important: 11.63%
- Very important: 22.63%
- Extremely important: 63.56%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 2.17%
- Limited freedom: 26.33%
- Some freedom: 38.51%
- A lot of freedom: 33%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 63.57%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.37%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.86%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0%
- Every day: 16.2%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 2.83%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.77%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 48.27%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 24.25%
- Every day: 8.88%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.03%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.07%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 53.32%
- Every day: 22.57%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 20.37%
- Very serious: 0%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 35-3023.01 · SOC 35-3023 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8