Pros and Cons of Working as a Barista

You think about becoming a barista but want to get additional information about working conditions, salaries, job prospects, educational requirements and much more?

Great! Stick with me since I will show you all the pros and cons of being a barista in the following chapters.

Barista Job Profile

Advantages of Being a Barista

1. Baristas don’t need a college degree
2. You can avoid student loan debt
3. You can start making money at a rather young age
4. Baristas can make many people happy
5. You can work indoors
6. Baristas don’t have to work in a hard physical manner
7. Working as a barista is not very stressful
8. Baristas are not at great risk of burnout
9. You can avoid working in a classical office job
10. You can show your friends how to make delicious coffee
11. Being a barista is considered cool
12. Working as a barista can benefit your dating life
13. You can start your own coffee bar
14. You can use social media to make money on the side
15. Baristas work in a rather safe environment

Baristas don’t need a college degree

One advantage of being a barista is that you don’t need a fancy degree for working in this field.

In fact, you don’t need any formal qualifications as long as you have some natural talent and are also willing to work hard.

You can avoid student loan debt

Since you don’t need a college degree for becoming a barista, you can also avoid getting into student loan debt while many of your friends may have to pay back huge sums of money after finishing college which may greatly financially constrain them for many years.

You can start making money at a rather young age

Since you don’t need fancy education, you can become a barista at a rather young age and can start making money and become independent of your parents pretty early in your life.

Baristas can make many people happy

Another upside to becoming a barista is that you can make many people happy.

While you will not change the lives of people, you can still give them some nice moments and can also give them some nice words so that they may be able to overcome certain issues.

You can work indoors

Baristas can also work indoors and this means that you will be protected during times of bad weather while scaffolders and many other people have to work outdoors on a daily basis and have to deal with adverse climatic conditions.

Baristas don’t have to work in a hard physical manner

While baristas have to brew coffee and have to bring it to the tables of their customers, they still don’t have to work in the same hard physical manner as butchers or other people who have to stress their spine quite a lot every day.

Working as a barista is not very stressful

While you sometimes have to deal with difficult clients which can be annoying, you will still not have to deal with the same high stress levels as a barista as people working in private equity or other jobs where time pressure can be immense.

Baristas are not at great risk of burnout

Since you will not have to deal with high levels of stress for most of your workdays, your risk of suffering from burnout or other mental health problems will be rather low as a barista.

You can avoid working in a classical office job

By becoming a barista, you can also avoid working in a classical office environment.

Instead of working with a computer and sitting in an office chair all day long, you will have much more exercise at work which makes it easier for you to stay fit as a barista.

You can show your friends how to make delicious coffee

Another benefit of being a barista is that you can also show your friends how to make delicious coffee.

In fact, brewing coffee can be a real science and art at the same time and if you show your friends this craft, chances are that they will very much appreciate it and may also be willing to help you out in various parts of life.

Being a barista is considered cool

Working as a barista may also make sense in case you search for a job that is considered cool by most people out there since many young people will envy you and may want to be in your shoes.

Working as a barista can benefit your dating life

Since you will get in touch with so many people and have dozens or even hundreds of new guests on a regular basis, you can also make many new social contacts as a barista and may also be able to get many numbers for dating purposes during work.

You can start your own coffee bar

If you learn your craft well and can get better than the competition, you may also be able to open your own coffee bar and may be able to work self-employed and be your own boss.

You can use social media to make money on the side

Thanks to modern technologies, you can also use social media and other digital channels to promote your business and you can also start your own YouTube channel where you show people how to make delicious coffee and may be able to make additional income through ads or affiliate marketing.

Baristas work in a rather safe environment

Baristas are also not at great risk of serious accidents at work and you will therefore be able to work in a pretty safe environment.

Now that you know all the benefits of a barista career, we also have to talk about all the drawbacks of working as a barista so that you get a more realistic picture of reality and can better decide whether you still want to become a barista or want to work in a different field instead.

Disadvantages of Working as a Barista

1. Average income of baristas is pretty low
2. Many baristas can’t save enough for retirement
3. Baristas often have a hard time providing for their family
4. Pretty poor job security for baristas
5. Baristas don’t learn many important hard skills
6. Exit options are rather limited
7. Baristas have a rather low social status
8. Hard to find a partner for a long-term relationship
9. Baristas often have to work on weekends
10. Some baristas also have to work in the evening
11. Pretty poor work-life balance for baristas
12. You will not create long-lasting physical products
13. Your job will be pretty repetitive
14. Baristas can’t work remotely
15. You have to deal with difficult clients
16. You work in a rather hot environment
17. Your clothes will smell after work

Average income of baristas is pretty low

One problem with working as a barista is that you will have a really hard time making good money since your hourly wage will be pretty low and if your goal is to become wealthy or even rich, you should rather become a dentist or a judge instead.

Many baristas can’t save enough for retirement

Due to your rather low salary, you will also have a hard time saving and investing enough money for retirement and may therefore suffer from serious old-age poverty once you quit your active career and retire.

Baristas often have a hard time providing for their family

Since you will not make really good money, you will also have a hard time providing for your loved ones and you may also not be able to buy your kids nice things and may really get annoyed in this regard in the long run since money problems are not fun at all.

Pretty poor job security for baristas

Since baristas are easily replaceable, they are also at great risk of losing their jobs and have pretty poor job security.

Consequently, you may also have to worry about losing your job and this may lead greatly lower your overall quality of life in the long run.

Baristas don’t learn many important hard skills

Another downside to becoming a barista is that you will just not learn many skills needed in the job market right now and in case you get fired, you may have a hard time finding a decent job.

Exit options are rather limited

Since your skill set will be pretty specialized, you will also have rather limited exit options as a barista and may have a hard time switching to a different field since many companies will not be willing to employ you.

Baristas have a rather low social status

While you can make many people happy, some people out there will also just belittle your work and may not consider being a barista a real job.

In turn, you may have a rather low social status and may also have to deal with snarky comments in this regard quite often.

Hard to find a partner for a long-term relationship

Another disadvantage of working as a barista is that you may also have a hard time finding someone for a long-term relationship since you will make pretty poor money and will have poor job security and many people may rather look for a partner who is considered a better provider.

Baristas often have to work on weekends

You should also know that you will have to work on weekends on a regular basis and will not have time to make nice weekend trips with your family while many of your friends working as financial controllers or in other classical office jobs will often have more than enough time in this regard.

Some baristas also have to work in the evening

Not only will you have to work on weekends, but you may also have to work in the evening and in some cases even at nighttime and this may be quite annoying and may also destroy your natural sleeping pattern so that you may suffer from sleeping problems in the long run and may also have a hard time meeting up with your favorite people after work.

Pretty poor work-life balance for baristas

Since you will have to work on weekends and may also have to work rather exotic hours, your overall work-life balance will be pretty poor as a barista and you may just not have enough time to spend with your loved ones and may also have a hard time relaxing after work.

You will not create long-lasting physical products

While you can produce delicious coffee, you will still not be able to produce long-lasting products as a barista and may not feel like you are doing something important for society in the long run.

Your job will be pretty repetitive

While you can be creative at work, you will still do many tasks that are pretty repetitive and may get bored with what you are doing unless you are really passionate about brewing coffee.

Baristas can’t work remotely

Another downside to being a barista is that you have to be present at your workplace in person while many other people working in office jobs can often work from home and will be much more flexible in this regard.

You have to deal with difficult clients

While most of your guests will be friendly, there will always be some people who just can’t be happy and have to complain quite a lot about minor issues and you have to always be friendly on the outside while you may be secretly boiling inside and this may lead to many emotional conflicts in the long run.

You work in a rather hot environment

Since your main task is to brew coffee, you will be surrounded by fumes and hot air from coffee machines all day long and this can get really exhausting sooner or later.

Your clothes will smell after work

Your clothes will also smell like crazy when you finally come home from work and if you don’t like the taste of coffee, you will not get happy with a barista career at all.

Top 10 Being a Barista Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Become A Barista?

Working as a barista can make sense since you can start making money from a rather young age without having to get fancy education. However, you should also know that baristas often have to work during weekends and in the evening and you may therefore have a pretty poor work-life balance.

In the end, it is on you to evaluate all the pros and cons of being a barista so that you can better decide whether you still want to work as a barista or rather want to work in a different field.

If you come to the conclusion that a barista career is not for you, you may also want to check out the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of being a dietician

Advantages and disadvantages of being a restaurant manager

Advantages and disadvantages of being a bartender

Sources

https://www.statista.com/topics/1248/coffee-market/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barista

Own research and interviews.

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world.

In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of what a fulfilling career could look like.

I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics.

However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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