Most café job postings are written the same way: a list of generic responsibilities, vague qualifications, and an implicit message that the operator hasn't thought hard about what they're actually hiring for. The good baristas read these postings and scroll past. The candidates who apply are the ones with low standards or no other options.

A well-written job description does the opposite. It filters in the people you want and filters out everyone else. Here's how to write one.

The structure that works

Six sections, in this order:

The café — one paragraph about who you are
The role — what the person will actually do
What you're looking for — specific traits and skills
What you offer — pay, hours, benefits, growth
How to apply — clear process
Wage range — explicit

Total length: 300-500 words. Shorter and it looks careless. Longer and the candidates you want won't read to the end.

Section 1 — The café

One paragraph. Not your founding story. Not your manifesto. What the café actually is: location, format, coffee program, current team size, what makes it distinct.

Example of what works: "We're a 32-seat café in [neighbourhood], open since [year]. Our espresso program rotates between [roaster A] and [roaster B], and we run a single-origin filter program that refreshes monthly. The team is six baristas plus a head barista; service runs from 7 AM to 4 PM weekdays, 8 AM to 4 PM weekends."

Three sentences. The reader now knows what they're considering.

What doesn't work: "We're passionate about coffee and community, building something special in [city]." Every café claims this. The good candidates know it's filler.

Section 2 — The role

What the person will spend their time doing, by approximate share of the week. Specificity matters because every café defines "barista" differently.

Example: "Roughly 70% of your time is on the espresso bar — pulling shots, steaming milk, calling drinks, hospitality. About 20% is dialing in and brewing filter coffee through the morning rush. The remaining 10% covers prep, cleaning, and stock. You won't be working the register — we have a dedicated host role for that."

This tells the candidate they'll be on the bar, not the register. Different baristas want different things; being explicit attracts the right ones.

Section 3 — What you're looking for

The trap here is generic adjectives — "passionate," "team player," "self-starter." These signal "I don't know what I want." Replace with specifics.

Examples of specific requirements that work:

"At least 12 months of espresso bar experience in a specialty café."
"Comfortable with rotating single-origin coffees — we change features monthly."
"Willing to do an unpaid trial cupping followed by a paid four-hour working interview."
"Available for at least 30 hours a week including one weekend shift."
"Latte art proficiency at the rosetta level or above."

If you'd hire someone without one of these, leave it out. Every requirement filters candidates; over-specifying narrows the field, but under-specifying produces bad applications.

Section 4 — What you offer

This is where most postings go vague. "Competitive pay, growth opportunities, great team." All filler. What candidates actually want to know:

Wage range (explicit dollar amounts; see section 6).
Tip structure — how tips are pooled, how often paid out.
Benefits — health, paid time off, free or discounted coffee, employee meals, anything else.
Hours and schedule — typical shift length, schedule predictability, days off.
Growth path — what role this could become in 12-18 months.
Training — what onboarding looks like.

If you can't articulate growth path or benefits, don't claim you offer them. The candidates who read past your vagueness are the ones you don't want.

Section 5 — How to apply

The mechanics. Clear, specific:

Send what (resume, cover note, video, link to social).
To which email or platform.
By when, if there's a deadline.
What happens next — "we respond to all applications within two weeks; promising candidates get invited to a phone screen, then a working interview."

The biggest failure here is not responding to applications at all. The specialty coffee world is small. Cafés that ghost applicants get a reputation for it within a year and stop receiving good ones.

Section 6 — The wage range question

Whether to publish wages is the most debated topic in job postings. The honest answer: publishing the range produces better hires, faster.

Reasons to publish:

You filter out candidates whose expectations are way off your range, saving you and them time.
Candidates trust the posting more. Hidden wage info reads as "this place wants to lowball."
It signals confidence in your pay — you're not embarrassed by it.
In many jurisdictions, it's increasingly required by law.

Format: "$18-22/hour gross plus tips (avg tip share over last 6 months: $4-6/hour)." Specific, honest, useful.

If your wage is below market, fix the wage rather than hiding it. See our wages report for benchmarks.

Language to avoid

"Rockstar." Reads as "I want someone exceptional, paid like a barista."
"Like a family." Reads as "we expect emotional labor and unpaid overtime."
"Fast-paced environment." Means "we're understaffed."
"Wear many hats." Means "we won't give you a defined role."
"Hustle." Means "we pay below market and expect more than market."
"Passion required." Means "we'll exploit your love of coffee."

These phrases are red flags to specialty baristas. Avoid them even when you mean something different — the connotations are too strong.

The trial / working interview note

Set the expectation in the posting. "Successful candidates will be invited to a paid four-hour working interview at our standard hourly rate." This filters out candidates who balk at the trial, and reassures candidates who've been burned by unpaid working interviews elsewhere.

Where to post

Order by quality of candidate, not volume:

Roasters jobs board — specialty drinkers and working baristas see it directly.
Specialty-coffee Discord and Slack communities in your city.
Your own café's Instagram and storefront.
Local industry contacts (your roaster's rep, neighbouring cafés).
Generic job sites — last resort.

The first four sources produce 70-80% of good specialty barista hires.

For more

For the rest of the hiring process, see our pieces on how to hire a great barista and barista wages in 2026.