Coffee lady: responsibilities, pros and cons of the position

Who is the coffee lady

A representative of this profession is a neat, well-groomed, well-dressed girl who monitors coffee and tea in the office and organizes coffee breaks at meetings. She helps at all stages of the process - from drawing up a purchasing plan and purchasing the necessary products to cleaning and washing dishes. She is an energetic and positive employee who is dedicated to creating a cozy and pleasant working atmosphere.

In some companies, the duties of a coffee lady are often intertwined with the duties of an office manager or secretary.

Coffee lady salary

The position is considered the initial step in a career, so mainly young girls are hired for it. Salaries rarely exceed 25-30 thousand in Moscow and 15-17 thousand in the regions. You can earn more in a catering company if you cater not only for coffee breaks, but also for full-fledged banquets. However, this is already a waiter position.

Coffee lady vacancies are now relatively rare, so girls who love making coffee can try themselves as a barista, and those who are good at working with people can take a closer look at the positions of a personal assistant or office manager

Responsibilities of a coffee lady

In different companies, the responsibilities of a coffee lady may differ, let’s look at the main ones:

Of course, the main responsibility is to brew delicious coffee;
preparing delicious tea (knowledge of the basics of the tea ceremony);
preparing cold drinks (juices, lemonades);
table setting (preparing the table for a meeting or meeting);
monitoring the cleanliness and order of the premises after the reception (washing the coffee machine and other utensils, dry and wet cleaning);
serving coffee and snacks during coffee breaks (cookies, chocolates, cakes, desserts, sliced fruit);
drawing up a food procurement plan and agreeing with the company management;
purchasing necessary products from suppliers according to estimates;
organizing the delivery of products to the office;
control over payment for goods and services.

In addition to the main responsibilities, there are additional ones:

organization of events;
drawing up and sending invitations, calling guests;
meeting with guests;
cleaning the premises.

Additional responsibilities of a coffee lady

As for additional responsibilities, they are determined directly by the employer. In some offices, the owner of this profession is only responsible for preparing and serving coffee. In others, she serves as a sort of office manager. In this case, she must, in addition to her main duties, clean the kitchen and meeting room, and also perform the work of a secretary.

As a rule, a coffee lady is a profession that is more needed in large companies. Such companies, first of all, want to make a good impression on visitors. They serve coffee to executives and their visitors, and serve important negotiations and meetings.

At first glance, this profession is simple, but this is only at first glance. In fact, the applicant for this position must be confident that she can cope with the position of a waitress, office manager and secretary at the same time.

Coffee lady is a profession that involves invoking positive emotions. Such an employee must always have a good mood and a positive attitude. This is an important condition when applying for this vacancy.

Coffee lady is a profession that appeared specifically for offices. Nowadays, there are still few announcements of candidates for this position, but they exist. Of course, the name coffee lady involves brewing coffee as well as tea.

This type of activity appeared at the intersection of three professions - barista, secretary and waiter. He received business etiquette from the secretary. From the barista - the skill of preparing coffee, and from the waiter - the ability to serve it beautifully. In general, it turns out to be such a “hostess”. Often a coffee lady is also called an office hostess. This is because her responsibilities include purchasing coffee, tea, napkins, sugar and other ingredients. After negotiations and meetings, she must clean the conference room and put everything in order. Yes, she will need to pick up a rag and start cleaning.

Requirements for applicants

A coffee lady working in an office must have the following knowledge and skills:

Know how to make coffee in a coffee machine.
Know how to brew tea correctly.
A competitive advantage of this profession is knowledge of one or more foreign languages (foreign delegations may be present at meetings).
If you need to simultaneously perform the duties of an office manager, knowledge of office programs.
An employee in this position will need good manners, a sense of tact, and knowledge of etiquette.
Well-groomed and pleasant appearance.
As a rule, there are no age requirements for candidates. Most employers are looking for a girl between 20 and 30 years old. But sometimes, on the contrary, they give preference to ladies 50–55 years old who are courteous and have excellent manners. Such an experienced housewife knows perfectly well what is in the kitchen and where, and will find a personal approach to each partner of the company.

Personal qualities

What qualities should a coffee lady have?

The main quality is accuracy. Working with food and table setting requires neatness and perfect cleanliness.
Organizational skills. A girl should be prepared for many surprises and be able to calculate every little detail when organizing an important meeting or event in the office.
Positive attitude. A prerequisite for applying for a position is the ability to evoke positive emotions. Even in a difficult situation, a smile should be the main accessory of the “office keeper.” Radiance, positivity and cheerfulness will brighten up any meeting.
Multitasking. Ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
Grammatically correct speech.

Previous work experience

Experience as a waiter, bartender, secretary, or office manager is preferred. Usually, being a coffee lady is the starting point of a career. Having a higher education and knowledge of English will help you climb the career ladder over time (optionally, to assistant manager).

Personal qualities

A girl holding such a position will benefit from the following character traits:

Accuracy. You will have to work with food products, and accordingly, neatness is required. In addition, you will have to clean up the entire entrusted territory.
Organizational skills. Any event needs preparation. Therefore, everything should be calculated and checked in advance. It would be a good idea to develop a backup plan in case something doesn’t go as planned. For example, some of the guests will want a certain type of coffee or tea prepared using a special technology. You need to be prepared for this.
Communication skills. Work involves communicating with a huge number of people, so without this character trait it will be incredibly difficult to carry out work duties.
Stress resistance. Force majeure situations cannot be excluded. The girl may have to face the displeasure of her boss and work irregular hours if the negotiations drag on.
Hard work. Representatives of this profession are entrusted with many responsibilities, which should be treated with the utmost responsibility.
Positive attitude towards people. A coffee lady should be friendly and smiling, regardless of her mood and well-being. An optimistic attitude helps you endure stress more easily and find positive moments in every day, even the most routine.
Ability to perform multiple tasks at once. The position involves simultaneous resolution of a number of issues. Therefore, you need to be able to correctly set priorities, find optimal solutions, and quickly respond to the situation.

Categories of companies that hire coffee ladies

There are certain categories of companies interested in this vacancy:

Companies engaged in international activities that often receive delegations.
Firms in which the position is combined with the vacancy of an office manager or secretary. Companies working in the field of show business. They most often hire employees for this position on a temporary basis.
Increasingly, companies are ordering one-time services of a coffee lady to serve meetings and negotiations from special catering or outsourcing companies. Thus, the customer company saves on permanent employees.

What companies hire coffee ladies?

The services of a coffee lady may be needed by several categories of employers:

Systemically important companies that operate internationally. They have to host numerous delegations of partners.
Large enterprises. As a rule, in this case, the position of a coffee lady is combined with the responsibilities of a manager or office employee.
Representatives of mass culture and show business. The work can be one-time or permanent.
Outsourcing companies . They are considered the most frequent employers. Other organizations order coffee lady services from them. Therefore, they hire a person to perform these duties on staff.

Where to find a job?

Job vacancies can be found on online employment portals, of which there are now a huge number. There you can easily select a job according to the necessary criteria: desired salary, full or part-time work, schedule, requirements. Often the vacancy is also called “household support specialist”.

You can also consider job search advertisements in magazines and newspapers. Such vacancies are usually found in the “Cafes and Restaurants” section. If you are interested in just such a vacancy in a large international company, then it would be a good idea to turn to the services of recruitment agencies.

Those who believe that a coffee lady in the office performs simple duties at a relaxed pace are very mistaken. In fact, this is not an easy job that requires a lot of skills, skills and relevant personal qualities.

Skills Required by a Coffee Lady

A modern applicant for the position of coffee lady should acquire the following skills.

Skills in preparing coffee in automatic espresso coffee makers and cezves.
The ability to brew tea, and ideally, knowledge of the main features of the tea ceremony, as the partnership with our eastern neighbors is expanding.
Knowledge of at least one foreign language is desirable. If you own several, this significantly increases your chances of getting hired. Coffee ladies usually work in large international companies, with international staff and a large number of partners around the world. Knowing at least everyday colloquial phrases in different languages is a very useful skill.
Knowledge and understanding of etiquette. A coffee lady is not a solo performance in front of an audience, but a qualified service to guests and high-ranking employees, requiring tact, good manners and taste.
Ability to serve. Yes, yes, the usual skill of a waiter will come in handy for a coffee lady.
Pleasant appearance. This is one of the conditions, but not the first one. A simply beautiful girl without the necessary skills is unlikely to satisfy picky employers.
Proficiency in office software packages. This becomes especially true for those companies that expect the coffee lady to perform the duties of a secretary or clerk.

Some companies also require a medical certificate, based on the fact that the employee works with food products.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of a coffee lady in the office are quite simple; you need to take care of the employees of your company, in terms of ensuring that they do not “die of thirst” without tea or coffee.
Now more details. The employee must ensure that tea, drinks and snacks are available. If they run out, the coffee lady must buy them (usually this is done monthly). Preparing tea, drinks and snacks for them is the task of the coffee-lady; taking care of office kitchen appliances (coffee makers, kettles) is also her concern. She must take care of the condition of kitchen appliances, maintain order in meeting rooms and, if necessary, set tables there, and greet guests. This can be said - a personal waiter for the company.

You can work not on a permanent basis - on calls. To do this, you need to send your resume to a catering company that specializes in providing on-call restaurant services. If your resume is of interest to the company, then you will be invited to offsite events and one-time promotions - presentations, seminars, conferences, which often include banquets. I would like to say that at such events, in addition to coffee ladies, so-called coffee fights are also required.

Where is the coffee lady profession in demand?

As a rule, such vacancies appear in large respectable companies, which respectably make the best impression on office visitors. Coffee ladies serve strong drinks to managers, as well as their visitors, provide “coffee” service for important negotiations and business meetings, etc.

Many times the profession of coffee ladies is romanticized, presenting such employees as some kind of “keepers of comfort” in offices. Receive and sign in practice, it often turns out that this is a rather complex job that requires a whole range of skills. It’s okay, and you should apply for it only if the applicant is sure that she can combine the duties of a waitress, secretary and office manager.

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What skills should a coffee lady not lack?

1. Preparation of drinks . Of course, the employer is unlikely to require the capuchin lady to have the professionalism of a real barista, but nevertheless, the coffee lady should have the skill of using a coffee machine, and in turn preparing other drinks.

2. Table setting . The ability to delicately arrange drinks and snacks on a tray and then place them in front of guests is undemandingly necessary for such a specialty. It is worth noting that the coffee lady should be unobtrusive. Ideally, her presence in the meeting room or management office should remain unnoticed.

3. Management of “economic activities” . Often the coffee lady is responsible not only for preparing drinks and snacks, but also for purchasing them. This is where the ability to choose truly high-quality chaner and coffee comes in handy. The ability to correctly plan the consumption of certain products is also important in order to replenish their stocks in a timely manner.

A coffee lady, among other things, must look perfect. What is important here is not only a pleasant appearance, but also the ability to dress, neatness, as well as the ability to win over guests, to behave kindly and at the same time unobtrusively.

Requirements for a candidate

To work as a coffee lady, you don’t need a special specialty or training, but if you have already worked in this profile in related professions (bartender, barmaid, waitress), this will be your advantage over other candidates. Having a valid medical record will further increase your chances of getting this vacancy.

Knowledge of English will give you an advantage to get into a company that works with foreign partners.

As for the age of candidates for this vacancy, there are no strict restrictions. The requirements are quite different for each employer, some want an employee between 20 and 30 years old, others need an employee aged 50-55 years, but provided that the lady is a real lady who knows how to be courteous, neat and has good manners.

Employers only insist that their ward has Russian citizenship, and with Moscow or Moscow region registration it’s simply great.

Where to find vacancies

In newspaper advertisements in the “Without special training” and “Restaurants” sections.

On work sites, such as “Rabota.ru”. Here you need to search by the catalog, which lists all areas of business or by parameters: minimum salary, full or part-time employment, experience, work schedule.

Searching by parameters is more effective, since the vacancy of a coffee lady can be not only in the restaurant business. The only thing is, do not specify too many parameters (constraints), otherwise you may not find any suitable ones.

What skills should a coffee lady have?

1. Preparation of drinks . Of course, the employer is unlikely to require the coffee lady to have the professionalism of a real barista, but nevertheless, the coffee lady should have the skill of using a coffee machine, as well as preparing other drinks.

2. Table setting . The ability to carefully arrange drinks and snacks on a tray and then place them in front of guests is essential for this specialty. It is worth noting that the coffee lady should be unobtrusive. Ideally, her presence in the meeting room or management office should remain unnoticed.

3. Conducting “economic activities” . Often the coffee lady is responsible not only for preparing drinks and snacks, but also for purchasing them. This is where the ability to choose truly high-quality tea and coffee comes in handy. The ability to correctly plan the consumption of certain products is also important in order to replenish their stocks in a timely manner.

A coffee lady, among other things, must look impeccable. Here, not only a pleasant appearance is important, but also the ability to dress, grooming, as well as the ability to win over guests, to behave kindly and at the same time unobtrusively.