You have to be a barista trainer, the reason is for coaching effectiveness. They want to see that you can effectively coach and lead your team members without having a power crisis (like a lot of shifts have). That being said, training is super easy and just reiterated learning styles. You should also be able to do it in a few days verses months or anything.

From what I was told before I was promoted is that it is no longer a requirement to become a barista trainer however, lots of DMs like seeing people trying to promote to become barista trainers. With the amount of coaching you do as a ssv I think it’s just a good experience. I was approved to become a ssv without having to become a barista trainer.

I know it’s not listed in the SSV posting (I also applied recently) and I don’t think it was listed in the Career Progression training when I did it last year, but I’ve always been told that you have to become a barista trainer before you can promote to SSV. afaik, the exception is if you’re an outside hire, i.e. you’re not already working for sbux and get hired as an SSV.

that said, it’s good experience to have under your belt either way! as the other commenter mentioned, there’s emphasis on coaching and leadership/being a role model, and once you get scheduled to do the barista trainer training (modules), it doesn’t take long to finish. there’s also no requirement that you have to actually train a new hire before you promote.