Tbh I wasn’t put on bar till I was like 3 months in. You have to advocate for yourself. Tell the shift supervisor that you need more bar time so you can grow as a barista. Ask them every shift to put you on bar. Really make it clear that you want to be put on bar.

Good luck friend!!

SSV here. A lot of newer partners I see are just lacking the sense of urgency that I need in my bar partners. If you really want bar time, try showing your SSV that you have that sense of urgency and that you want bar time. The clear desire to want to learn or to want to do better will get you a long way when it comes to being a barista. Let your SSV's know you would want some bar time, but the best time is probably early mornings/mids. We are going to want experienced and fast baristas during morning peak, so ask when it isn't busy. I remember when i first started I had to be persistent to get that bar time. Good luck!

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Newbies MUST be given the opportunities to work behind the bar, otherwise they will never learn. I know that most ssvs want fast experienced baristas, but as an ex barista trainer, it's a huge mistake not putting newbies behind the bar. Before I took over as a barista trainer in my store, green beans were only for table cleaning,toilets and refills. The result? Baristas passing their barista exams in our medium-traffic store, then going to a mall and quit immediately because they weren't able to keep up.

it takes time! i was like you for the first few weeks of when i joined. slowly i am integrating onto drive and mobile/cafe bar but i truly started out with helping on cold bar. my only suggestion is asking to be on bar during slow times and also if you’re tired of DTO/DTR ask to do warming or CS(i know it isn’t as fun, but personally i would rather split my shift with different positions than stay on just one!)

i know people who it took 3 months to get onto bar, it just takes sometime! ask the shift if there might be any other place you could do

been working for almost three months and i’m put on bar pretty regularly, sometimes my whole shift. i think it depends on the ssv you’re working with, but also it’s okay to ask for more bar time ! you can only get better w practice

I started on cold bar, and I have hopped onto hot bar, but I mostly do CS. I enjoy cleaning. I have to be moving because I don’t sit still well. I’ve been there since September. You can always ask for more bar time. 😕

As long term Barista trainer my advice would be to request bar time when it’s slow, then work you way up to peak times as you get faster and better at sequencing drinks. If you feel too overwhelmed you can take baby steps and be someone’s cold bar or hot bar. If you notice yourself second guessing certain recipes for drinks there are beverage references in the iPads in the resources app and don’t forget about recipe cards too. You can also ring up a drink on the register (when it’s not too busy) and the side tabs will tell you the contents for each drink as well.
tips:
-Be aware of your surroundings! Take a moment to familiarize yourself where all the cups, lids, and milks are at so when you need something you know exactly where it is and you don’t have to go around in circles looking for a grande iced flat lid.

-Remember to always sequence beverages! it is key to keep drinks flowing in and out.

-keep your counters clean! I always notice how messy green beans are when they start on bar and it slows them down more too.If your area is a mess, then you are going to produce an even bigger mess.

I was hired right before the holiday season; they kept me on register and warming because there were no slow times when I was working to do much bar time. After the holiday rush, it was slower so I was able to get good practice time in.

I wasn’t put on bar until about 3 months of starting. If it wasn’t for a shift who always encouraged me to practice during her shift- I probably wouldn’t have gotten on until about 6-7 months later. You’re gonna have to request it yourself. However, I had this one coworker who came in outside of her shift, during our slow times to get bar practice. So maybe you could look into that

In my experience, it really depends on the location. Sometimes it's 3 weeks, sometimes it's 3 months, and then sometimes it's longer. But I have to agree with those saying you should advocate for yourself and tell your SSV you want more bar time. Don't be afraid to keep asking, too. The only way you'll get better is if you get that time

You have to want it and advocate for yourself. They want fast people on bar, so make sure that you're asking for bar time outside of peak for practice, and work your way up. Otherwise, they will keep you in a role that works best for the floor. It took me a couple of months of asking for practice and expressing my interest for bar, but I had to work my ass off to get there. They want to see good sequencing with urgency, and consistent accuracy of the drinks. I'm usually on bar during peak now, and im happy to be there. But it did take a few months of focus on it.

Oof yeah dude, I feel that. It took me a solid 3 months until I understood the drink routines efficiently enough to not be booted from bar. In my experience, you can ask one of the Barista Trainers to coach you through being on bar - evenings tend to be a really good time to go over some of the more complicated orders since it was less busy, but this varies depending on your store.

It was 6 months for me and I had YEARS of experience behind an actual bar and serving people/multitasking. But they had their favorites. So there I sat on DTR all of Covid.

I was hired 9 months ago at a store that regular does $100,000 a week and I experienced the same thing. I was starting to get really frustrated after 4 months of being on just customer support or front. One of the ssv especially treated me like I was incompetent for being new. That, plus I was commuting 30+ minutes to store, was enough for me to ask for a transfer. I'm now at a middle store, much closer to home, and feel like my development has sky rocket in the past 5 months. I'm now one of my store's preferred bar people and really enjoy my job again.

My advice is give it some time, learn as much as you can, and when you're ready transfer to a different store. It's incredible hard to get time to get bar practice in a store that constantly going.

6 months in

1 year

first day. was on bar everyday until i quit🫠

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4.5-5 months. But im a coffee master now so it ended up being fine fortunately

This depends: are you working peak/morning or afternoon? My store is a pretty busy store as well so I know that as an SSV I’m less likely to give you bar time during peak or in the after waves of that time. The best time to get bar time and more practice is when it’s a bit slower so I’m more likely to give you bar time if you work mids or nights personally when I was a green bean I worked more night shifts so I was able to get more bar time then my fellow green beans in the morning and by the time I switched to mornings I found myself not on dto or window as much :) if you can I would switch to a later daypart in order to work in a less hectic environment so you can really learn and ask questions also don’t be afraid to ask for that bar time you were not just hired to be dto you should be well rounded and the shifts need to be reminded sometimes that you’ll never grow to be a better bar if your not given the opportunity

year one has come and gone. im still constantly assigned to dto. im going to scream.

As a shift: we are more likely to give you bar time outside of morning and afternoon peak. If you ask for time right after open/right before close, or during slower mid shift hours, we do not mind giving it to you. If there’s a shift overlap with an extra person that can support you on bar for a short period of time that’s even better. Usually I’m more concerned that green beans haven’t gotten to even touch the bar in training yet and it can be like trial by fire at the wrong time

I was in the same boat as you, and it took almost 6 months before i finally just asked the (new) manager if i could get more time on bar

ask to be put on bar. your shift may not even notice that they keep putting you over there. i unfortunately I'm guilty of this in the past with one of my partners. he was to afraid to say anything to me but my SM noticed and said something i felt horrible about it and after that i made it a point to never do that to any of my partners again. my biggest advice to you is just ask for bar time and when you get it show your trying your best and that you want to get better. so dont be afraid to ask for help or if you get overwhelmed ask to be moved (i still do even after 8 years) it better to move to a different spot then to get discouraged trust me. ive seen my fair share of partners get overwhelmed and discouraged and walk out.

It was about a month before I would get substantial bar time, I had previous non-starbucks barista experience so I probably got faster than others just starting. I also transferred in when we were just reopening from COVID so we had much more quiet time to get proper bar routine training done. In our store at least, a lot of people these days will get first on cold bar before being hot bar trained. We still use cup markings rather than printed labels so basically everyone will get on order support first to get the cup markings before going to be bar trained.

I was on bar the week after my training, but mostly because everyone had Covid in January when I started so I had to learn right away. 😵‍💫 I had talked to partners who were there longer and they said they were put on bar maybe a couple months after starting. It really varies based on store needs but you should definitely let your shift or manager know you’d like more practice. Or even let them know you really need to switch from what you’ve been doing. I always communicate when I need to get moved off a position. And shifts can usually accommodate you.

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literally like 2 weeks it was so scary

I was hired 7 years ago. I went 3 months before they decided to give me bar time.

immediately. i went from a licensed store to a corporate store. wasn't trained, wasn't skill checked, just went straight to bar

That’s normal. First two months I was pretty much everywhere but bar. Then gradually they put me on more and more to make sure I learn through suffering a little and now I’m pretty much on bar most of my shifts (been at Starbucks since august) TBF tho I got really good at it fast just cause idk I’m good at it and we hired a ton of new people in the last month so I already have seniority over a lot of the store lol. Just advocate for yourself and let yourself suffer a bit on bar and you’ll pick up speed/skill and shifts will notice.

They threw me to the wolves on my first day 😭 during the pumpkin spice release too 😭😭

I got put on bar within a month I just kept getting put on bar and took me 3-4 months to master it completely

I mean I did a lot of CS before my skill check but after I’ve been assigned to pretty much every position regularly

4 months. Had to force myself on even tho it pissed off my store manager bc I would “mess up” even tho that’s part of learning. Pretty much forced myself on bar every chance I got and now I’m one of the people who pretty much just takes over bar for everyone lol

i was put on bar immediately and then dto/dtr like a few weeks after.

Tbh i started out after a month or so getting thrown on dt bar for like 10 mins or so to cover a break or something, then i was opening the store everyday w the same 2 shifts so they just always put me on bar for peak and i just got good like that

they put me on bar like a month after i started i think

The first day lol. I got straight bar training for about a week. And then my first shift knew how much I was trained on bar and put me on the support bar.

My third freaking week! I went home crying that Monday.

when I started I was put on cold bar or cs for like the first couple of shifts, but to be fair I was really bad on bar bc I had just started but I feel like it did help me learn all the drinks. But the thing is, since I was on bar, I didn’t get to experience dto/dtr. It took me about 2 months to get shifts fully on bar, it also depends on what time of day it is since it’s busier in the morning and they’re rather have quicker people!

I think a few weeks out of my training I was put on bar a little bit. My store tries to make it a point to put new baristas on bar though.

I was thrown into the wolves

I started October 2018 and maybe got some practice after 3-4 months a bit practice here and there then got more in 6months and didn't get put consistently every shift until like March 2020. I mean I would be bummed at times but it was fine. Now all the newbies of a month and so get bar time all the time.

I was put on bar fairly quickly (a few weeks I think but they let me on cold bar on like my second day 😬) but that’s because my store was very understaffed and I had bartending experience so they knew I could handle the rush. I was told that for most partners, it’s usually around 2-3 months before they’re put on bar.

like 2 weeks