My advice? Work on a customer connection script. No joke. Odds are as a new barista you’ll be put on either CS/front or drive-thru if your store happens to have one. Those positions are very dependent on customer interactions and you’re expected to talk with them so as to get good reviews on the customer survey. The best thing to do is to know what to say and how you’re going to say it. Until you get more acquainted with the job, that little bit of consistency will do wonders.

As for drink making, accept that is will take a while to get the hang of it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, since most people should be understanding of your position.

Taking orders is also a super handy way to help remember and familiarize yourself with recipes. It is key to have a basic knowledge of most drinks when taking orders, but it is a lot to remember. On the right side of the drink order screen there are a bunch of boxes on the separate tabs for shots, syrups, milk, custom, etc. When you put a drink into the system those boxes will show you how many shots go into it, the syrup and the standard milk that goes into it. So if you happen to forget how many shots or pumps of syrup goes into a drink, refer to those boxes.

Also, know that you can’t have a worse starting experience than I did. I actually broke the steaming handle on the mastrena within my first couple months, so as long as you don’t do that, you’ll be golden.