Pros
Our customers (London UK based store) are a really good bunch of people. They are gracious, understanding, patient and really encouraging. We have some wonderful regulars I'd go over and chat to about all sorts of things. If you are struggling a bit, just tell the customer you are new and training and they're totally cool with it. If you want to learn how to be a barista and hone your multitasking skills, look no further! Anybody who masters the Starbucks morning peak-line will be able to work in any coffee shop. There are genuine paths of progression, and because all of your seniors will have worked the role you are close to tears trying to master, they can offer guidance. It's nice to be able to have someone take you aside and advise you on a process that they know you will need. During non-peak times my team mates are really good fun, and there is a lot of stuff to learn that is ten times less stressful than peak-hours. In my store they have been more than accommodating for my shift hour needs. Needless to say this will be on a store by store basis, so I can only talk about my own experience. Free drinks. Need I say any more. You can have 20 drinks or a single drink. It doesn't matter. There are no limits. You also get 50% off food which is more than fair.
Cons
Peak hours are crazy and are assuredly not for the faint heart. I am working at Starbucks for the sole purpose of getting good at making drinks in an environment where lines of customers await so that I can branch out and do my own self employed thing. Had I not that light at the end of the tunnel I am not so sure I would continue. You can work other customer service sector jobs that pay more with a whole lot less stress For the levels of stress and workload a store manager has, the pay doesn't compensate enough. so most people have questionable attitudes towards their work (thus their staff). They're not getting paid enough to care, and I have personally found that store managers can really dish out the dirt to lower partners. I recall Gordon Ramsay talking about it once. He had to go through the fire and so anybody beneath him will also have to. Perhaps this is inherent in the food and drink industry. Due to the stress caused during peak rush hours it can really bring the worst out in some people. I have personally been called slow and messy by my store manager in front of my team mates, and other partners have also gotten it in the neck. Is this as a result of stress? More than lightly. You can only do your best, but this happened to me 12 months ago on my second peak shift. I know at the time I felt it was very discouraging and deflated, and I felt that everybody around me thought I was completely useless. Once again it's the situation whereby a store manager has been burnt this way, so they will continue that process. In my particular store, stress levels peak insanely when the store manager goes behind the bar. Partners get nervous because the store manager is very pass-remarkable.