New here

coffeeman

Hello everyone!.

Glad to be here. This looks to be a pretty fun community.

So a little bit about myself. Never worked as a barista but have alwasys loved coffee. Gre up in a coffee drinking culture where every meetup with family and mates would result in a trip to the closet cafe or coffee shop. As the years went by, my appreciation for the depth of coffee expanded and I have tried my hands at coffee roasting at home a few times (nothing fancy, just a stove top and a popcorn maker).

So an amazing oppurtunity presented itself a few days ago. A local coffee roaster invied me in for a chat and an interview. He reckons that they may have a spot opening up for roaster in a few months time and he'll be in touch again then. This would honestly be a dream come true but... there is always a but. I am building a new home (should be ready in 4 months they reckon), and a baby on the way. So I'll have mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay.

My dilema is not what the paycheck will be looking like this year, rather, what are carreer growth oppurtunities in this field, and how do I avoid getting stuck at the same position and pay rate in say 5 years time.  I am in marketing at the moment and there is a career path before me. But being a roaster would be a dream come true. Unfortunately at this stage in life, I need to be fairly certain that if I take the plunge, there is a viable career path ahead of me. Is being a coffee roaster a viable career choice or would I need to look into owning my own roasting house in the future?

I'm hoping there are some professional roasters on the forum who may be able to provide some advice. So yeah. Great to be here, and I would love any advice I could get.

Cheers!
coffeeman

askthecoffeeguy

Hey coffeeman and welcome to the forum! I am not a professional coffee roaster but I have been in the coffee industry for a very long time, and I've had a close working relationship with coffee roasters for many years in my experience there's not a great career path for roasters, not unless you're working for either a multinational or at least an outfit that has numerous stores, including the capacity to send roasters to origin to source green beans etc in some instances roasters have gone on to become general managers for stores or indeed multiple stores, but it is pretty rare, perhaps in part because even though we lead the world in terms of how progressive we are with our approach to coffee, we're still relatively fledgling as an industry and as such clear career pathways are not a given nor are they mapped out either way you would be attaching yourself almost by default to the hospitality industry and to all that that entails, which in so far as coffee roasters and suppliers goes, includes after hours callouts and being on call on weekends and public holidays when something goes wrong with someone's coffee machine and they expect you to fix it of course this is not always the case and I know some folks who've done exceptionally well, sonny all means I am not trying to dissuade you but if I were you I'd stick to my day job and keep coffee as my hobby, either that or make your coffee focus a hobby business when circumstances allow to do so oh and good luck with the house build and with the child on the way ! Best, Pat

Simon

G'day coffeeman, welcome to the forum! I'm not a professional roaster, so can't really offer any advice, I would only say to follow what you love wholeheartedly. Sounds like an awesome opportunity, and it'd be something you love doing, rather than following some 5 year plan. Always feels risky, but the heart always guides you to what's best . But obviously you've got a few other factors to take into consideration, so I can't speak on that front, hopefully a few of the other guys will pitch in. All the best mate, enjoy the journey

Simon

Haha Pat we posted our response and started our post very very similar.. sorry, had a chuckle XD

K_Bean_Coffee

G’day Coffeeman. “Do something you love and you’ll never work a day.” Sort or corny but also TRUE. If you do the sums and you think you can make it work then it might be worth jumping in. Good luck Paul Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro