Working at Starbucks in Seattle, WA: 28 Employee Job Reviews by Real Employee working in Seattle, WA Area

"Great place to work for, be prepared to spend the day in meetings."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"The place was full of young creative people."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"The commute was rather long and I had to pay for parking."

"SBUX is a great place."

"Be adult, be ready and hang on."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"Fast paced, efficient teams, Personal networking is necessary to accomplish much but once established, the things you can do are amazing."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Ask the interviewers how long they have been there, how often have they moved cubicles and changed jobs. What would success look like for you. What is the most challenging thing you will have to face. Get some context of the people you will be working directly with. It is a highly networked company - as most resources are matrix-ed. so find out who you will need to know to be successful."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"I was not able to respond definitively yes or no. The comments are accurate as far as they go. I was laid off a year ago. The work and culture is great as long as there are no significant challenge to the bottom line. This is a for profit business; the decisiveness seen in expansion is there in contraction as well. I was not given any options to change position or take cuts, just told I was no longer needed. The "we value our partners" statement is true as long as it does not affect the business. A lot of us laid off were close to the ten year mark - which is when you get vested and start really costing the company money. True, this is also the level of first line management that is necessary during building, but when you want to flatten the organization and are in survival mode, that is the layer most expensive. So you need to be realistic to work there. Which is fine, but there are a lot of folk that get emotionally vested in Starbucks, and not their value on the open market. It is best to be realistic with the us factor there and stay alert to what your true market value is. While I get it and actually embrace the challenge, there are many that felt betrayed, that the company fed them a line and as soon as the economy got bad, instead of working with us to address a problem we became immediately expendable. Currently I hear everyone is still uncertain of long-term economic conditions, but we seem to be taking necessary steps to weather the storm. Basically a good place but you need to be an adult and take responsibility for your career. Stay hungry and don't think the company owes you anything but a chance to get paid for your work. They do reward, but be wary. Pretty common and natural things, but the excitement and rewarding teamwork can suck you into working and developing only along Starbucks line - not yours."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Not much. All my interactions were honest, straightforward and rewarding other than one person, all management were clear on what they needed. There was not too much time for destructive politics. Most would work with you and help you be successful in the tasks. As far as being laid off, there is no perfect way to do this, things move fast in retail and they did provide a severance package that helped. No kick there. I would have preferred to have a say in my future, but we would probably still be negotiation - at Peet's if that were the case."

"Solid company with a good focus on the balance between professional and personal Partner needs."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"The fair concern and attention Starbucks provided employees (partners) to balance their family life/needs with work."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Keep common sense as your foundation."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"To maintain and prioritize the satisfaction of each employee, and effort to balance their personal with professional needs as best you can; keeping professional performance as an on-going importance and expectation."

"Excellent company to work for!!!"

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"Multimanagers dependency."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"People need different individual approach."

"general overview of the complexities of the company"

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"Challenging business decisions, constantly thinking outside the box. Learning to lead without authority and critical decision making."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Be open and honest. Be authentic. Never answer questions that a company wants to hear. That may work for the immediate needs of each party, but will ultimately lead to the demise of the person, project, client, or company."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"Not fully understanding diverse talents of the team. Having people reach their true potential."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Mentoring. Challenge people to be better than what they are. Encourage ones to think outside the box and never give up on any ideas. To learn to work as a team and learn from everyone they encounter. Management is just a title and need to be a student and teacher at all times to be truly successful."

"Excellent place, excellent people."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"The people and type of projects."

"It is a great company to work for."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"It is a busy and fun place to work."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"Management direction changes quickly."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Identify the needs and put long term solutions into place."

"Great company."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"The people."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"The politics."

"Starbucks changed the world!"

"Contract Job - pre-defined scope of job and time."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"Great environment."

"Exciting time working for Starbucks, but company has faced layoffs and store closures."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"Great team members; exciting work."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"Little opportunity for advancement."

What do you like about working at Starbucks?

"Culture, people and coffee. People have good skills and lots to learn from other experienced folks. I like their vision and ability to come forward and help US economy."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Just know your skillset and try to show ability to learn and adapt. Your resume should reflect your experience in a crisp and clear way."

What don't you like about working at Starbucks?

"Benefits are not that great. It could be better considering the fact that company is on a successful trajectory of growth for the coming years and they have good cash reserve."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Could have better benefits for the experienced skilled workers group. I notice that most of the benefits are treated commonly for baristas and IT/Management partners. Also the medical premium is expensive. But otherwise everything else is great."