Hello All! Longtime lurker here(in both HB and CG), first time poster. A little about me. I am a middle-aged male, on the short and chunky side (mostly belly, from not pushing away from the table enough) resident of the far Northern 'burbs of Philadelphia. Information Technology has been my life's blood for more than 25 years, and circumstances have made that career track, no longer viable. A few of my passions include food, music, and coffee.

I have loved coffee since I was eight or so, but have become passionate about all-things specialty coffee in the past three years or so. Currently seeking a second career in this hard-to-crack industry, and becoming increasingly more frustrated, as door after door closes in my face. Ultimately, my dream is to get a job helping to source and roast coffee, however, reality has me seeking out barista(in training) positions at area cafes. I adamantly refuse to work for the 'Green Mermaid', for reasons too numerous to list here. The handful of potential companies within reasonable commuting distance have either ignored my attempts to get traction, told me they aren't hiring (when they post ads on Craig's List regularly) or, in the one case where I had an interview with the owner, and his training manager, was told that it would be too expensive for them to train me, given my lack of cafe experience.

All I really want, is for some business owner (cafe/roastery) to give me a reasonable chance to show my passion for specialty coffee. Can anyone offer me any advice regarding how to open some doors for me?

If you can travel, the quickest way to open some doors is to sign up for the Barista Guild's "Barista Camp" in Wisconsin in early June. You can get Level 1 certification and lots of networking opportunities. You will have to be comfortable being "the old guy" in a very young environment, but that is what you would have to do in a coffee bar, anyway. Information here: http://www.baristaguildofamerica.net/ba ... er-2014-2/.

The "other" paying-your-specialty-coffee-dues job is a production team member at a roaster. It you aren't interested in doing cafe related work this might be easier work to get if you have some local roasters and can work part time without benefits.

I would recommend expanding your search from barista stuff to just about any other position in the industry. Hit up the SCAA and find out what specialty coffee companies are in your area. It's not as "sexy" as barist-ing, but companies that sell things need sales staff, account managers, office related technical support, and delivery drivers. Ideally I think you would want a position that plays off of your existing work experience/strengths, gives you access to an active cupping table, and some extra motivation and a backstory to attend whatever industry social events are happening in your area.

Thank you both very much for your thoughtful replies!

Marshall, I do love to travel, and Barista Camp certainly would put me on the right path. However, due to a very tight financial picture, it is out of the question at this time.

Russel, I did in fact go the SCAA route, and received a nice reply. Unfortunately, they will not make such information available to non-members. An individual membership is $145 for the first year, which is not alot of money, under normal circumstances. Given the fact that I am not generating any revenue at all currently, it becomes a stumbling block.

If anyone has any ideas regarding how to generate a list of specialty coffee companies in my immediate area, I am open to suggestions.

Regards,
Barry the frustrated

You might get more access to SCAA info and connections through the BGA; membership is a lot cheaper and there may be a local-ish chapter that can connect you to some new people...it's a lot of work just to get a toe hold making minimum wage.

If you have a decent number of specialty coffee cafés in you area, you could ask some of the Baristas if there are ever any TNTs. They're a decent opportunity see who the more visible players in your area are. If you have some latte art chops you could throw down yourself, making the leap to doing stuff publicly is a big thing and any practice you can get is good.

Sometimes the route to employing your talents in a new career appear blocked if you go the standard route. Since you don't have money to invest in training and the usual barista path qualifies you for minimum wage, you might want to be more creative. Does your information technology background allow you to help with the back office operations of a successful restaurant, small restaurant chain or specialty grocer? That could get your foot in the door at decent pay. You would then have restaurant experience and your employer might be open to letting you dabble in the coffee operation. They might even pay for SCAA training. Or you could take your food service business experience to an operation that will support your love for fine coffee.