Applied through Jobs.ie and within a day or so received a telephone screen interview. The purpose of this is whether to see that you are an acceptable choice to bring through for a real interview. The person asked general questions regarding present job at time, ambitions and why I had applied for Starbucks etc...be upbeat and enthusiatic as this is mainly what they want to hear! Answers generally related to the desire to exceed/progress in a long-term role that the company could deliver to me. Once the person on the otherside of the phone was satisfied with my answers a date and time is offered for real interview. Be flexible and take this time/date as it may not show a full desire for the job. The interview was held with a district store manager within two days of the screen call. I arrived 15 minutes beforehand to go over research I had collected by the way of advice I received through others on this website, which proved invaluable for me personally. Politely, make yourself known to relevant staff, give your name and time for interview. I took the advice from fellow posters that by ordering a coffee etc is a good start as it gave me the chance to chat briefly with counter staff and makes you feel a little more relaxed prior to interview. The coffee/beverage is usually given to you free of charge while you are waiting so a small bonus. While waiting a application form that you received on entry is to be filled out to the best of your ability prior to meeting the interviewer. It is long and a level of detail is required so bring along reference details and the most recent copy of your resume. I, on the otherhand only managed to fill out the basics on the application form and then headed in for interview. The interviewer, a district stores manager introduced himself and made me feel at ease quite quickly. Mainly the first half of the interview briefly consisted of him telling me about the history of the Starbuck company and of new and exciting developments ahead. The time soon arrived where I had to answer relevant questions posed and they will usually begin with 'Tell me about a time' etc where you failed to deliver good customer service and how you dealt with that or when you had a difficult confrontation with a manager and how it was/wasn't resolved. The latter question to be honest threw me somewhat but I smiled, took a moment and answered the questions to the best of my ability. The interviewer may decide to throw you a curve ball question like that to see what sort of character you are. The key with any question hard or small is to always have a positive experience show through even if the starts with a negative tone. Show the interviewer how well you handled any incidents and how you have learnt and developed from them. One huge tip it all revolved around how good a customer service representative you are or can be! Soon it was time for the interview to end and I was offered a chance to go through to the next round, a trial shift to compose of a hands on day at a Starbucks. I gladly accepted, thanked the interviewer for their time to interview with me and left the room. I later filled in the rest of my application form and handed it back to counter staff stating how it was for the interviewer. Another two days later I began my trial shift within a Starbucks store. I was introduced to all staff and briefly had a chat with the store manager. A brief tour of the store was given and then work began in terms of how I interacted with customers during my time there, whether this was being trained on the coffee machine or cleaning tables etc on the floor. I knew this was their main concern so really focused on this. A big piece of advice from a relevant person mentioned it wasn't how well you make coffees as this can be always taught, it's how well to interact with the customer of the otherside...something as simply as 'Hello' or 'How is your day?' goes a long long way, an easy conversation opener that doesn't go unnoticed by your peers. Other duties included going around the store with a tray of pre-made drinks such as miniture caramel lattes, this another chance to shine with your customer interaction skills and come back with a empty tray if your lucky. Other task was learning stock placing and methods used. The trial lasted three hours approx and felt positive throughout. I waited just over a week to hear back whether I had been successful overall as other applicants had also to be interviewed. I received a call from the store manager from my trial shift and was pleased to offer the position of shift supervisor to where I gladly accepted. I start tomorrow in a store located close to me for driving where I will be in training for a period of 3-4 weeks. From here a store will be allocated for a more permanent basis.