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Credit: Addison Geary
Alicia Jacob
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Position: Manager of Starbucks Coffee, Camden Campus Center
Length of Service: Since the store opening, Oct. 17, 2002
Hometown: Erial
What she does: Jacob leads a team of student workers to serve the caffeine-dependent population of Rutgers-Camden at the Starbucks Coffee in the campus center. To ensure a smooth morning rush, she comes in at 7 a.m. to brew coffee and stock items. Other responsibilities include: creating the weekly schedule, hiring and training new employees, doing a quarterly inventory, submitting invoices and other tasks involved with running a business. The Camden Starbucks employs 16 to 20 students, with five to eight working on a given day. “Because the workers are all students juggling class schedules, they can only work two-hour shifts,” says Jacob, whose biggest challenge is crafting a schedule based on the students’ availability.
The campus hotspot: On the Camden campus, Starbucks is the place to be when you’re not in the classroom. Students and faculty members escape to this coffee haven to study, relax, catch up with friends and re-energize between lectures. Starbucks is also the venue for entertainers, who include singers, massage therapists and tarot card readers. The Camden Starbucks serves about 250 customers on an average school day.
What she loves about her job: “Talking with people – professors, staff and especially students – is the best thing about working here. I especially like hearing students’ life stories about how they got to where they are,” Jacob says. While she doesn’t know each customer by name, she usually remembers their drink. (“Hey, it’s the mocha latte guy!”) Jacob and her staff look out for “regulars” and try to have their drinks of choice ready by the time they reach the counter. Starbucks is serious about customer service: The company conducts regional and district workshops and hires “secret shoppers” to grade workers on such things as how quickly they greet their guests or for mixing drinks with just the right proportions and temperature. Jacob believes that the attention given to ensuring a pleasant experience for the patron is one of many reasons the venue has been such a success. The Starbucks recently received its 12th Five-Star Legendary Service Award from the company’s corporate offices in Seattle for providing excellent customer service. “We are very proud of this!” Jacob says. Her least favorite part of the job, Jacob says, is saying good-bye to the student-workers. “My staff and I become very close. When they graduate it is like losing a family member.”
Sidelights: Jacob’s life outside of work is hectic. “I have two kids – a 9-month-old and 6-year-old – so I spend a lot of time taking them to sporting events and family functions.”
Before Starbucks opened, she was a manager for Cinnabon, a cinnamon roll bakery chain. Jacob’s favorite Starbucks drink is the sugar-free vanilla nonfat latte.
Know someone who deserves to be in the spotlight? Contact
Focus editor Carla Cantor at ccantor@ur.rutgers.edu.
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