Introduction:Manner's salary raise assessment is seen as a key pathway for employees to increase their income, but the actual pass rate is not optimistic. From espresso preparation to pour over procedures, the assessment process is rigorous, with equipment differences and scoring details often becoming bottlenecks. This article delves into the assessment content, the real reasons behind the low pass rate, and provides practical preparation and test-taking advice to help readers understand the actual challenges faced by Manner baristas.
For many Manner baristas, passing the salary raise assessment is an important step toward increasing their income, but this path is much harder than expected. All Manner stores are equipped with semi-automatic espresso machines, which place higher demands on the baristas' technical skills. The assessment focuses on core competencies such as latte art, milk texturing, and grind adjustment. In addition, as a brand that emphasizes specialty coffee, Manner also includes pour over coffee in its evaluation criteria.
However, many participating baristas report that the actual pass rate is low, with many being eliminated at the initial espresso operation stage and never even making it to the subsequent pour over segment. Equipment differences, unfamiliarity with grinder use, and the extremely strict scoring standards of the examiners are all key factors contributing to the difficulty of passing.
The assessment process usually requires employees to sign up in advance and then go to a designated store for centralized testing as notified. Although this arrangement helps examiners evaluate multiple candidates efficiently, it increases the pressure on the test-takers. Especially since each store uses the same brand and model of espresso machine, differences in usage frequency and maintenance lead to noticeable variations in equipment performance.
These differences directly affect the test-takers' performance in the milk texturing and latte art segments. Because they cannot familiarize themselves with the machine characteristics beforehand, many employees fail to produce milk foam and latte art that meet the standards consistently, losing points on these basic items. Additionally, the grind adjustment segment is a major challenge for many candidates. Some test-takers mentioned that due to unfamiliarity with the grinders provided at the test site, they made mistakes when adjusting the grind size, resulting in failure to advance to further evaluations.
A barista who has participated in the assessment recalled, "Four people all failed at grind adjustment in the morning" and "I took the test 4-5 times and failed every time at grind adjustment." This shows that grind adjustment is not only technically demanding but also a "stumbling block" for many. The uniformity of the grinder, grind setting calibration, and coffee powder output all directly affect the extraction result, and even slight deviations can be judged as failing by the examiners.
Manner’s professional requirements for employees are very strict from the start. New hires must undergo several months of intensive training at the Shanghai headquarters and pass the assessment before being assigned to stores. But even after passing the initial test, if they do not stand out in the salary raise assessment, their actual salary often remains below the level advertised in the job postings. Therefore, the salary raise assessment has become the only way for most employees to secure fair compensation.
However, not only is the equipment unfamiliar at the assessment site, the examiners’ scoring standards are almost harshly meticulous. For example, using a ruler to precisely measure whether the milk foam thickness meets specifications or confirming whether the drink is completely full to the brim are common scoring details. These seemingly minor items often become decisive factors and make the overall assessment process even more challenging.
Faced with such a strict assessment system, many employees admit that to pass smoothly, besides solid skills, a bit of luck is also needed — such as encountering a relatively lenient examiner. Otherwise, many can only fall into a repeated cycle of "register — take the test — fail — re-register," searching for a breakthrough amid constant failures.
In summary, Manner’s salary raise assessment not only tests the baristas' fundamentals but also places high demands on adaptability, familiarity with equipment operation, and psychological resilience. Understanding these challenges can help future candidates prepare more thoroughly and improve their chances of promotion success.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
