Here’s a recent job description for prospective Chazzano Coffee associates that I posted on a social media site: “Chazzano Coffee Roasters is hiring! We’re looking for individuals who are passionate about coffee, love to learn, have great interpersonal skills, and who love their life.”

That’s it. There’s no need for more information. We have a great reputation for being a spectacular place to work and having the highest integrity in terms of coffee roasting, sharing our love for growing our customers’ lives and business, and sharing our passion for the business.

It’s a coffee shop. Yes, my particular coffee shop and roasterie is complex, but truly, it’s a coffee shop. A dream coffee shop employee should have these 4 main attributes. Your questions during the interview should include these attributes.

Be Passionate about Coffee

If they don’t dream about coffee, or become irritable because they miss having a cup of coffee, then coffee shop employee is not part of their identity. Do they smile during the interview because that’s the best cup of coffee they’ve ever tasted? You want them to be geeky about coffee and all of the possible flavor profiles. If a prospective employee finishes their 2 cup French Press of coffee and looks hungry for more, you may have a winner.

A Love for Learning

This love for learning is extremely important. You want someone who is passionate about learning something new every day. Personally, I have never enjoyed working with people who don’t have a crazy passion for learning. In fact, if there is a World to Come after we leave this world, there probably is a place for people who weren’t starving for knowledge. For me, this is one of the greatest sins. Therefore, I require employees to be thirsty, no pun intended, for knowledge. During the interview, are they asking a lot of questions? Are they smiling when you say, “Wine has 750 flavor profiles, but Coffee has twice the complexity of wine with 1500 flavor possibilities?”

Crazy Good Interpersonal Skills

There really isn’t any room for timidity in a coffee shop. Your customers may have had the best day of their life when they walk through your doors, or they may have had something truly horrific happen to them. They want to see happy and personable employees who have a smile in their eyes and will help them forget that their wife just left them or their 10 year old dog just died. Furthermore, in my particular business, I want my employees to learn how to become expert referral marketers and networkers. Chazzano Coffee employees are expected to ask our customers: What do you do for a living? What is your target market? Are you doing anything fun this weekend? What’s new and exciting? In addition, they need to ask about their coffee preference. Which of the 25 different single-origin coffees would you prefer? Would you like that brewed in a French Press, Turkish, Vacuum Syphon, Pourover, Espresso, Aeropress, Cold Brew, or as a latte?

Customer service is not just about smiling and providing a service to customers in a quick and efficient manner. The greatest customer service occurs when something goes wrong. Sometimes customers ask for a latte and when the latte arrives at their table, they say, “Oh, I’m sorry. I ordered a cappuccino.” In your mind, the customer definitely ordered a latte, but who really cares? With great interpersonal skills, you’ll say, “I apologize. I’ll bring your cappuccino right over.” And when they have been enjoying the beverage for a few minutes, you’ll ask, “How’s the cappuccino? Are you doing anything interesting this weekend?”

My business is built on creating community and building relationships with customers as well as roasting the best coffee and having excellent customer service. As with a passion for coffee and a love for learning, great interpersonal skills cannot be taught. You either have these skills or you don’t. If you can’t speak comfortably with complete strangers, you are a lovely person and I wish you well, but I cannot possibly hire you.

Here’s an excerpt from my book, “God Cries and An Angel Loses its Wings.”

Here’s how I interview prospective Chazzano employees. I schedule an appointment with them for a certain time- let’s say, 10:00 a.m. They arrive, if they’re smart, by 9:45. My employees notify me that they are present. I tell my employee, “I’ll be right there.” I come by to their seat at 10:00 a.m., say hello, introduce myself, and then I tell them I’ll be right back. I spend about 10 minutes more answering e-mails, making phone calls, all the while watching them to see if they interact with other people in the cafe. Are they smiling? Are they talking to complete strangers? Are they asking my employees questions about the shop or coffee? Are they serial interviewers like I am? If they don’t have crazy good interpersonal skills, they are not the right fit for my team.

Yes, every prospective employee is kept waiting for at least 15 minutes. I need to see them in their natural habitat. If they spend the 15 minutes of quiet time looking out of the window and contemplating their lives, I wish them great luck, and I hope that they are successful in all of their endeavors, but again, they are not the right person for a busy, happy, and successful coffee business. And these three attributes lead to the next essential attribute: a love for living.

They Love their Life

Life is short. You want to hire people who are happy. If they are content with themselves, and with their activities, they will sell more coffee. People purchase from people who they consider winners. When you walk into a retail shop and everyone looks miserable, do you return to that business? You must wonder: “Why aren’t they happy? They have a job. It’s not a difficult job. Why do they look miserable?”

So, what is the number one reason for my firing my short term or long term employees? You may be shocked. I pay my employees well- they don’t steal from me. The only reason for firing an employee has been when they’ve lost their love for the business. They lost that smile in their eyes. Their lives away from the business are unhappy, unfulfilled, and they are trapped in a spiral of discontent. I care about them deeply and want them to thrive and help me grow the business and grow their lives, but when they lose that smile, I must terminate their employment. This doesn’t apply, of course, to bereavement, but it does apply to employees who bring their sadness about breaking up with their boyfriend or girlfriend, or roommate issues into the cafe.

If they love their lives, they will love your business, too. If they love your business, you’ll have more time to enjoy your life and will have full confidence that the business can survive without you.

The four attributes above are crucial to maintaining a staff that is committed to your business with great customer service and knowledge of your products or services. However, there are a few additional questions that I ask prospective employees as well as business friends. These are connected to: They love life.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Whether you are 25 or 65, this question is important to your well being. I want my employees to have big, crazy dreams for their beautiful, happy life. Spending any amount of time in a coffee shop includes conversations with customers that are not just about coffee. Are you a dreamer, or are you just interviewing with me because you need a job. If you have crazy dreams and even a small plan to achieve them, then you’re a fun person with whom your fellow employees will enjoy working. What do you want to be when you grow up?

If you had $5 million dollars, what would you do?

Again, this teaches me about your imagination. If a customer wants a particular coffee that is sold out, will you have the imagination to find a suitable substitute for their favorite coffee? This is a difficult question even for me. What would I do with $5 million dollars? I’m working on the specifics, but here’s a quick outline. I’d donate at least $1 million to important charities that help the world. I’d buy an apartment in NYC for my family. My family and I would travel around the country on a road trip for several months each year.

When you search for your next employee, remember that most service industry jobs do not require a degree in rocket science. What kind of person fits your vision and mission statements? Hire employees who make you smile with pride and joy.