A story covered by Portland blog More Hockey Less War a month ago is now being covered by the New York Times: An Application for Baristas That’s More Than Milk and Beans.

North Portland’s Ladybug Organic Coffee Company (8438 N Lombard) asks prospective employees to fill out a (pdf) five page application form that includes such non-traditional questions as:

What is the most important thing that you have ever learned, and how has it changed your life?” one question reads. “What is something that you do on a regular basis to make the world a better place?” And, “What is one thing that you think would make Portland a better city?

The article’s gist is that Portland is obsessed with coffee, and in this difficult economy Ladybug Organic Coffee Company has a better chance of finding cheerful and competent employees using this unorthodox application process.

Personally, I think a large number of potentially fantastic employees won’t bother to waste their time on a 5 page application with essay questions. If I were looking for work such an application would be a red flag indicating a potentially obsessive, micro-managing boss.

Steve, at More Hockey Less War, sums up the reaction a lot of potential applicants might have:

What one thing makes you absolutely stand out above the rest? Why should we hire you over applicant X? (Because I wasted an hour of my life answering these ridiculous questions?)

Read the rest: So you want to be a barista.

Related posts:

1. New York Times blog takes a Portland Culinary Voyage
2. New York Times travels to Frugal Portland
3. The New York Times’ Frugal Traveler visiting Portland
4. Earl Blumenauer bikes into the New York Times
5. The New York Times talks about gentrification in Portland