thegrindstone.com: I have a confession to make. My resume isn’t completely accurate. I mean, everything on there is completely legit—but I may have left off a few things. O.K. so it was one job, and when I accepted it, I thought it was going to be the job. It wasn’t. In fact, it was the first of only two times in my career when I absolutely knew, with complete certainty, that I needed to quit. And that’s exactly what I did.
18 comments:
I have to say that I can personally relate to this article. My junior year of college, I filled out applications at lots of restaurants, and got offered positions at Moe's and Hooters. I was tempted to take the position at Hooters, because of the exact fear this woman discuss: how it would look on my resume. In retrospect, she's completely correct. It's irrelevant. It's in all in how you discuss the experience with a future employer. I would have made much more money working at Hooters, but I don't regret working at Moe's. I got to write "expert burrito roller" on my resume. When I sat across the table from Mike Wade (who at the time was the Production Manager of Williamstown) said "we might put some of those burrito-rolling skills to work". The next year I had a job at Williamstown.
I can't speak to this experience as I've been fortunate enough to get fairly mundane theatre jobs (certainly not embarrassing) every time I've applied for one, but I can speak to the value of putting positions other than the one you're applying for on the resume. I've received a few calls because I list my summer stint as a props master for children's theatre on the resume - nothing to do with stage management at all, but it shows a well-roundedness and the possibility of helping to fix broken props backstage if the situation arises. I also keep house management and box office assistance on there, as it's a customer service position an gives some insight to the other side of the proscenium. Sometimes I worry that as we gather more credits and attempt to specialize our resumes, we start to lose some of these valuable "related experiences" which could actually be attractors to a potential employer.
I completely see where the author of this article is coming from. I feel that while there is a certain stereotype for certain companies and positions, I feel that in todays society, one should not be judged by previous job opportunities. Like the author said, that having this on a resume may show that you have a drive in you that many other people may not have. But sadly in today's society, people look down upon positions like those, esspecially if you applying for a Fortune 500 company. With everything, I feel there is a happy medium. Companies have no right to hire or not hire someone because of one job they had for six months over 5 years ago, however, we do live in an imperfect world. The medium I suggest is when applying to companies, look at the overal company morals and ideals. This should give you a gauge as to if they are a more open minded company.
These days we have the ability (and, I would argue, the responsibility) to tailor our resumes to fit the job we are applying for. Any why not? Resumes, cover letters, interviews only GET us the job; our experience and our skills KEEP us the job. So, if we're applying for a restaurant manager job, hell yes include Hooter's; if we're applying for a shop carpenter position, maybe not. But I still think it would depend on whether or not there were skills learned working at Hooter's that could be applied to a scene shop. Maybe there are.
Would an actor be judged any less so by putting "Naked Boys Singing" on his resume? Maybe. Should he care? Maybe. But I think whether or not it's worth including depends highly on what he's applying for.
I also think that, as we get older (and I assume, get more jobs and more experience), the question of whether or not we include EVERYTHING on our resume becomes less of an issue as we can pick and choose what we want to include.
I agree with Jake. Everything you put on your resume should be weighed against how it will help you get the job you're applying for. At this stage in our careers, we should be able to at least start being more choosey with what we include on our resumes. When you're applying for a professional internship after graduating college, do you include that part-time job you had in high school? If it's applicable, yes. If not, then no. Keep in mind that you can list things in your skills section that you may have learned from that job, which not necessarily listed the job in your resume. It's all about tailoring your resume to the job you're applying for. I keep a series of base resumes for different types of jobs, and still go through and update it for each individual job I am applying for. The skills that make you good for an outdoor theater may not be the skills that make you good for a position in a metropolitan city opera company.
One should also keep in mind their cover letter. You can describe the things you learned at your Hooter's job and why they are applicable to this new job, and that may eliminate the need to include it on your resume, freeing up space for other experience.
Resumes are always a difficult subject because it is hard to fit your personality, life and experience into a single document that will grab the employer’s attention. Each employer is different and each employer has different ideas about what should and shouldn’t go on resume and when those ideas are not disclosed to you then it is hard to guess what they are thinking. In most situations we make a decision and hope that they agree with us.
I can see where the confusion lies. I find myself comparing this situation to crits. You'd put something like an awful first job on your resume to show how much you've (hopefully) grown from that job use it as a comparison to where you are at that point in time. But you're hesitant to do it because you don't want an employer to scrutinize or give you a skeptical eyebrow raise that'll only make you more nervous. I think what it comes down to is what your personality is like and how comfortable you are sharing that information to someone you're trying to impress. And hopefully they won't have a presentation-ending air horn at the ready.
If someone is embarrassed about a job to the point where they wouldn't want to discuss it at all with a future employer, then why put it on a resume? It seems like if someone is very uncomfortable and feels it does not fit with the image they want to project of themselves, there's no reason to include it. On the other hand, if it's not cripplingly embarrassing, it may just end up being a conversation starter at the least. The fact is it is never truly possible to predict exactly what kind of an impression a resume will leave on a certain employer.
I also agree with Abby, if you're not applying for "hooters" style jobs, waitressing or the like, then why mention it? It did what it had to do for you, give you an income, if it doesn't serve the purpose as resume builder then I think it shouldn't be mentioned: your resume should reflect why you are qualified for a job, if it is something that might make you feel strange then you shouldn't bother making you or your possible employer. Its great to have a job, even if it might be a crummy one, I feel like you shouldn't feel obliged to be marked with your crummy job forever. One should appreciate that Hooters job for what it is worth, nothing more, nothing less!
In answer to the question at the end of the article - yes, I absolutely would interview someone who had "Hooters waitress" on their resume. Every experience teaches something; someone who has worked at Hooters probably has very good people skills, which could prove invaluable to a myriad of careers. As long as they are qualified for the job, it seems there is no reason to not give the potential employee a chance and see what they have to say about the experience. Unfortunately, some employers are too single-minded to see the potential assets of someone with a wide variety of skills, and simply scowl down their noses because of the clothes the waitresses wear and the stereotypes that are held against them.
I agree with Abby. If you aren't proud of it, don't want to talk about it, or wouldn't want anyone to know about it, then don't put it. I also wouldn't put it on my resume if that job had nothing to do with what I am applying for. The same thing goes for skills. If it's something you know how to do, but don't want to do, then don't put it on there.
I am extremely surprised that people are afraid to leave things off their resume, that does not make them seem like a great fit for the job that they are applying to. You want your resume to highlight all the things that the company wants or looking for without lying. If the employer was to ask what you did between those dates you can tell them and say that you realized that you did not like that type of work but you had to have a job so that you could pay the bills but you feel that there company would make you extremely happy. This can appear deceptive or concealing. I guess that if a lot of people did not know this it would give me a better shot at getting a job.
I think its perfectly acceptable to leave off jobs on your resume. The point of a resume is to demonstrate your experience and to impress your hopefully future employer. If there's a job you've had that you think might impede your chances a getting a job then leave it off your resume. However if you don't have a lot of experience in the work force it might be better to leave the embarrassing job on your resume because some experience is better than no experience.
Personally for me, I have 2 resume's, one tailored for theatrical positions, and one for everything else.
If it comes up in conversation what have I been doing for the past couple of months, I would say I was working at [insert monotonous day job] as a [insert equally monotonous position].
The reality is with our profession, is that we will not always be able to work solely in the theatre, and will have to make ends meet somehow and most people understand that.
Really the ordeal of resume's and interviews is to see whether or not you are right for a position.
All you really need to do is present yourself in a fashion that works for what they're looking for.
I believe that it is important to tailor your resume to fit the job that you are applying to. I personaly have many jobs, that I have not listed on my current theatrical resume. But I may list those jobs if I were to apply for a sales position or a banking job. This asks the question, how do you know what jobs to include on your resume? That is a very difficult decision. I am proud of all my previous positions because they have lead me to where I am today, but what if I was ashamed of one of those positions? I would most likely leave it off. I am not saying that every Hooters girl is ashamed of themselves, I have known a few strong, confident women that have worked similar jobs and they would proudly display this job position because it shows something about themselves that they are proud of. A goal of mine is to always be proud of the work I am doing. If I can't stand behind the work, then I must leave that position.
At work this summer, I had a conversation with the intern hiring manager about what they look for on a resume. They look for a variety of things, but I think the most interesting dimension (and applicable to this article) was sparkle. They want things on the resume that show character, who you are, and prove that you will be a character, not just blend in.
One of the women I interned with this summer was named Ruthie, and she was told that her resume was almost passed over until they read that she worked at Hooters. This caught the eye of the hiring manager, and soon enough, she had an interview followed by a job.
I was told by my team this summer that they wanted me because they knew anyone who was applying to a hedge fund with their name in the lion king font, first work experience was working on a movie, and was somehow smart enough to get past the interview process has to be someone worth working with. Some of those people remain good friends to this day.
Maybe my perspective is skewed, but I think the things that stand out on resumes are the things you want to include. Have a story to tell in the interview and stand out a little bit. Make your mark.
This completely makes sense and I feel like it somewhat relates to something many of us freshman have recently dealt with; college applications. I remember finding myself struggling over figuring out what would be acceptable to put on my applications because I wanted my colleges to see the best of me. We as individuals want our best to shine through and the "worst" to fade into nothingness. However, I have also found it good to put some of your faults forward to show you aren't the perfect person. So in reading this article I can relate in the confusion over what to put on a resume because of what we want our potential employers to see and I can also see why it'd be great to put some of your other not so great experiences forward because it shows experience in some form or another.
Should it be left off if it leaves gaps in employment? #bartenderstripclub
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