You've heard this before ...

[seashanty]

applying for traditional office jobs and on my resume it includes 3 years as an innkeeper.
and today i heard what you've all heard before, in some form or other ... 'so, for 3 years you basically just cooked breakfast and made beds?' i had listed on my resume a fairly concise description of all the things i did as an innkeeper, from marketing and bookkeeping to customer service ...

 

[Morticia]

Right. So why aren't you applying for maid jobs? OOOOOOOOO I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO mad right now!

 

[Don Draper]

What if you just tweaked the wording a bit to say you MANAGED a 9 room inn? We know everything you did but it's too hard to shake that "granny" image of the innkeeper baking cookies, etc. I am peeved for you but I know it's no reflection on you, just other people's limited views.

 

[gillumhouse]

As has been reitterated sooooo many times in so many threads - people do not read! I would make that General Manager of a 9-room inn including food service and marketing.

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

As has been reitterated sooooo many times in so many threads - people do not read! I would make that General Manager of a 9-room inn including food service and marketing..

Ditto.

 

[Penelope]

As has been reitterated sooooo many times in so many threads - people do not read! I would make that General Manager of a 9-room inn including food service and marketing..

Ditto.
.

Triple....
Some people...

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

I refer to that mind set as "blue collar mentality" and it is global.Glad you can rise above it.

Mary in Bridgewater

 

[seashanty]

good idea ... had thought of using the word manager instead ... i will change it.
i'm not mad, just sharing. but i will change the resume and would suggest the same to any innkeeps who might be looking for a job outside the innworld, now or in future.

 

[egoodell]

And don't forget to put in your resume that you increased sales from XXX to XXX - an increase of XX%. Was that inn not one that you all took over? Or list as you started the business with XXX% bookings the first year, and when you left the bookings were at XX%.
That'll get their attention. They want to see what you achieved.
Riki

 

[swirt]

Honestly, I'd customize the description to the particular job you are applying for. If it is a customer service job, I would word the description to emphasize customer service ... if it was a supervisory position I would write it to address how you handled your staff and quality control. If it was a phone service job .... you get the idea.

 

[Copperhead]

Honestly, I'd customize the description to the particular job you are applying for. If it is a customer service job, I would word the description to emphasize customer service ... if it was a supervisory position I would write it to address how you handled your staff and quality control. If it was a phone service job .... you get the idea..

Honestly, I'd customize the description to the particular job you are applying for. If it is a customer service job, I would word the description to emphasize customer service ... if it was a supervisory position I would write it to address how you handled your staff and quality control. If it was a phone service job .... you get the idea.

Exactly. Our son just graduated college and he is applying for jobs like crazy. He had several HR reps come to the Univ. to teach kids how to write a resume. So many companies today use an online application process and you upload your resume to it. The HR rep will create a query for each job in search of certain keywords. The more keywords that your resume has that matches the job, the better likelihood you will get an interview.

 

[seashanty]

customizing is a great idea if you are applying for specific positions & answering adverts.
1. the term 'innkeeper' seems to imply cooking breakfast, making beds and chatting. 'inn manager' conveys the business aspect i think ...
2. if you post your resume on a site like monster jobs for view by prospective employers to browse, you can't customize it for specific companies or job opps. you post the 'best' version you come up with.
today i took a pre-employment drug test. it's a new world to me.

 

[Morticia]

customizing is a great idea if you are applying for specific positions & answering adverts.
1. the term 'innkeeper' seems to imply cooking breakfast, making beds and chatting. 'inn manager' conveys the business aspect i think ...
2. if you post your resume on a site like monster jobs for view by prospective employers to browse, you can't customize it for specific companies or job opps. you post the 'best' version you come up with.
today i took a pre-employment drug test. it's a new world to me..

That's why I am never holding an outside job ever again...drug testing. Everyone does it and it's none of their damn business what drugs I take. Walmart? Give me a break. (Not saying you applied at Walmart, just that they do drug testing.)
Oh, and by the way, we also want to do a credit check on you to make sure you're not a 'bad risk' because you lost your previous job and fell behind on a couple of house payments. Oh, and here'a psych eval you have to take because we wouldn't want you here if you've got problems. (And the test basically wants to know if you'll go along with what you're told and not ask questions.)
Yeesh. Sorry. My issues, not anyone else's.
Last time I applied for a job (7 years ago) that's what I was put thru. Plus a TB test, but that was because it was a hospital. Where TB patients regularly breathed, sneezed and coughed all over my desk. And used my pen.
I can't imagine it's gotten any better.

 

[gillumhouse]

customizing is a great idea if you are applying for specific positions & answering adverts.
1. the term 'innkeeper' seems to imply cooking breakfast, making beds and chatting. 'inn manager' conveys the business aspect i think ...
2. if you post your resume on a site like monster jobs for view by prospective employers to browse, you can't customize it for specific companies or job opps. you post the 'best' version you come up with.
today i took a pre-employment drug test. it's a new world to me..

That's why I am never holding an outside job ever again...drug testing. Everyone does it and it's none of their damn business what drugs I take. Walmart? Give me a break. (Not saying you applied at Walmart, just that they do drug testing.)
Oh, and by the way, we also want to do a credit check on you to make sure you're not a 'bad risk' because you lost your previous job and fell behind on a couple of house payments. Oh, and here'a psych eval you have to take because we wouldn't want you here if you've got problems. (And the test basically wants to know if you'll go along with what you're told and not ask questions.)
Yeesh. Sorry. My issues, not anyone else's.
Last time I applied for a job (7 years ago) that's what I was put thru. Plus a TB test, but that was because it was a hospital. Where TB patients regularly breathed, sneezed and coughed all over my desk. And used my pen.
I can't imagine it's gotten any better.
.

Amen, Sister!!!

 

[seashanty]

i won't get up on a soapbox because that wouldn't be right.
it's just something to think about ... when the pressures and demands of being self-employed get so hard, it's good to reflect on what it's like to work for someone else. or to try to get hired someplace.
i was so hoping to be hired by a mom&pop that wouldn't ask me to 'sign my life away', but even at a little local coffee shop i was asked if i would submit to a drug test and a criminal background check. i asked why ... i mean ... it's a tiny little shop. and the owner told me his insurance company requires this or he can't keep his liability (i think) insurance. wow! now that i think of it, those of you with employees ... is your insurance company demanding this?

 

[Morticia]

i won't get up on a soapbox because that wouldn't be right.
it's just something to think about ... when the pressures and demands of being self-employed get so hard, it's good to reflect on what it's like to work for someone else. or to try to get hired someplace.
i was so hoping to be hired by a mom&pop that wouldn't ask me to 'sign my life away', but even at a little local coffee shop i was asked if i would submit to a drug test and a criminal background check. i asked why ... i mean ... it's a tiny little shop. and the owner told me his insurance company requires this or he can't keep his liability (i think) insurance. wow! now that i think of it, those of you with employees ... is your insurance company demanding this?.

No, my insurance company doesn't require that we make potential (mind you, potential, not actually employees) go thru this.

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

i won't get up on a soapbox because that wouldn't be right.
it's just something to think about ... when the pressures and demands of being self-employed get so hard, it's good to reflect on what it's like to work for someone else. or to try to get hired someplace.
i was so hoping to be hired by a mom&pop that wouldn't ask me to 'sign my life away', but even at a little local coffee shop i was asked if i would submit to a drug test and a criminal background check. i asked why ... i mean ... it's a tiny little shop. and the owner told me his insurance company requires this or he can't keep his liability (i think) insurance. wow! now that i think of it, those of you with employees ... is your insurance company demanding this?.

While it's possible the insurance company is the one imposing this, I don't think it's likely in every case. They likely require a background check of some kind but that can be as simple as checking references or as complex as checking criminal backgrounds.
It's often, though, the owners who go this far on their own and then blame the insurance company.
I agree with you, SS, it's too much. It doesn't speak well of the respect they'd have of their employees if they put them through such hurdles just starting out.

 

[gillumhouse]

i won't get up on a soapbox because that wouldn't be right.
it's just something to think about ... when the pressures and demands of being self-employed get so hard, it's good to reflect on what it's like to work for someone else. or to try to get hired someplace.
i was so hoping to be hired by a mom&pop that wouldn't ask me to 'sign my life away', but even at a little local coffee shop i was asked if i would submit to a drug test and a criminal background check. i asked why ... i mean ... it's a tiny little shop. and the owner told me his insurance company requires this or he can't keep his liability (i think) insurance. wow! now that i think of it, those of you with employees ... is your insurance company demanding this?.

I am hoping this is because they are hiring you NOT as a perhaps you will be considered...
I requested the FBI ap when we were moving here. When i got it, I threw it away. The application was a background check form - I knew that because I had to fill one out for a Secret Clearance at Northrop and they were NOT PERMITTED to give it to me until AFTER I was hired. At that time I filled it out - I had to give up siblings, parents, in-laws, kids (who were still at home at the time). By this time my kids were adults and married and I would have to give up them and their spouses and their families BEFORE I was even considered for hire. My kids, like everyone else have their "closets of skeletons" and I did not consider it my right to provide the key.

 

[seashanty]

IF i pass the drug test and the criminal background check and whatever else check, then i have this job.
do you know anyone who works for bank of a? it is incredible what info they demand as you go through the application process.
as i went through a local store, i was wondering about all those employees who when they applied had to say yes, they could stand on their feet 100% of the work time, and lift 70 pounds alone, and climb up and down ladders, and submit to a background check and a drug test (and in some cases a credit check!), i found myself amazed. and i started to wonder if this accounts for some of the surly attitudes by store employees because they've been through so much just to get hired.
maybe this is becoming just part of the process. i mentioned it to my kids and they weren't surprised. but it's all new to me.

 

[Innkeeper To Go]

IF i pass the drug test and the criminal background check and whatever else check, then i have this job.
do you know anyone who works for bank of a? it is incredible what info they demand as you go through the application process.
as i went through a local store, i was wondering about all those employees who when they applied had to say yes, they could stand on their feet 100% of the work time, and lift 70 pounds alone, and climb up and down ladders, and submit to a background check and a drug test (and in some cases a credit check!), i found myself amazed. and i started to wonder if this accounts for some of the surly attitudes by store employees because they've been through so much just to get hired.
maybe this is becoming just part of the process. i mentioned it to my kids and they weren't surprised. but it's all new to me..

I worked for a large bank years ago. Not B of A, but yes went through the whole rigamaro.
It was the only time I ever did a drug test. And I did it then because I'd gone all the way through 3 series of interviews, a big presentation, and had gotten to the offer stage before I found out about it. I knew I'd pass but still did not like the whole idea of it. If I'd known upfront it would be done, I probably wouldn't have applied.
But banks do have a whole different level of exposure and the criminal background check is necessary. Not that I think the banks are doing a good job these days protecting depositor money, but that's a whole different issue. On a very basic level, though, it's important that the person who has access to lots and lots of financial information all day long has been cleared. The drug test is ridiculous but almost all of the big corporations do them now. I do not like the idea at all and never have.
As for the employee attitudes, I actually think it has the opposite effect. I think that they miss out on a lot of people who are like me and don't think anyone needs to look through my body waste to know whether or not I'm going to be a good employee. I think they'd get better employees if they recognized that reality. These days, though, it's a tough market out there so a lot more folks are willing to do things they wouldn't necessarily do otherwise.
IMHO