On a recent class trip to NYC, I received some interesting advice about resumes from Bruce Bobbins of Dan Klores Communications.  Speaking to my class about resumes, Bruce said that something he values is an applicant with work experience, someone who shows he/she worked his/her way through college.

This interested me.  By senior year, a lot of people find themselves cramming four years of experience onto one page. (General resume advice for entry-level applicants is to keep it to one page. Let me know if you feel differently.)  I’ve been told before to delete my waitressing work experience from my resume and to only highlight my most relevant public relations/marketing/journalism experience.  His advice kind of contradicts that input – but honestly, I like his take better.

I’ve been doing the restaurant thing (more on than off) since I was sixteen.  If my resume tells a story, this is most certainly an interesting/funny chapter.  I feel like my resume is a conversation piece, a list of points that can be elaborated on in an interview.  I’m always happy to elaborate about the personal growth I’ve experienced from being a server.  After all, the restaurant and my customers were my inspiration for my first blog, Gratuity.  Work experience on a resume shows that you have a solid work ethic, something that some people think is lost in my generation.  No, being a server isn’t public relations, but you are definitely dealing with the public.  Learning to deal with difficult people in a professional manner, learning to show up on time, learning to multitask four tables on a crazy Saturday night, learning to play nice with your co-workers  – I think it’s great stuff worth mentioning on a resume.  Serving has made me a more confident, cool-headed and articulate person.  Although these qualities are less tangible than the writing skills shown by my press releases in my portfolio, these qualities will definitely help me in my career and my life.  I think that if you also take the time to reflect on your college gig, you’ll find that it not only gave you beer money and paid the electric – but it helped you grow up.

So whether you’re serving chicken parmesan in an Oxford shirt, folding shirts at Old Navy, delivering pizza for Domino’s or making lattes at Starbucks – I say, mention it on a resume if you’re able to talk about what you’ve learned from your experience and how it makes you a better candidate for the job.

Until next time,

Sometimes, I like to pretend that we’re all being punked and the recession isn’t really happening.

JNA