Hand Your Resume To The Right Person
By Jeremy Sherk
When applying to a bar for employment, too often people submit their resume to the first person they see. It’s like their objective is get in and out of the place as quickly as possible. This makes no sense. Why take the time to put together a killer resume and not see it through? Without even knowing if the right person gets it?
Listen very carefully…
Call the place you’re interested in working at or go in personally and ask for the name of the person who hires. I don’t even ask what the manager’s name is. I call and ask, “Who is responsible for hiring there?â€
You want to get the name of the person who hires. Getting the owner’s name or the most superior person’s name will do you no good if they just pass your resume on to someone else without even looking at it.
Once you’ve found out the name of the person who hires, you’ll hand your resume to them and them only. Not to anyone else. Not a hostess, coat check girl, bartender, server, or even a manager unless you know that they’re the one you’re looking for.
If you go in and the person isn’t there, find out when they will be. If you go in five times and the person is never there, don’t hand over your resume until you meet that person.
Why do I feel so strongly about this? There are several reasons you want to get it to the decision maker…
1) You want to make sure they get it
You want to make sure it gets in their hands so there’s no doubt in your mind it got to the right person. If you hand it to someone else, you don’t know where it’s going. If you give it to the bartender, what motivation would they have to hand it to the manager? It could be their job on the line!
2) You want to meet the person
You want to introduce yourself and know what they look like and also let them know what you look like. This gives them a face to put with the name. It also gives you the opportunity to make a shining first impression.
3) You can follow up in a week or two
You can call and follow up with the person (whom you know for sure got your resume) and say…
“Hey, it’s (your name) here. Just following up to see if you had the chance to look my resume over and what the current situation is regarding the openings.â€
Why is this important? Bar managers are very busy and by doing this you’re simply reminding them that you’re available and ready to work. I actually got one of my very first bartending jobs by doing this. After I had submitted my resume, I called up a week later and my inquiry led to an interview, and that interview led to me getting the job.
4) Immediate interview
If you go in at the right time, often the decision maker will look at your resume and ask you questions right then and there. In this case, you’re essentially skipping right ahead to the interview without having to wait for them to call you back in.
5) Get past the defenses
You’ll find that when applying to various places for a bartending job, the person who greets you might say they aren’t hiring.
While this may be true, don’t leave that up to them to decide. Ask to see the hiring manager and let them tell you that themselves. Don’t let a hostess or coat check girl make that decision and eliminate you from the game that easy. While many places aren’t openly hiring, that doesn’t mean they’re not open to the idea of getting you on board or replacing a current staff member with you. It all depends on the impression you make.
Also, they may lose a bartender next week and be in a scramble to replace them. Then, when they go fishing through the stack of resumes they’ve kept on hand, there yours will be. I know several people who’ve gotten a call months after the time they applied. It just goes to show that you can reap a harvest long after you’ve planted the seed.
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