Trouble finding a job in Houston

Have you looked at indeed.com?

It's a pretty good source.

 

How many resumes have you sent out altogether?

 

I was going to do a thread like this but for weed.

 

Hate to break the news to you but its summer time and the 16 y/o high school kids have those jobs now.

 

I know a guy who is looking for someone to sell bracelets.

 

Sending out resumes it a real pain and sucks as a way to find a job. The best way to get a job is networking and having someone get you in.

 

Absolutely.

I will also vouch for dandorotik if you haven't already used his resume writing services.

 

Good luck man. I know the resume grind is a total depressant. Hope something breaks for you.

 

What DOES it cost to get someone to polish a turd of a resume?

 

Yes. Seriously, sent out 200+ and not even an interview? Wow- look, not trying to sell my services, but at least let me look at your resume. I can give you free advice on how to improve it, if anything. PM me. There's no reason in the world you shouldn't be getting something if you sent out over 200.

 

Depends. It can go as little as $99 or as high as $999 (not being facetious- I wrote a resume for a C-level executive at a Fortune 100 who paid $1,000- a drop in the bucket for them). Generally, you're looking at $99 to $199 for younger professionals, $299 to $399 for more experienced professionals and managers, and $499 and up for Directors, VPs, and Executives. That's for professional, certified resume writing services. You can get the $99 one-size-fits-all resume, but I think you'd be better off buying a book like Gallery of Best Resumes for $20 and doing it yourself.

It needs to be detailed, focused on achievements, and positive in appearance, like this sample:

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS / GENERAL MANAGER – HOSPITALITY / FOOD SERVICE

Offering a solid combination of field experience, leadership skills, and a year-over-year record of results.

Over 15 years of management experience in the hospitality industry, including current Director of Operations position. Achievements include directing teams that achieved #1 division-wide rankings and leading stores to reach prestigious Top 5% Diamond Club status among 187 stores. B.S. degree.

OVERVIEW:
 Strong background in managing key aspects of multiple locations and overseeing an entire restaurant.
 Consistently reach and surpass corporate goals in service, quality, and profit areas, among others.
 Confident, motivational director/manager who inspires team members to reach their highest potential.
 Maintain high level of patience when confronted with employee conflicts and patron concerns.

SELECTED CORE COMPETENCIES:
Front-of-House and Back-of-House Operations  Sales Forecasting  Strategic, Big-Picture Planning & Execution  Staff Hiring, Orientation & Training  Cost Reduction & Avoidance  Guest Service Excellence  Escalated Problem Resolution  Compliance with Corporate Standards  Guest Loyalty & Retention  Open-Door Employee Relations  New Menu Rollouts  Quality Control  Safety & Cleanliness Standards

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CONFIDENTIAL – Lubbock, TX – 1997-Present
Director of Operations, McAllen, TX, 2012-Present
Promoted to oversee all activities and functional areas across 7 restaurants. Direct team of 7 general managers (direct reports), 31+ managers, and ~750 team members. In charge of hiring all managers and general managers in the South Texas region. Hold full accountability for all goals and measurable relating to food production and quality, guest service, P&L, employee relations, and company policies/procedures.

SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
 Led 3 of 7 restaurants to achieve Top 5% Diamond Club ranking out of 187 restaurants within the Dallas division; ranking measures top results in profitability, employee turnover, and sales growth. Met and exceeded goals across multiple areas within a downturn economic period.
 Implemented new management structure to improve performance, replacing Sales Manager with Staffing/Training Manager position and retaining Service Manager and Culinary Manager positions.


General Manager, Sherman, TX, 2007-2011
Selected by upper management to open new restaurant. Hired and implemented training for 125 team members, maintaining ongoing hiring/training as needed. Directed all food service operations, including scheduling, ordering, quality control, and local marketing. Planned and executed new menu rollouts and promotions. Served as the point of contact for all escalated guest issues.

SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
 Guided team in achieving the highest overall Guest Satisfaction Scores in the Dallas division for 4 consecutive years. Led additional teams in reaching top performance results, including:
- Culinary Team: highest taste of food and temperature of food scores, Dallas div., 4 straight years.
- Service Team: highest server attentiveness and pace of meal scores, Dallas div., 4 straight years.


General Manager, Baton Rouge, LA, 2004-2007
Held full accountability for the entire restaurant operation, with a focus on meeting and exceeding revenue / profit, guest service, quality control, and employee performance goals. Planned, executed, and managed new menu rollouts and promotions, training team members in proper techniques for communicating new offerings and upselling menu items. Dealt with unique and difficult challenges in this position that included Hurricane Katrina and an on-site shooting incident resulting in a fatality.

SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
 Grew the guest count for the restaurant following critical incident mentioned above. The location achieved the highest Alcohol Beverage improvement vs. the previous year in the Dallas division.
 Earned trip to Italy for ranking as the top Culinary Manager in Region 31 of the Dallas division.


Culinary Manager: Burleson, TX, 2004; Lubbock TX, 1997-2003
Hired as Culinary Manager in 1997 directly after completion of Manager training. Scope of responsibilities included opening and closing the restaurant, hiring and retaining employees, training team members, developing weekly schedules, and maintaining orders from distributors as well as daily operational tasks. Subsequently selected to serve as Culinary Manager for new restaurant opening in Burleson, TX.

SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS:
 Ranked in top 10% nationwide on Food Quality ratings, maintaining high Hot Food scores for 7 consecutive months.
 Rated #1 of 150 stores for lowest waste during 1st quarter of 2000. Achieved 2.68% waste during fiscal year 2000, representing the top percentage in the entire history of the location.
 Received rating of 96% during most recent quarter, the highest such rating in store's 10-year existence, while consistently maintaining the best labor percentage of 8 stores in Oklahoma region.

** Prior position as Manager with Chili’s **


EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

Bachelor of Science- Restaurant and Hotel Institutional Management.
UNIVERSITY – TX

Professional Development/Certifications
Certified ServSafe Food Protection Manager; L.A.D.D.R. Program for Darden Restaurants (accepted into program based on recommendations from both General Manager and Director of Operations)

Eagle Scout
Boy Scouts of America

Community Involvement
Volunteer, Rio Grande Food Bank, Pharr, TX

 

Since you have a lot of time on your hands, you can start cold calling people (by email...) in your industry with advice on what demands are needed for your job. This will give you insight on work conditions, company environment, and personal career paths.

The most immediate benefit is recognizing where your school training fits in all of that, which allows you to see those buzzwords of competencies you know you can handle. I wouldn't exaggerate, and since you have the time, you could also do some extra research in areas you'd be weak in.

If anything, these are informal mentorships that could even translate to a longer network link depending on your personal disposition and ability to reach out to people.

Where to find? Before the days of meetup.com, I would've suggested a phonebook/email list. It's actually easier to do this than people realize.

 

I have an interview in an hour with the City of Houston for a financial analyst position. Anyone have any experience working in the government sector?

 

Finally got my first job out of college in my career field! Decided not to take the job with the city seeing how this paid about 10k more. Even though its all the way out in Cypress I don't mind. I start in 2 weeks!

 

Well, what field and how much?!

 

Send your resume to Mark.Cuban@dallas-mavericks.com.