You may or may not know that I am unemployed. After 10 months of fruitless searches for professional employment, I am once again facing the prospect of the dreaded service industry. I say dreaded for several reasons. One being that I am old and they are young. Another is that my feet are no longer ache-free after being on them for several hours. Finally, I admit that my capacity to listen to inane or outright stupid conversation is nearly depleted. Truthfully, not even the prospect of a good income makes this possibility any more palatable, but unfortunately my bank account does not care. So it was to Craigslist I turned for suitable positions in service purgatory and there I discovered that I would need to put up more than a resume to get hired in this town.
A trend I quickly noticed in the Charlotte bar scene is the requirement of a photo submitted with your online resume. I am a supporter of the ACLU, I feel it is a very backwards practice to request photographic knowledge of a potential interview candidate, but then again I’m a realist. I worked in this business long enough when I was college to understand the importance of maintaining a hot staff. The question for me, isn’t one of ethics in terms of submitting a photo, it’s one of self-esteem. If you do not get a call or interview based solely on your resume that only means that your professional qualifications were found lacking. Once you go the photo route, however, you don’t know if the following silence is based on your professional resume or your genetic one.
Another questionable point in sending a photo is the choice of the photo itself. If this were a corporate job (well, hopefully a professional employer would never ask for a photo), my choice would be simple; you send in a headshot in professional attire and call it a day. Of course, that is not the issue I’m facing. Nope, in this world you must decipher how important looks are and if you’re going to need to tart it up a bit. Then again, it is likely unwise to send the photo you took in your lingerie to brighten the husband’s day at the office. So what do you do and should you even go there in the first place.
For me, desperation won out. I sent the photo, actually a couple, and got a response requesting an interview for the very next day. I’m still not sure if it will be me or the girls interviewing for the position, but it may not even matter. Half of serving is about prostituting yourself whether you’re wearing khaki’s and a polo or a skirt and halter, it’s all in how you present yourself and relate to the guest. At this point, I’m perfectly happy to let the girls bring in some cash, they’re not doing much else and it’s about time they start earning their keep. Victoria’s Secret isn’t cheap, you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment