BootsnAll Travel Community

First the question, then the story.
I noticed a local hotel call center is hiring(which they probably ALWAYS do anyway). Pay is comparable to other ones, location looks good. The PTO(days off) and hotel discount has me all giddy.
I have a college degree in the travel field. So I wonder if this could be a stepping stone to anything good, or if this is dead-end.

I'll probably go ask anyway, and if the hours are too random I might decide to go against it.
But here's my issue. I spent the last two years working in a large insurance company. Great job, non-degree work. My first job out of school during a recession. I took some time off, and I've been trying to get work back in that field.
HR people are horrible. Even though they hire college grads with no work history; I'm told, "you seem to move around a lot". From an HR person I had to solicit as I didn't get a call for an interview.
Hello, I've had one job, and everything else is internships or part-time school jobs!!!! How are these other people more qualified than me at all?!? Amoung other retarded things.But one of us brought up the call center, and it was suggested that might work(yea right).

So if they all pay roughly the same, etc etc. One is in an industry I used to like and has the discounts...
Anyone think that's dead-end or not? Since if one post-college job is too much for job stability, I don't want to know what happens if I have more than two!
I thought it might lead to sales, but I don't know if I'm into that. The whole cold calling groups thing. Reservation manager at a hotel itself might be more of a long shot. etc.

That's my long-shot question and rant. Hiring window is over Friday for this training class.

You sound at least a little interested, so I'd give it a shot. You never know where a job can lead. Plus, it is in your field at least somewhat. If the job doesn't work out, you can leave.

Hopping around in jobs can hurt your future prospects, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. I graduated college in 1999 and I've had seven jobs since then. I would say at least half were really good jobs and I enjoyed the others just fine even if they weren't the best fit for me. With all that hopping around you'd think I could never find a "real" career, but now I'm U.S. diplomat of all things. Funny how the world works.

There are many paths in this world. You just need to make your own. I'm sure many of my college friends went right into a good job and have been there all along. Their net worth is also probably much greater than mine. Maybe they're happy, maybe they're not. Either way, it worked for them.

Good luck with the decision.

quote:

Hello, I've had one job, and everything else is internships or part-time school jobs!!!! How are these other people more qualified than me at all?!? Amoung other retarded things.But one of us brought up the call center, and it was suggested that might work(yea right).

Take some of them off your resume. If you're a new college grad, unless it's absolutely applicable to the job for which you apply, take it off.

Can't help you with the travel call center bit, but I think you are right to be a bit wary.

Yes, take off the jobs on your resume that don't add a lot to what you've done.

I had someone ask me on an interview for my first professional job out of grad school, "You move around a lot." Um, I graduated college and worked 8 months before going to get my first master's degree, and I worked part-time in Colorado during my first master's, and full-time in NYC during my second--so WTF?

BUT--regarding the job. Go on the interview. Ask lots of questions. See where it could lead you. I think there might be some potential--but fully check it out!

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by cherie:

I had someone ask me on an interview for my first professional job out of grad school, "You move around a lot." Um, I graduated college and worked 8 months before going to get my first master's degree, and I worked part-time in Colorado during my first master's, and full-time in NYC during my second--so WTF?

Ow, i just hit my head against the wall! Thats the quote I got, except this was a company I had worked for, for a long time! I just thought the phrase "touch base" was standard. I could write a book on my HR experiences. They're all so ridiculous.

I'm not sure what to delete, since it's not as if anyone reads each word. I even made a cover letter that addresses their "complaints". I had my job with them on there, an analytical internship, and 2 customer service gigs. The 3 things they want in their description. I have the feeling other companies say the same thing now. I apologize my internship,which I loved, was only for a summer. And I apologize that I graduated school or had to move. I'm sure the people they're hiring have had one job since they got a work permit at 16(or 15 in some states)!!
Lately, I even see TEMP AGENCIES talk about job stability. If I temp for you, I automatically go above the "stability" threshold! that's what a temp job is!

Some of you might be suspicious that there is something else to it I'm not saying. Nope, it's that simple.

At any rate, I was curious if anyone ever done the call center thing and such, I don't know much about that side. They probably do training classes monthly due to turn-over I bet. I may have missed this hiring round anyway. Not sure. It's been a long time since I've had employee rates at any hotel company. It's exciting I should be concerned about more than that!

quote:

I'm not sure what to delete

Delete anything that is not relevant. Take off the odd jobs you had in college. While people don't read every word, when they see that you are just out of college and you have a bunch of jobs on your resume, they see you jumping around. If you cannot imagine deleting anything, you should change to a functional resume, rather than chronological.

I think looking for a job post college is one of the most humbling experiences you can have.

If folks are already expressing concern about the "jumping around" (valid or not), you may want to be careful of a call center-type job, as you will likely tire of it quickly and want to move on to something else.

Be sure to have someone you trust edit the resume and cover letter. To be honest, I have a lot of difficulty in following your posts and although you might think what you're saying is quite clear, it could be fuzzy to slower folks like me (and your potential employers.)

As far as the call center work goes, I think you can pretty much guess what to expect. Is it sales? Are you taking incoming calls only or are you doing outbound calls? Are the outbound calls cold calls?

quote:

Frankly, I've always been told that my resume experience is too specific going in one direction.

Ok...this is straying from your original question, but it looks to me like you need a little guidance here.

First, you should customize your resume to the job for which you are applying. This means using similar language to that in the job posting. Having one standard resume that you send everywhere does not cut it. Have a basic resume, then customize and fine tune as needed.

Next, never talk poorly about your previous company. Regardless if it had a whole host of issues, you need to be positive. You talking bad about a previous employer signals that you may be a problem. True or not, this is the case.

Also, if you want to get into a company, you need to ask people at that company if call centers are the way to go. My guess is no. Try to get an admin. assistant job in the department you're interested in. You say you have a degree in that field, so work through your college connections to find a better placement than a call center.

Finally, you need to get learn to respect the phone screeners/HR folks. I can tell from your posts you don't, and that attitude can come across on the phone. One of the first things you learn in sales training (which is applicable to everything else) is that you need to smile while you are on the phone. Attitude comes through. It actually costs quite a bit to take a candidate through the interview process. It is not something they can be flip about. They are screening for particular things, and personality is one of them. If they can tell straight off that you have an attitude problem, or you're only going to be in this job for a month and then want to move on, they aren't going to move you to the next round.

I suggest reading a few books on getting hired. I read a great one called "Knock 'em Dead" by Martin Yates. I recommend getting one of his books.

As for stability, yes, people move around, but if you want to get further in your career, you're going to need to tough it out for a bit in a job that may not be ideal, but will give you experience to note on your resume.

Sorry for the long post, but I have been through this many times.

I'd suggest thinking thru how to communicate succinctly, along the lines of "less is more." No offense, but your posts here are indeed long and have an air of "defensiveness" to them. A good interviewer can pick up on that VERY easily. I understand your intention to explain yourself and what's going on...think on how to do it shorter. In an interview or even an basic pre-interview conversation, you need to be careful about what doors you open & shut, yours & theirs, by your disclosures.

I'd STRONGLY, STRONGLY, STRONGLY advise reading over and over anniebanannie's posts here...it's very generous and thoughtful of her to share that wisdom with you, and that's exactly what it is: accruate wisdom. Heed it well.

And, with any interview process, you HAVE to put yourself in their shoes & think on it from their perspective as well. For example, sure you move around alot, sure you took a boatload of different jobs thru college, etc. BUT...The "move around alot" term is HR-ese for "red flag: possibly unstable or non-committal".

I have to make a one line rant, because this is amazing, and has been on my mind for years.

I can't believe that the BIG companies pay their 1st level supervisors the same to less than you get paid in their call centers! The smaller franchises always less than a mailroom at any office! For more work, more random hours, and more stress!!!!
The cube farm has a few good advantages when you start comparing fields.

That's because people don't want to work in a call center or a mail room. People want to be supervisors. Therefore, the companies can offer lower salaries to the entry level managers. However, your chances of advancing are much higher in management than in the call center or mail room.