hello!

[halcionclouds]

hi there. I'm 30 years old, with an english degree. after college I went into corporate healthcare cubicle hell. and now, I want out.

I want to work in a bookstore, and eventually run my own.

I need advice on how to tailor my resume and write a cover letter expressing my desire in spite of having negligible retail experience.

please help!thanks

Comments

[dyfferent]

They're looking for someone with a broad general knowledge, a passionate interest in books with perhaps one particular area of genuine expertise or at least fascination, good literacy (someone who is easily foxed by homonyms would be a crap bookseller, for example), and a lot of patience with people, tolerance of different ways of thinking and hopefully humour

[halcionclouds]

thanks! I am more interested in how to get my application/resume looked at presently.

[dyfferent]

EMPHASISE THESE THINGS

[jbberish]

Highlight your transferrable skills, ie customer service. Frame these in terms that don't scream "healthcare" by using terminology that fits the job you'd like. Make those jobs more generic and less industry specific. Consider not doing a traditional chronological resume, but one that highlights transferrable skills. There are good books out there on resumes for job changers.

[halcionclouds]

ooooh, these are great ideas! thank you so much!!

[lostvirtue]

I don't think it's too hard to get a bookstore job if you are passionate about books and apply at several places - now is a good time for the larger stores because of the holidays - many places will hire holiday help and keep some people on afterwards. But what would you like to do there? Be a bookseller? Be a supervisor? Either way, prepare to make very little money. A couple dollars above minimum wage is what you can count on. Depending on where you live, and where you get a job - it'll probably be less than 10 dollars an hour.

[halcionclouds]

I'm not worried about how little I will make - the most I have ever made is $16 an hour, and that did not last long.

[kromelizard]

In hiring, I actively avoid people whose cover letters start out with how much they love books and literature and want to work at bookstores. I also rarely, if ever, hire people who didn't come into the store to deliver their resume. I don't want dilettantes or people whose conception of the job involves "appreciating" literature. I want floor staff who are motivated, organized, personable, and who are available when I need them.

[itsallajokehaha]

Here's one tip: don't work at Borders.