Hooters as Job History...Could this hurt my chances of getting a job?

[AMD88]

I am in nursing school and will graduate this august and I have been applying for Patient care tech jobs for several months now and haven't heard anything. I do not have any experience working in a hospital but I figured my clinical experience and that I'm in nursing school about to graduate would make up for that. I am young so I have very little work experience. I've only had 3 jobs one as a cashier, one as a waitress/bartender at hooters, and one as a bartender in a neighborhood bar. My question is, Do you think putting down hooters as job experience is hurting my chances of getting a job? Would it be a bad idea to change it to a more tasteful restaurant like olive garden? lol I would love an answer from anyone who is a manager or does hiring and knows if that would hurt my chances? But any feedback would be great!

[Quark09]

I've worked at a Mugs 'N Jugs before (in Florida) and my longest work experience prior to nursing was as a bartender at a goth club that had go-go dancers on weekends I would definitely expand on the specific work you did there; the corporate work, training, etc. I had a great interview for an OB position when I was an LPN; the interviewer was an older lady who asked several questions about how I had solved specific problems as a bartender, and how I could apply that to nursing. It was for a pretty big hospital, so it may be that in a larger city and/or for a larger medical entity, they may be more open-minded than a rural hospital or clinic re your Hooters experience. A bartending/service job entails good time management skills, coolness under pressure, and the ability to deal with disgruntled customers, not to mention hours on your feet! Be proud of your past experiences and put them forth as positive qualities.

[pedicurn, LPN, RN]

Wondering ... does the Hooters corporation have another name you could use instead?

See if you can put the corporation name on your resume instead of 'Hooters'.

This way you wouldn't be fibbing on your resume :)

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Why put it at all? I only put work experience and volunteer work related to health care. They do not care that I worked in a Pizza restaurant a few years back; tight shirt showing off my rack or not.

Starting to understand why so many people on other threads can't find work.

Its not about being "relevant" to the position you are seeking or not. When you show your work history, you want to show steady employment. More often than not, large gaps are considered bad news. HR can take that as you worked somewhere that turned into a bad experience (which can lead to them wondering "did they steal, get in fights.......what?") or that you don't need to work and often choose not to. Neither is a good for you.

Also, your employment record should how a stead climb from one job to the next. Going from McD's to something paying a little more to something related to what you want to do now.......so on so forth. If you go from say...........from Pizza Hut to CNA then to Grocery Store cashier..........not good.

No job you work for more than 3 months should be omitted, ever. That leaves too much room for interpretation on their part and they always assume the worst.

[2011NursingStudent]

I think the Corporate Training and the fact that you were on your feet for long shifts are great experience - a lot of people going into nursing (like myself) haven't worked for companies where we've spent long hours on our feet. In an interview, you could really use that to your advantage. There are probably tons of people applying to the same PCT positions that you are though, just because its entry-level and a lot of people are after those jobs right now.

[rn/writer, RN]

instead of using a chronological resume that lists your jobs in order by dates, consider switching to a functional resume that highlights skills and types of experience.

http://www.quintcareers.com/functional_resume.html

in another article (strategic portrayal of transferable skills is a vital job-search technique), we talked about a job-changer who wanted to break out of clerical work and get into sales. on her old resume, her skills were listed reverse chronologically, focusing on clerical/secretarial/server aspects. but on her new resume, her experience was arranged around skills clusters related to the new sales [/url]career she sought to enter - interpersonal and teamwork skills; customer-service and sales skills; management and supervisory skills; quantitative skills; and computer skills. click here for another sample of a functional resume.

changing to a functional resume would allow you to capitalize on the transferable skills (customer service, time management, training capabilities, etc) from the hooters job before mentioning the name.

doing this would also show that you took that job seriously and rose through the ranks to become a trainer in a short time.

i'm not a big fan of places with skimpy waitress outfits, but i think most people can distinguish between hooters and a strip club.

wait staff are among the hardest working, least appreciated employees you can find. (perfect preparation for a career in nursing. )

don't cheat yourself out of a valuable part of your history.

[MomRN0913]

There's nothing wrong with it. You are a server. It doesn't matter where. Kids eat at that resturaunt for chrissakes. No biggie. List it, it won't hurt you. I went to nursing school with 2 girls who worked at Hooters. They unfortunately failed out, but it had nothing to do with their place of work.

[Ruthfarmer]

There's no shame in having done honest good work. Being dependable enough to work when scheduled without excessive tardiness or missed days, and being entrusted with the responsibilities of training other employees are very desirable traits. Working and thinking on your feet and dealing with a not-always pleasant public are also admirable characteristics.

If having Hooters as a past employer prejudices someone against you, then they are probably not someone that you would want to work for and with anyway. (Please re-read the previous sentence.)

The economy is so very bad right now. There are very capable, very educated, very experienced folks with every qualification possible who can't buy a darn job right now. Not hearing being called for an interview may have NOTHING at all to do with you or your work experience.

I would have someone proofread my resume for any typos. I would make sure I was neatly groomed and appropriately dressed when I picked up applications or made inquiries in person at HR departments. I would talk to anybody and everybody that I know working in the facilities. You can find out if any hiring is actually happening.

I would tell you not to be discouraged. Maybe a patient care tech is not what you are meant to be doing right now. You may be meant for something different and better. Sometimes we "overlook an orchid while looking for a rose" (to quote an old country tune.) Do your best and things will work out like they should. :redbeathe

[kcmylorn]

I think putting down hooters will land you the job. I think that is the image the hiring managers and HR depts of nursing are looking for in the hospitals these days. God knows they don't want us older experienced nurses. All we hear in the professional magazine advise columns is get your hair highlighted, loose weight, get a nice suit and talk the corporate talk- 'nurse driven, that being said, moving foreward, being engaged'. Customer service skills that will really boost the patient satisfaction surveys which will boost the CEO's million dollar bonus. Look around at the age group of the nurses on the hospital floors. All you see is lip gloss and size 00 scubs. And they get to leave meds at the bedside while the patient is in the shower and never be written up for it. Have time to sit and go through the older nurses charts for uninviteted"chart audits"

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

If she had health care experience it would make sense to leave it off. But she doesn't, so including it shows a. a stable work history (HIGHLY desirable) and b. that she has skills gained from it (time management, leadership position, customer service skills, general go to work even though you'd rather do something else dependability).

I graduated from a second degree program so everyone had prior experience of some kind and nearly all of it was unrelated to nursing or healthcare. We were all advised by our school's career center as well as visiting HR recruiters to include that prior experience on the resume even though it was unrelated. So yes, the garbagemen should keep that on their resume when looking for a nursing job when career changing. Once you have nursing experience that can drop off, but until then it is still useful to HR.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

I think putting down hooters will land you the job. I think that is the image the hiring managers and HR depts of nursing are looking for in the hospitals these days. God knows they don't want us older experienced nurses. All we hear in the professional magazine advise columns is get your hair highlighted, loose weight, get a nice suit and talk the corporate talk- 'nurse driven, that being said, moving foreward, being engaged'. Customer service skills that will really boost the patient satisfaction surveys which will boost the CEO's million dollar bonus. Look around at the age group of the nurses on the hospital floors. All you see is lip gloss and size 00 scubs. And they get to leave meds at the bedside while the patient is in the shower and never be written up for it. Have time to sit and go through the older nurses charts for uninviteted"chart audits"

I was thinking that myself. With nursing looking more and more like waitressing these days.....................

Heck, they'd probably hire OP before someone with medical field related experience, the other person having habits and ideas that would differ from their institution.

[msvegaslpn]

Actually it will not hurt you here in las vegas......hooters is a very popular restaurant here in the vegas valley....no one cares....as a matter of fact i have two coworkers who worked at hooters while going through school....i have another coworker who use to be a vegas show girl.....

When you go for your interview just be honest and be professional....

[msvegaslpn]

And i agree with the previous posts....dont be ashamed.....is honest work, professional, and frankly if i had the body....i would of worked there also.....