A Student Of Résumés

(I graduated a little over a year prior to this story, and have recently moved back to my university town to live with my fiancé who is still studying, so I’m looking for a job. I see a sign in a window for waitressing and submit my CV, which has my degree, when I graduated, and work history, including the full time job I held last. My personal statement also mentions my time at the university. I get called in for interview.)

Interviewer: “Hi, [My Name], thank you for coming.”

Me: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview.”

Interviewer: “So, what experience do you have in this area?”

Me: “I worked in [Cafe] in Bristol full time last year where my duties included cleaning, making coffee, and preparing sandwiches. I was split between two of their branches and a key holder for both.”

Interviewer: “That’s brilliant. And do you have your timetable yet?”

Me: “I’m sorry, what timetable?”

Interviewer: “Your lecture timetable.”

Me: “I’m not a student. I graduated from [University] last year.”

Interviewer: “Oh, okay. Well, this job is only really suitable for students. We’re only offering six-eight hours a week, you know.”

(Nowhere on the ‘job vacancy’ sign in the window did it say this.)

Me: “You’re right, that doesn’t suit me. Thank you anyway.”

Interviewer: “You really should put that you aren’t a student on your CV in this town. It would have saved both of us wasting our time.”

(What I wanted to point out was that I did, and that maybe putting the hours on the sign, or at least that it’s part time, would be a good idea too. But I bit my tongue, smiled and left. My next interview went better; they actually read my CV for one thing.)