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**Gurndigarn** · 07-30-2006, 03:42 PM

Quoth Horsetuna

Well, I'm moving back to Calgary. I let the bosses know and they were quite dissapointed. I honestly love working at the Casino but I love Calgary and want to move back desperately.
<stuff cut>
But I have a question - do I include my former employment in retail jobs that have no real importance to the job i'm applying for? I honestly know the importnace of cover letters but those pictures you know, they always show three paragraphs of cover letter informatoin and stuff (Of course, its a photo too far away to READ it) and I have no clue how to say "Yo, hire me! I know all these mad dealer skills!) in three paragarphs. I always feel like I'm just writing my Resume in Essay Format or something.

Suggestions?

First off, if you haven't been to Calgary in a while... it's FRICKIN EXPENSIVE. Fast food is starting in the $13-15/hour range, from what my in-laws said, and a number of places have closed because they can't find enough employees anyway.

Housing, etc., is priced to match. Currently there's a two-year wait time for a new home to be started. Something about having lots of oil in the area. So, make sure your salary will cover the costs.

As for the resume-- what you put on it depends on what you have to put on it. Assuming you have a good level of experience in a casino, you probably can skip all part-time jobs you did when you were younger. The only ones worth keeping on the resume, in that case, would be any with real management experience, or any needed to explain time gaps in the resume-- in which case, expect questions about why you were doing part time.

As for the cover letter, try this: I like working in casinos, am planning on moving, and would like to apply for a job with yours. I have buckets of experience. I will be in town on XXX-XXX, and will call on or around YY-YY, to see if we can set up an interview. Sincerely, Horsetuna.

Stretch that out to three paragraphs. Keep it fairly simple. The guy reading it doesn't want to read fluff, and I'm assuming your experience will speak for itself. Then you're done, except for the followup call.

Well, unless the part you stretched out was the "Sincerely, Horsetuna" part. In which case, you're still done, but in a different way.

**Horsetuna** · 07-30-2006, 04:22 PM

Quoth Gurndigarn

First off, if you haven't been to Calgary in a while... it's FRICKIN EXPENSIVE. Fast food is starting in the $13-15/hour range, from what my in-laws said, and a number of places have closed because they can't find enough employees anyway.

Housing, etc., is priced to match. Currently there's a two-year wait time for a new home to be started. Something about having lots of oil in the area. So, make sure your salary will cover the costs.

Actually I have housing set up already... a friend of a friend, good friend... 300 every two weeks plus util and such. Shared accom. I'm confused what your comments about fast food being expensive though.

As for the resume-- what you put on it depends on what you have to put on it. Assuming you have a good level of experience in a casino, you probably can skip all part-time jobs you did when you were younger. The only ones worth keeping on the resume, in that case, would be any with real management experience, or any needed to explain time gaps in the resume-- in which case, expect questions about why you were doing part time.

Well, none of my previous jobs had management experience... I have one year working as a Dealer in the casino i'm working in now, and a bunch of retail where I was treated like dirt.

As for the cover letter, try this: I like working in casinos, am planning on moving, and would like to apply for a job with yours. I have buckets of experience. I will be in town on XXX-XXX, and will call on or around YY-YY, to see if we can set up an interview. Sincerely, Horsetuna.

Stretch that out to three paragraphs. Keep it fairly simple. The guy reading it doesn't want to read fluff, and I'm assuming your experience will speak for itself. Then you're done, except for the followup call.

Well, unless the part you stretched out was the "Sincerely, Horsetuna" part. In which case, you're still done, but in a different way.

*stares* How do you stretch that tiny phrase into three paragraphs WITHOUT fluffing it out?

**Gurndigarn** · 07-30-2006, 06:31 PM

Quoth Horsetuna

Actually I have housing set up already... a friend of a friend, good friend... 300 every two weeks plus util and such. Shared accom. I'm confused what your comments about fast food being expensive though.

Sorry, that was an example. Because of the oil boom, fast food and similar part time jobs are having trouble finding people, even though they're offereing upwards of fifteen bucks per hour in places. (At least, this is what I heard from the locals. I didn't go job hunting myself.)

Quoth Horsetuna

Well, none of my previous jobs had management experience... I have one year working as a Dealer in the casino i'm working in now, and a bunch of retail where I was treated like dirt.

My recommendation would be that if any of the retail experience you had near the casino job lasted, say, over half a year, to put it down, but otherwise to ignore it. Since that experience has no bearing on the job you're applying for, the only thing other jobs would show is your ability (or lack thereof) to hold down a regular job.

Quoth Horsetuna

*stares* How do you stretch that tiny phrase into three paragraphs WITHOUT fluffing it out?

Well, when I said to avoid fluff, I meant avoid being irrelevant or overly long. Yeah, you'll need to fill it out. Just keep it to under a page, with a normal or slightly larger than normal font. A few people want to put their life stories in their cover letters, but unless you're applying for a position that pays over six figures a year, employers don't need all that information.

**Horsetuna** · 07-30-2006, 06:38 PM

Quoth Gurndigarn

My recommendation would be that if any of the retail experience you had near the casino job lasted, say, over half a year, to put it down, but otherwise to ignore it. Since that experience has no bearing on the job you're applying for, the only thing other jobs would show is your ability (or lack thereof) to hold down a regular job. f

Ok. I'll do that.

Well, when I said to avoid fluff, I meant avoid being irrelevant or overly long. Yeah, you'll need to fill it out. Just keep it to under a page, with a normal or slightly larger than normal font. A few people want to put their life stories in their cover letters, but unless you're applying for a position that pays over six figures a year, employers don't need all that information.

Still not sure how you stretch a few sentences into a paragraph at the most... I always feel like i'm just repeating what the resume says in its' opening paragraph/closing paragraph, wasting paper and time. But I'll see what I can do.

**Gurndigarn** · 07-30-2006, 10:37 PM

Quoth Horsetuna

Still not sure how you stretch a few sentences into a paragraph at the most... I always feel like i'm just repeating what the resume says in its' opening paragraph/closing paragraph, wasting paper and time. But I'll see what I can do.

Well, yeah, it usually is a waste of paper and time. But receiving a resume without a cover letter is kind of like customers coming in and grunting a single word. You can figure out what all these people want, really:

"MARBS!"
"Powerball"
"Hruggh." (In response to "how are you?")
"Bud?"
"Stickup!"

but it's still polite to say the whole thing.

Anyway... they don't all have to be long paragraphs, just enough to get the points across:

(1) I'm changing jobs because I want to be closer to family, not because they want to get rid of me.
(2) These are the specific things I've done, and can do for you (IE, the different types of games you deal for)
(3) I'll be bugging you about it soon. Er, make that "I can plan ahead and I have a systematic way about how I'm looking for work."

**Spiffy McMoron** · 07-31-2006, 04:29 AM

I was actually in a very similar position as you are in, Horsetuna. (BTW, how did you get that name?

) I moved up to Edmonton a couple of months ago, and I was handing out resumes. I included all of my previous experience, even if it wasn't completely relevant to the positions that I was looking for. I got hired in no time flat, and I didn't even have a cover letter (although it's not a bad thing to have.)

And as for the fast food thing: It's true. They are advertising $10 an hour to work at a Tim Horton's or a Wendy's-and they have this advertised on a huge billboard out front.

**Mr. Rude** · 07-31-2006, 10:52 PM

Hey Horse, where are you living now?

**Horsetuna** · 07-31-2006, 10:55 PM

I'm living in Edmonton currently.

As for my name, I do online roleplaying games, and I started on a Beast Wars: transformers MUSH (text based roleplaying game). My character was a fuzor - her beast mode was a horse/dolphin mix. Her nickname was Horsetuna. I'm not on that game anymore but I've since used Horsetuna since.

**Horsetuna** · 08-03-2006, 10:01 AM

I wrote up a cover letter. how does this go:
Dear Sir/Madam

I am an experienced card dealer currently employed in the Palace Casino, Edmonton and will be relocating to Calgary in August this year. Please find enclosed my resume showing my skills and references.

I have experience in a number of games such as Blackjack, Three Card Poker, Spanish Twenty One, Extreme Twenty One, Lucky lucky, Under The Gun, Texas Hold 'Em Bonus, Mini Baccarat and Handheld and am certified under the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commision to legally deal in Alberta Casinos and AADAC.

I am very efficient and accurate at the tables and I have a good understanding of the game, fast at calculating payouts and have always been complimented on my friendliness by players and other staffers alike. Comments have included 'incredibly friendly', 'delightful', 'funny' and 'bubbly'. I will be moving to Calgary on August the thirtieth and be able to begin work on September first.

I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for your time and this opportunity. I look forwards to working with you in the future.

Your Sincerely,
Anne Pearn

**Horsetuna** · 08-06-2006, 04:59 PM

.. Does anyone have any comments?

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