June 7, 2010
How many facilities are too many on your resume? It’s a difficult question to answer and we're not going to try and give a definitive answer because there may not be a correct one. You can never have too much experience; however there may be a method to how you distribute the experience over time. As an assistant professional, if you have been in this business for a handful of years or more, and you’ve jumped around your fair share of clubs, at some time or another you’ve probably asked yourself, “Is the number of facilities on my resume going to hurt me?”
What do Head Professionals or selection committees want in a resume? Many like to see a few facilities on the resume with 3 to 5 years at each one. It may show that you have staying-power and have a long track record of success at the club. If you’ve been at a bunch of facilities for one year each, it may raise a red flag about what happened there – like a consistent trend of poor performance. Or many say that having too many facilities can hurt you because it looks like you weren’t loyal. If this is the case, you certainly don’t want to type-cast yourself as someone that is going to “get in and get out”.
However, many are attracted to resumes that have a multitude of experiences that span 1 or 2 years at each. It shows that you are well-traveled and have experienced a taste of a number of different operations. It shows that you have the ability to adapt to different kinds of environments and situations. There are some assistant professionals that can’t stand to be at a club for more than a year because they get bored and want to move on to “the next challenge”. Everybody encounters different circumstances and sometimes opportunities come up that can not be passed on.
Everyone’s path has an evolution, sometimes your path will be what you envisioned, and sometimes it won’t be. Five or ten years from now, you might be saying to yourself, “Wow, I never could have imagined that I would be here”. Circumstances that are largely out of your control shape the path you follow. Because you have jumped around from club to club, you haven’t done anything wrong, although that is what might be perceived. And they say “perception is everything”, right?
The path as an assistant professional is a difficult road, especially in our young apprentice days. We are always in search of something and you have to figure out what that is. Making decisions about whether to stay at your club or move on to a new one is easier when you know what you are in search of. But it’s difficult to make a decision when you don’t know what you want.
Know this: Always work hard in the moment, always work like it’s your first day on the job, and work like you’re going to be there for a long time. If an opportunity arises, evaluate how you think it will help your career and how it will affect your personal life. If it’s a no brainer, go for it! You might encounter multiple no brainers and suddenly you might find yourself with a resume that has three facilities with one year each. That’s okay. Regardless of how long your experiences are at your facilities, it is still valuable experience under your belt no less.
As you progress through your career, a story will unfold and that just might be the answer to the question this article asks. No matter how your resume builds up, ultimately it is all about the story you tell to the Head Professional or selection committee. So just see how the cards fall and tell your story.
