Temeraroius

Ok, the other day i was at my LBS. I had bought some stuff and was just talking to the guy working there about my new road bike etc. when he asked me what my summer plans were. I told him I free the second two months after camp, then asked "why?". He told me that they were looking for some extra summer help and that I should feel free to come by and drop off a resumé. I cooly told him that that sounded good and I would love to (on the inside I was beyond excited). I turn 16 in june so being of age wont be a problem. My real question is how would I go about writing a resumé for a bike shop. I understand how to write a straight up one, format wont be an issue. I was wondering if any bike shop owners or employees could tell me anything that I should include that is cycling specific. I understand to talk about past employers etc. but what should I do specifically because it is a bike shop. I dont want to ask the shop because obviously it would look unprofessional to walk in a be like "uhhh dude what do you want?". Thanks a bunch.

chephy

If you have previous experience with cycling (e.g. club riding, touring, racing, fixing minor or not-so-minor problems on your own bike, just riding) - write about that. If you have customer service experience - mention that. But basically they wouldn't expect any great qualifications or experience from a 16-year-old. As long as you know presta from schrader, road bike from an MTB and your a$$ from a hole in the ground you should be fine.

(Caveat: this advice is not coming from a bike shop owner or employee. But I deal with bike shop folks frequently and talk to them a bunch.)

Good luck.

MAK

Do a regular resume, but add a section titled CYCLING SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES. In that section list:
1. the bike(s) you own
2. your riding frequency (days per week/month you're on your bike)
3. milage per week/month
4. types of riding you do (road, mountain, cyclocross...)
5. the types of maintenance that you have performed on your bikes

Remember that at 16 yo. you won't be expected to have a great resume but you can make your bicycling skills and abilities your strength.

The real key is to make sure you have the name of the person you spoke to and write a cover letter to accompany the resume explaining that you were excited to hear from _____ that summer help was going to be taken on and you would be honored to be considered for one of the positions. You could also add that as a frequent visitor to the shop, you have always been impressed with their professionalism and customer service and would be pleased to work and learn in that kind of environment.

Good luck!!!

CrosseyedCrickt

A resume is more about stability and clarity of skills (working, speaking, etc) than just a history of your working experiences, if that is all your potential employer wanted then he'd ask you to fill out a canned application instead of bringing in a resume.
In my former life I managed a rather large telecommunications company. During my tenure I hired and terminated many people and probably read more than 2,000 resumes. One thing I looked for was someones ability to communicate. So instead of saying something like "I help others with their bikes" use "friends and family usually rely on me for their routine bike maintenance". <-- just my two cents
Anyhow, you are young and this employer knows it so they won't expect much as far as a previous work history. But they would be impressed to see that you have been involved with your local church, clubs, school, etc. Anything that shows you have innitiative and the ability to stick to something.
A new employers biggest fear and letdown when getting new people is the person that is late, unfriendly, and quits shortly after being hired so they do read between the lines and look for stability.

So just keep my input in mind please.
* Calrity on your resume is a must. After all, you will be doing customer service and if you don't know how to write legibley, how can you be expected to help out conversatively?
* Don't lie. Not only is it illegal in most places to lie on a resume but chances are your employer will find out in the future. And if he does, do you think he can trust you not to rip him off if the first thing you ever did was lie to him?
* A few days after dropping off the resume call back to see if it has been reviewed. You can always use the line that you are not sure if the contact information was correct or you have been busy and might have missed the call but do call back after a few days just to show your interest. The employer will take note of this.
* After the interview, thank the employer. Trust me on this one. I hired a person once because he sent me an email a day later that only said thanks for your time in 10 words or less.

good luck with this too, sounds like a great job for a young person

DieselDan

16 won't get you a mechanic job here.

BostonFixed

I got my first job; as a bike mechanic at 14.

Yeah, all I did was haul boxes from the basement, change flats, sweep up, etc, but..

TassR700

Also spell correctly and use proper grammar! If you have to have someone else correct it for you, do so. Nothing worse for a first impression than a resume with mispellings and improper word usage. I know it's only a bike shop, but it still counts.

Just my $0.02

slowandsteady

Was this a joke or an unfortunate and quite ironic accident?


Oh, and I am a hiring manager, but have never dealt with 16 year old's resumes. But the general rules still apply: clarity, grammar, and spelling

Also since your skills for this job may have nothing to do with previous work experience, the advice to put a Cycling skills section is a good one. In fact most people have a similar skills section on their resume. I would include it at the top since it is more important than your previous work experience.

CrosseyedCrickt

it's called a typo
since an internet message board means nothing to me as far as proper spelling and grammar use I don't care to correct simple mistakes, plus it gives the spelling/grammar nazis fuel for their fires