How to handle horse jobs on resume?

[Jazzme2305]

I was wondering how people who spent time as a working student/groom write about their work on resumes? I’ve hit the career fair/find a job portion of my undergrad career and am unsure how to go about making horse jobs mean something to non-horse people. Most people I talk to are interested in hearing about the work but the conversation ends up going more towards “horses are awesome” and less towards “I can tell you worked hard and would be worth hiring”.

I did two gap years at two different farms then did each of my three summer breaks at different barns during the school years (and was a barn rat at my “home” barn). The work was typical WS things (grooming, stalls, riding some sale horses, clipping, etc) in a couple of semi well known hunter/jumper barns. Nothing spectacular but its all the work experience I’ve got to put down!

So what key points do you hit on your resume? Do you mention horsey awards won (finals wins, scholarships or sportsmanship awards)?

Thanks!

[Peggy]

Try to draw parallels between the tasks you performed as a WS and the tasks you will perform in your desired job. If you don’t have specific job in mind, draw parallels between what you did as a WS and good employee attributes (hard working, organized, manages time, works independently, team player, any sort of leadership stuff you can muster up…)

This is what I did when I wrote a reference letter for someone with similar experience who wanted to start a program that would lead to a K-12 teaching job.

[furlong47]

When you are listing your accomplishments for these positions, think about describing them in ways that can transfer to your particular field or any position in general. What did you manage/organize/improve/deliver/plan/implement/create? A hiring manager for an office job might not care that you rode 5 horses and mucked 25 stalls per day. But you probably learned and demonstrated things like being self-directed, managing time and resources, coming up with a more efficient way to do something, etc.

[IronwoodFarm]

Many non-horse people consider barn jobs to be unskilled manual labor. I would mention as little as possible about the horses and just describe tasks like working with contractors (i.e. vets, farriers), problem solving, inventory management, scheduling, etc. I have a tenant who is going through a job search right now. He has other skills but worked as a barn manager for the last 3 years. It took some major rewriting to highlight his skills and not the setting where he performed them.

[CFFarm]

For a “non-horsey” job I have used descriptions like “responsible for day-to-day operation…”, “over saw hiring and training of…” “responsible for completion of required tasks”…“care and well-being of top quality show and race horses” etc…

[Palm_Beach]

@furlong47

When you are listing your accomplishments for these positions, think about describing them in ways that can transfer to your particular field or any position in general. What did you manage/organize/improve/deliver/plan/implement/create? A hiring manager for an office job might not care that you rode 5 horses and mucked 25 stalls per day. But you probably learned and demonstrated things like being self-directed, managing time and resources, coming up with a more efficient way to do something, etc.

Agree, and Ironwood’s post too. Instead of using terms like “tacked up horses for trainer to ride,” word it as “successfully implemented tight training schedule on daily basis,” or “regularly executed horse care duties at large successful competition facility.” If you can lose some of the horse lingo (show barn, dressage barn) and replace it with more easily understood wording, your point will come across better.

[findeight]

Maybe something like ability to deal with flexible hours, showed up as scheduled, didn’t leave early, volunteered to stay late or work extra hours would be a plus.

Was talking to somebody who reviews resumes and interviews entry level applicants the other day and the subject of non conventional job history, like landscaping, construction, housecleaning, barn work etc. came up. He said his biggest issue with offering positions to them and his companies biggest disappointment after hiring them involved reliability and availability.

Most of those jobs don’t clock in or out, lunches aren’t timed. Some people work those jobs because they do not do well when “restricted” by hard and fast schedules overseen by a time clock. My own long time barn finally went to punching in and out, including for lunch, when it became obvious they were losing money paying some staff for hours when they were not even on the property ( its a finger print thing on a desktop). About half the help left or were asked to leave after the first month. Noticeable drop in staff costs and most overtime was eliminated.

Its not that they are afraid you won’t work hard, they are afraid you wont show, come late or leave early. And/or complain to other employees that they expect you to work your shift as scheduled. Think about heading off that misconception.

It can also be difficult to verify your earnings in those jobs, especially if it was bartered or cash under the table. It can be a factor in offering a job or not as it does not allow them to assess your reliability or how much you actually worked when they are looking for a full time person who will be there when they are supposed to be. Not declaring the income might be seen as a snag in the ethics department too.

[IronwoodFarm]

Findeight raises great points which probably are best addressed in the interview. But you need to get to the interview. As I said, my tenant is looking for non-horse jobs and was getting nowhere with a horse oriented resume. Once he removed the words horse and barn, he started getting interviews. No job yet but he is getting closer having gone through initial rounds on a couple of them.

One of the important things to learn about working in any job is to be reliable. Half of life is just showing up, right? As Findeight points out, showing up, being prepared to work your “shift” and being able to sustain the work effort throughout the day are all important skills. I learned them in my first job as a drug store cashier. Not glamourous and low-paying, but I learned a great deal about working from the experience.

[Scribbler]

I agree with what everyone is saying about finding the transferable skills, that is the skills that transfer to an office job or a profession. These involve managing people, time, and resources, problem solving, budgeting, etc., depending on what the career is. The danger is that “barn work” can sound like low-skill, manual labor, like digging ditches or picking berries. If you have any pony club or horse show credentials to your name, I’d include them, since this makes your riding more comparable to being competitive in sports, which for some reason seems to be a good thing to employees.

At the same time, you are going to be trailing behind the students who spent their summers at a job with some relevance to your course of study, or who had an internship or other work involvement. But it’s a bit late to think about that, I suppose, if you are graduating mpw.

[Jazzme2305]

Thank you for all the advice! I did a big rewrite and think I’m on a better track. Thankfully I have been somewhat successful with horses (scholarships, upper level USPC ratings, medal finals wins, etc) and have a high GPA so I have things I can highlight.

[Jazzme2305]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who offered suggestions for my resume. I did a big rewrite and I think it did the trick! I was offered full time employment in my field of choice this past week with a wonderful company. Instead of being turned off by the horse stuff, they found the work interesting and unique. So thank you for the suggestions as they were obviously quite helpful!

[clanter]

how about accomplished at dealing with very difficult people who think the world revolves around them

[piedmontfields]

What a great update! There were excellent suggestions in this thread.

[tabula_rashah]

Congrats OP! I always kept two resumes- a horse one and a non-horse one. Since until recently I’ve always held at least 2 jobs, there was never a time gap on the resumes.

[IronwoodFarm]

Congratulations on the new job OP! My tenant also has a new job based on his de-horsified resume.

[eclipse]

Congratulations on your new job I had the exact opposite experience! We’ve been in a recession in Calgary since oil prices crashed, and I’ve been out of work for the past two years (no new oil sands projects no Procurement needed)! So, I’ve been working at my barn to keep busy and help pay board. I was getting NO response when I just had a “gap” so I put the horse related work on my resume and bam, interview and some contract work.

The fact i showed that that I was willing to go out and do labour, let them know that I WANTED to work. Plus, the horses made my resume “stand out” ( their word). I think it’s all dependant on the current work market that you’re in and what you’re up against!