Working in a small or cupcake shop seems like a great thing when you will soon graduate from the university. However, when you are 30 years of age aiming for a management position, having too many of such silly little jobs can downgrade your resume significantly. Very often, young people change their career goals frequently and this is usually reflected on a resume by a number of different entry level positions in various companies. A corporate recruiter looking at a resume or CV with a 2-3 jobs would have a number questions you better be prepared to answer. Or even better, make these experiences shine on your resume.
Little Jobs Can Make a Difference
You can do nothing about your past experiences whether you like them or not. You cannot undo the jobs that you had which means those lines will remain on your resume. And the very fact that you don't like doesn't necessarily mean its your weakness in the eyes of hiring authorities. As a matter of fact, these little jobs may help you connect the dots within your career path. This is more important for you as a job seeker as you go to the interview meeting.
The thing is that all your past experiences without any exception give you a unique perspective as well as an arsenal of specific sitations that you can use in your future work. It may well be that you don't see it yet, but one day you will look back and notice how all of those work fit together. When the question about many little jobs on your resume is asked by an interviewer, the natural reaction is to downplay the entire thing. When you play down the period you worked at the small shop or cafe, you lose an opportunity. Sure, most likely you haven't achieved much in terms of professional accomplishments there having to deal with things like cleaning working place, ringing up customers, etc. Despite this, you probably could see the day-to-day operations of the company and maybe even participate in some its aspects.
Therefore, even though the primary area of responsibility was insignificant, the job may have introduced me important aspects of business management, sales and customer service. This would be a great story to tell in response to question regarding this employment. Anyway, the time spent in a specific role must have produced something (skills, savings, attitude, etc) and it is much better to mention what you have learnt rather than to talk it down. Lastly, use a cover letter to put your less impressive job into context explaining how such irrelevant experiece would help you in the position. The great thing about having a cover letter to go with your resume is that it gives you a chance to tell a story. This way the hiring managers could have a better idea of why you worked there and how it has influenced you or even prepared you for the job discussed at the interview.
As you can see, the little jobs on your resume can shine if you shape it well enough. The key thing is to provide the context for those experiences and show how those less impressive jobs have developed you for your career path.
