[dba-Tech] Resume / CV Advice Sought

Tydda Jon - Lonza Slough jon.tydda at lonza.com
Tue Mar 18 10:49:50 CDT 2014


Hi Arthur

I would write just that in a letter to them - explain that you've got 30 years experience in IT, but that you've retired now, and want to pursue an ambition, now that you have time on your hands. It never hurts to ask...


Jon

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 3:32 PM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: [dba-Tech] Resume / CV Advice Sought

As regular listers will know, a while back I declared myself Semi-Retired.
But now I want to try something radically new.

Since I was about 15, I have been a coffee drinker. Since I was about 30, I slowly matured into a coffee aficionado. I know instantly the difference between, say, a Guatemalan coffee and a Kenyan -- hell, that's too easy -- I can discern a Guatemlan from a Salvadorean. And I know some if not most of the lingo that coffee aficionados employ; it's similar to the vocabulary of wine lovers. One tiny exception is that in coffee, "acidy" is a good thing (to most but not all palates).

Anyway, I have decided to realize an ambition on my Bucket List, to wit, to learn the art of coffee roasting, and to obtain a job performing this magic. There are several companies in Toronto that perform this art. I'm willing to go through the motions of learning to become a barista, but that at most would be a step toward my real goal.

I dug out a few versions of my resume, which list in varying degrees of detail my 30+ years' experience writing software, mostly database-oriented.
None of this experience is in any way related to my new Bucket List item, to become a coffee roaster. In this field I have no experience other than the consumption of vast amounts of coffee from numerous nations, and such knowledge as "espresso is neither a bean nor a drink, but a roast, which can be performed upon almost any type of bean."

Even of the back story. My question is, How should I pitch myself to the one or three companies in Toronto that do their own roasting, and locally?
(In case you wondered, Starbucks is not one of them, since they do their roasting not even in Canada, and the distance between roasting and selling is crucial to maintain the highest quality: distance and quality are inversely proportional.

There's also an event-type called a Cupping, which to my knowledge none of the quality-coffee sellers in Toronto practice. This is very similar to a wine-tasting event; the participants do not swallow the coffees offered but savour them, rolling the mouthful around the tongue to appreciate the aspects of the taste (different parts of the tongue detect different aspects of the taste, and hence the need to roll the mouthful); then the mouthful is spit out as in wine-tasting. Since, to my knowledge, none of the three vendors to whom I'm considering applying for a gig, I would want to present Cuppings as a new marketing opportunity.

So. How might I present myself as an aficionado with a serious desire to learn the art of roasting, and lacking any experience in this aspect of the business?

Any suggestions shall be gratefully received.

--
Arthur
_______________________________________________
dba-Tech mailing list
dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com

________________________________
This communication and its attachments, if any, may contain confidential and privileged information the use of which by other persons or entities than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you receive this transmission in error, please contact the sender immediately and delete the material from your system.



More information about the dba-Tech mailing list