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My customer service skills have been nationally recognized.

So has my merchandising ability.

I have won two provincial sales contests, led a team to a 39% departmental sales increase, year over year, and served as an in-store trainer for a successful system conversion.

I've coached and mentored developmentally challenged students, letting them discover potential within themselves that neither they nor their teachers had suspected.  I'm proud of that.

I'm proud of all of that.

It sounds like resume gobbledygook, but I really am a leader and a team player; an exceptional communicator, a hands-on supervisor with a can-do attitude. I've proven myself at every facet of retail. I chase success and success follows me.

I care.

When I was laid off from my last position, I think it's fair to say I was far from the only one shocked.  It was, I was told, a purely business decision, and I can at least comprehend that: I was the most junior full-time employee in the store making top rate. Personally, that says something positive, but I can understand how balance sheets work. Our store did indeed have many top-rate employees: easier and cheaper to scuttle me, if somebody had to be scuttled.

Taking the next step in my career has been surprisingly difficult.

I have had no fewer than seven opportunities fall through because I do not drive. Not only interviews but also work placements have been everywhere from London to Brantford to Stratford to Guelph; those places are not reachable for me.

It's frustrating. More frustrating still is the job seeker's eternal lament: I could do that. I could do that, and I could do it well, but because i don't have three careers' worth of experience doing it already, I won't even be considered. It's like getting a loan. To get a loan, you must first prove you don't need one.

If my K-W readers know of a workplace, theirs or otherwise, that could use a consummate customer service professional with more than thirteen years of progressive experience, please let me know.

Thank you.