So the pet store that I work for part time has an opening in the online division and the pay is better, I'd get real health insurance and a ton of creative freedom.

Now I just need to get my resume and cover letter spit polished, but I'm concerned about length. I'm 27 and I've been working since I was 16 so it's getting lengthy. Obviously I'm not putting my horrible experiences in retail that somehow required me to also wear a mascot costume that was hot and smelled funny, but at 17 I was already holding down a pretty impressive job in web design.

The more minor positions and short term "summer job" type stuff I did when I went back to school I have listed in "additional experience" at the bottom with just the company name, position, and dates. Some of it is cool stuff that I feel shows that I'm not afraid to work, that I have diverse skills and that I wasn't unemployed for great lengths. In that illustrious collection is freelance writing and photography for a local paper and working for my general contractor mom.

So it's already at 1 1/4 pages, but when I add my current position it's going to be 1 1/2. I could pull my photography business off, but I think there are a lot of "soft skills" I gained/developed running it that look really good. I could yank my summers managing/guiding at a guest ranch, but again it came with such awesome soft skills.

Am I a big enough girl now that I justify a long resume? There's so much info out there that I'm confused. I've seen some UGLY resumes come through the store and some of them we've hired. It just boggles me, here are people who went to college while I went to the school of hard knocks and they put together these scribbled out resumes. Probably explains how I got hired at the store with one interview, everyone else had two.

This is so scary, but crying in the bathroom should not be a part of anyone's job. I can write my way out of a reusable grocery bag (made of recycled materials!) and I want someone to appreciate that! And while we're at it, how did I ever become the kind of person who talks about "soft skills." *sniffle* I'm all grown up now!