My first interview was the Group setting, and not sure about why. But after working for about 2 years now, it made since as there are times when you will have a group that you need to speak too and get moving. There are times when I will have a 5 linked groups of 20 people teeing off and they all show up at the same time. You need to be able to take charge and get them all started on time.

Union?
 

Unionize
That is a dirty word but it is coming. Stay tuned!

Seriously? Most people have these jobs not for a "second" career or with the intention that they make a ton of money but do it for fun, because they enjoy meeting people and maybe want a few extra dollars a month and the discount on golf they get.

The group interview has been used for years by many large corporations. I retired from American Airlines in 1998 and the group interview had been used there for years. I participated in several of those interviews and they are very telling.

Are these the same people that hire the people responsible for maintaining our golf courses?

No, they are starter, ambassadors and cart people.

At no time is any ambassador or starter on cal. They work 3 days a week and can if they want fill in for other staff that need time off. And they do not care about your outside activities.

Add, Golf Shop staff, Pool Attendants and Cleaners.

The maintenance workers are contracted and are not a part of The Villages staff.

Correct, sorry I left them out.

If I wanted to be hired for a job, I would not put comments on the worldwide web that indicate I know nothing about their methods and goals for giving the best customer experience possible.

I also wouldn't put into print online that I'm looking for back-door ways of getting around their time-tested procedures designed to observe genuine, impromptu interactions with future co-workers and supervisors.

I also would not publish online that I think I know far more than the employer does about his own business that is obviously prosperous and responsive to the customer.

As an employer I do not hire people who are unwilling to take instruction and direct orders to do the work as I expect, without any back talk. Insubordinate attitude kills many people's chances of getting and keeping a job.

What you have or have not done on other golf courses, anywhere else has very little to do with what you would be asked to do in the villages. The exception would be working as a pga teaching pro at the golf academy. The mission here is a whole different animal. And a very successful one, I might add. I believe all of GMS' 1,000 part time employees would agree.

I am a retired PGA professional. I am still a member of the PGA and have taught in all sorts of different environments including college classes and golf schools as well as private instruction.

I have also managed several golf courses. I worked in the golf business for thirty five years. I think that I can do pretty much any job that I am asked to do. In my years in the business, I have not only worked as a starter and ranger, I have also hired and managed starters and rangers as well as pro shop staff and food and beverage staff.

I don't have any problem taking instruction.

As far as being available 24/7, I may have not explained that properly. I do believe that once you are hired you will be given a schedule and have free time to do as you please. The point that they made was that they wanted to set your schedule according to their needs with little or no regard for your availability. Maybe they emphasized that a bit more than was necessary, but it was said at my interview. Maybe they do take into consideration your availability, but that was not what was explained to me.

It may be different right now, based on the # of applications, but when I applied, if you limited your availability by time or work location, they tended to put the application on the bottom of the stack. Once you got further into the process, you were given more opportunity to tweak your schedule. If you were not applying for a management position, did anyone play the over-qualified card ?

Really? I don't think that TV has any corner on the market of running a successful golf club. The mission (which is to make money) is really the same. For instance, I would like to see the Ambassadors do a better job of enforcing pace of play. Well, that's a whole other rant.

Really, I would like to see golfers follow the rules, they are adults, stop looking for golf balls, stop taking so long to hit, thay know about pace of play, the playing partners can help. It is easy to blame the ambassadors, how about blaming the golfers!!