emoryhopeful wrote:
Yeah, I was the head trainer for new bartenders and wait staff. Either way, it had nothing to do with chemical engineering. So, there was some leadership there, but really, I see it more as a direct correlation to my poor performance in college than growing as a leader.
emoryhopeful: all I can say is, if you have such a negative biased view of your bartending job, even though you had leadership experience with it that most of us drool about, then you may have a problem. You are stuck needing to write about what happened in those 1.5 years, but if you cannot get past the negativity and write about it positively, it will hurt your application.
So you pretty much have three options:
1. Write about it positively, talking about the leadership experiences you had as head trainer, working with people, honing your interpersonal skills, showing that you can make the best out of any opportunity (resourcefulness), even though you couldn't find a job in ChemE at the time.
OR
2. Not talk about it, and pray that the Adcoms come up with a positive story themselves on why you were a bartender for 1.5 years.
OR
3. Talk about the bartending experience as a reflection of your poor college grades and that no company wanted to hire you.
I would probably pick #1. Otherwise, good luck.