They say if you find a job you like, you’ll never work a day in your life. For some people, that tempting phrase means following their passion to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, or public servants like police officers or firefighters. Others, like myself, are drawn to a less traditional role, searching out the lesser known options.
While it took me a little while to get involved in the gaming world, every job that I have had has always been on the more unique side, although the traditional undertones were always there. After spending time working at a cluster of radio stations in New York, a zoo in Texas, and a few stops in between, I got the news we’d be moving to Las Vegas while my (now) husband completed his medical residency and accompanying fellowship. Moving to Vegas was an unexpected life update, but I instantly knew what it could mean – getting a job under the neon lights.
For a girl that has always loved slots (here’s to you Kitty Glitter), it didn’t take me long to start scouring online job boards looking for something that would catch my eye. After a few months passing the time (and paying my bills) with a few random jobs, I finally found what I was looking for. It was a listing for a Social Media Specialist at a prominent Las Vegas casino on Fremont Street. The posting fit the bill matching my experience, my desire to work somewhere with high energy…. and there was a Dunkin’ Donuts within walking distance.
With my sights set on what I had already dubbed “my dream job,” I began tailoring my resume to match the job description. When looking for a casino job of your own, please note this doesn’t mean lying about experience, it means swapping out keywords that more closely align with the job posting. This is because more often than not these days, resumes aren’t reviewed by an actual human until they pass some flavor of HR program designed to flag promising candidates. This is mostly trading apples for apples in hopes the resume keeps on moving through the hiring flow chart.
My synonym swaps and experience spoke for themselves and I was called in for an interview. Arriving for the interview is one of my most cherished Vegas “core memories.” I will always remember arriving painfully early to the Downtown parking garage and then sitting in my car for what felt like an eternity while trying to hype myself up by almost chanting something along the lines of “you need this, your life will change if you get this.” My hype up session could have easily switched into a psych out nightmare, but thankfully it didn’t and I was soon on my way inside.
My interview took place at one of the on-site restaurants, and although I had no way of knowing it then, it was conducted by two people who would become two of my closest friends. To be honest, I can’t really recall any of the questions they lobbed my way, what I remember most is talking to them about quickly discovered shared interests and how I almost eagerly admitted to looking them up on LinkedIn before meeting. I say this because for small teams, who together work massive amounts of odd hours, fit is arguably the most important factor when it comes to adding someone to a department. I must have passed the initial “vibe check” and I was sent off to the top of the building to meet with the VP of Marketing to give them more detail on my experience and assure them that working casino hours wasn’t a problem for me.
All in all, I was on property for about 2 hours and then headed home to decompress and hope for a good news phone call. Much to my surprise, the good news phone call came that same day as I was in the middle of decompressing with a relaxing show (aka the anxiety-inducing The Walking Dead). From there it was off to the races (HR) to complete my paperwork and the glamorous drug test that is standard for nearly all gaming jobs.
What has happened in the time since joining that team has been incredible. I have worked with prominent influencers, yes, including Brian Christopher, attended various conventions like G2E, and moved on to other opportunities that included opening a brand new casino.
If you are one of those people that has a strong passion for all things gaming, I added a list below with some tips to land a casino job of your own.
4 Quick Tips to Landing Your Own Casino Job
1. Make an Online Profile
Like with nearly any job, landing a job can come down to having a connection with someone that already works where you are trying to get in. While this wasn’t the case for me, I do recognize the power of platforms like LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows you not only showcase your skills and life experience but allows you to look up people at organizations and build your own network. These online platforms can be a great way to check out the culture of your desired work place and give you the opportunity to take a look at the experience levels of your potential colleagues. Note: I will also use LinkedIn as a tool to look up the person conducting my interview. I did this for the job referenced in this article to see if we had anything in common prior to arriving.
2. Set Up Job Alerts
Jobs get posted quickly and taken down even quicker! Keeping an eye out is super important so you don’t miss out on an opportunity of interest. After making a LinkedIn, or an account on a similar site, you can set up job alerts that will automatically alert you when a posting you might be interested in is shared. Alerts can be set up to include key words like “dealer,” “security officer,” or “information services.” To make sure you don’t miss your dream roll, you can further refine the alerts by adding tags for specific properties, cities, and salary requirements.
3. Start Off Smaller
While all casinos are different, most are eager to hire and promote from within their already established ranks. This means if you are able to lock in a job somewhere on the property, you can always keep an eye out and apply for a different position once it is posted. Now, this isn’t to say to take any position, you still want to try and find something that interests you and even better if it is connected to your ideal role in the organization. For example, if you want to work on property marketing initiatives, the promotional booth is a great place to learn the ropes.
4. Just Go For It
As cheesy as it sounds, you’ll never know until you try! When I was walking into my first interview for a casino job, I didn’t have any gaming experience and I didn’t know if my interviewers would view that as a negative or if my genuine passion for the field would be enough. Thankfully, I didn’t listen to that “what if” voice and just went for it.
The casino world has always fascinated me and your story is so helpful for those who want to pursue a career in some aspect of it. Thanks for generosity sharing your casino journey!
Thanks Hope! We thought it was helpful to share tips with others who might be interested!