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Working Around Bad Luck on the Resume?
Dodger asks: "A year ago I was laid off from my job after 2 1/2 years, shortly after the product I was working on shipped. Later that year, a company moved me 1500 miles from Texas to California, to start working on a promising project, just to have the plug pulled by the corporation that funded it five weeks later, which resulted in another layoff. Now, there's a period of job seeking followed by a five week period of employment, followed by the current job seeking period on my resume. When the companies I interview with ask about that situation I simply explain, while trying not to whine or complain. What do other Slashdot readers do to make 'bad luck' (or bad employer choices) look less bad on their resume, and sound less bad in interviews?"
but be positive ... Don't whine or pout. Just explain the situation, highlight any positives and then try to steer the focus back on the better parts of your resume.
Step #1:
;)
Get a job. ANY JOB. Showing you have a job indicates that you are a "go getter", willing to do what it takes. Trust me.
Step #2:
Hit the Pavement. When a job in your field opens up, even if it is a step down from your current pay grade, take it.
Step #3:
If your field is networking, start doing networks for churches/schools/etc. for free. Include it on your resume. If coding, get into an open source project. If business or law, go to hell.
Those will drastically help you reinforce the idea that you are not lazy, just unfortunate.
A lot of people have had jobs that they don't talk about. Pick one or two jobs that have you had good references from put them on. Then say that you were studying in the gaps.
If your referees can confirm you have the skills required for the job, you'll have a solid chance.
"Just falsify it! Every other bastard does..."
Not a smart idea. I was reading on CNN the other day that Yahoo's got a "see your background" service going up soon. (Hotjobs or something?) Evidently, there are web services out there where a potential employer can look you up and verify where you've worked etc. If that doesn't sync up with what you say in the interview/resume, then a lever is pulled and you fall through a trap door. Yahoo's service is meant to provide somebody with a means of seeing what's on their record (For a modest price...) and get it rectified if it's wrong.
Lying in the digital age is a bad idea.
"Derp de derp."
I disagree. It really depends on your audience. If you are speaking to someone who's a peer or possibly a supervisor/manager of your peers they will empathize.
However, if you are talking to someone from Personnel of a really high level manager who's got to sign off on you -- it's a different story. These people look predominantly at negative qualifiers. If you blame anything on bad luck, the market, poor management decisions, etc they will view this as an indication that you will give up when facing challenges and you will blame it on anything but yourself. They will interpret the smallest detail of your resume or interview as a microcosm of you. You're not a can-do, team-oriented person. You tend to blame others. You can't take responsibility for a mistake.
So, I'd recommend that you figure out how to creatively deal with these gaps in the way that minimizes dishonesty but puts the best spin on the situation.
Well I can tell you that if I hired you and then found out you'd exaggerated your skills, you wouldn't last more than a month. In the long run it pays to be honest.
Certainly you should present yourself in the best light possible, but that doesn't mean you exaggerate or lie.
I agree completely. I've never hired anyone, but I've been hired before (feels good). It seems to me your resume tells if you're able to do the job. Your interview tells what kind of person you are. If you're a liar, they'll figure it out at the interview. If you'd lie on your resume, you'll lie in the interview, they'll notice it, not say a thing, and you're finished.
Once you get the interview, you're qualified for the job (unless you lied), or they have some other interest in you (which might be as good/better than the job). Some people are more qualified for the job, but they might not be as personable. You'll get a job before these people every time. If you're the one getting interviews and not getting a job, you probably have a problem. It's usually that you do not act like yourself, such as putting on an image you view as confident but they'll see as arrogant.
Set up a mock interview and video tape yourself. Look at the stupid expression on your face (yes it will be stupid). Fix it. Look in the mirror. Then go over what you said in the interview. Completely scripted responses are easily noticeable and not appreciated.
There are two primary schools for the interviewer: new school and old school. Old school is more receptive to phoniness and arrogance, while new school sees that as being afraid to show yourself, and think you might not be stable. Try to judge the type the interviewer is (note that age is not a factor). Engineers and programmers are more likely to see new school (which I assume most readers will get). Every interview I've had but one has been new school. Those are better/more fun anyway!
Here's a personal case study. At the peak of the most recent recession, I was applying for technical positions with several different companies, in the span of two months. Believe it or not, over half of the applications I sent rewarded me with an interview. And, my recent career experience in the last 2 years is very similiar to the author of this post.
Having close ties with several Human Resource Managers, experience in Technical Writing from college curriculum, and in general, lengthy job experience, here are important tips to remember about your resume (and the use of it):
Do not saturate your resume on a bunch of openings related to your field. Focus on fewer positions of your liking and tailor each resume to that position. Remember, quality not quantity. Include a cover letter with each one. The content of a cover letter should cover a discussion about their company, your interests relating to their products (or services), and how your experience meets (or exceeds) the qualifications necessary for that position.
Perceived "short comings" in your resume are interpreted differently by different employers. Case in point. Having a Masters in Computer Science and several years experience, I had to work in Construction for a few months to pay the bills. And, yes, in several resumes I sent towards technical positions, I put that experience on my resume. It shows responsibility and a hard work ethic. In addition, I had several short contracts related to my field. Those too were mixed in as well, when relevant. During several interviews, I had many employers spend more time discussing those jobs than more pertinent ones, and it reflected highly on me. It's a cautious, but careful, dance when you present yourself with a "spotty" resume. It will hurt you only if you have no stable work experience to present with it.
During the interview, have many, many questions. Questions which show your interest in the company, and the direction/goals they are taking for the future. Surely, during the interview, you can expect to receive tough questions related to your resume (and, especially, any perceived short-comings you may feel about it). Spend several hours beforehand, if necessary, rehearsing your answers to questions relating to such.
Most importantly, follow up each interview, immediately, with a "Thank You" letter. You should use it to clarify any questions or solidify any answers made during the interview. This letter is highly overlooked and makes you stand out amongst a swarm of fellow candidates. You are in a technical profession (I assume), and you should appear professional as well.
When an offer is made, do not be so hasty to accept it. It is easy to do so in light of this economic market. Follow the offer with a letter or phone call, thanking them for the offer, state that you are considering the position, and will give them an answer within a specified time. You are the gold which an employer seeks to add to his treasure. Not vice-a-versa. Confidence, not arrogance, will solidify your employment.
I hope, when they die, cartoon characters have to answer for their sins.
Your job in an inteview is not to make the other side believe you are more valuble than you yourself beielve you are. It is to present yourself as best you can while being as honest as you can.
Very true. The folks who are saying "lie your ass off" have misunderstood the art of careful wording.
My resume lists all gaps in employment as freelance work. If anyone asks, I've done some grant writing for one non-profit (from which I have an excellent reference, and no need to mention he's known me since birth) and some desktop publishing, computer repair, and one-on-one training for various folks. All true, paid work. They don't ask if it's for friends and family, and I don't volunteer that it is.
When I was taking resume orders several times a day at Kinko's, and therefore was expected to be a cut-rate resume consultant, some of the stuff I learned (from various sources provided by the company) was:
- Only go back five jobs or fifteen years. Older experience isn't going to be considered relevant, and more than five jobs just looks... tacky. If there's something a ways back that you really, really want on there, create a section called "Other Relevant Experience" and list it there more informally.
- For short-term jobs, leave them off unless they look *really* good for some reason. For example, for two months I was a Support Engineer for a telecommunications testing equipment manufacturer, which involved phone and email support as well as writing custom scripts and conducting user training courses. I ended up quitting because I couldn't stand commuting 50 miles each way every day for $32k a year, but it's definitely the most impressive-looking technical experience I have. (Not the most useful on a day-to-day basis, but whatever.)
- Keep it to two pages. This used to be one page, until people started bouncing around jobs a lot.
- Start with either education or experience, depending on which looks better. If you have an advanced degree, or a BS from a well-regarded institution, you probably want to start with that. If you barely got your BA in English at the state uni because you were too busy playing computer games, but used to be Director of Technology for someplace, start with experience.
And this is one I picked up on my own: never, EVER put the word "sales" in your resume, unless you're looking for a sales job. I made the mistake of including "supported Corporate Accounts Manager on sales calls" on my monster.com resume and got drowned in listings for every sales job imaginable.
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
1998-2001 [...]2001-Present [...] Everyone who interviews me simply assumes I've had continuous employment
I've interviewed circa a dozen people in the last couple of weeks, and I see this style much more than I used to. When I see only years in a resume, I assume it's because they're hiding something. I much prefer to see a month-based approach that's honest about gaps.
If you want to work for fools, this is probably good advice. Otherwise, read on.
Since I'm hiring programmers this very week, the topic's on my mind. The people I was most likely to interview
- followed instructions: they sent the required details in the right format to the right address;
- addressed the requirements in the cover letter: some just gave a few paragraphs, and some replied inline to each item in the posting;
- were honest: when somebody told me what they did and didn't know, their honesty was a big plus.
And then in the interviews, important factors have been- asking good questions, both about our business and about the technical side;
- listening well, and demonstrating that they get what we're talking about;
- communicating clearly about what they've done and what they know;
- being willing to challenge us on some things: we don't want to hire yes men, but neither do we want people who argue for the sake of it;
- not telling us any of their previous employers' secrets: if they'll break somebody else's NDA, I'm sure they'll break ours;
- really knowing anything they put on their resume as knowing, and
- being able to walk the walk: the second round of interviews is sitting down and pair programming.
If I find out somebody is bullshitting me, they've just stepped on the fast slidewalk out of the office.Everybody has gaps in their technical knowledge, and I'm glad to work with that. It's impossible to put together a team where everybody knows everything, but if I know individual weaknesses I can make sure that at least one person is stellar in each important area. In my experience, if people lie to me about one thing, they'll lie to me about quite a lot of things.