Free Career and Job Search Advice

MCE57 · Newbie Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 2 Career Advice: +0/-0

Hi all,

My husband has a string of 3 jobs in a 4 year span on his resume - a result of working in the Silicon Valley high-tech manufacturing industry during the late 90's bubble burst. 2 of the companies got acquired and moved overseas, and the other just didn't survive. Because of this, it would appear that he was a job-hopper. It would also appear that he wasn't very 'progressive', because obviously he had to start over again at the same level with each new job.

If we were still in the Bay area, odds are most potential employers would recognize the companies and know just by looking at the dates on his resume what happened. But, we're now living in Canada, and employers around here won't know these companies or their history. It's something that can be explained easy enough in an interview, but we're concerned he's not even getting that far because employers are just discarding his resume due to this.

Is there any way to tactfully note in each job section that the company closed or moved to outsource, or do we just take our chances and hope there's someone out there who won't automatically think the worst?

Thanks in advance! Smile

lexa10881 · Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:20 am Post subject:

You want to keep a resume as brief and pointed as possible. You might make a brief notation somewhere, but I really do not know where it could be squeezed in. This is one of those situations where it is good to have a book full of resume formats to look at. I don't suggest going to the expense of obtaining one if it is possible to borrow one from a library and get what you need for free. Definitely touch upon the exact reasons during an interview when it comes up. An employer doing a background check will also be able to determine about the one defunct company, so have piece of mind that a backgorund check could be very beneficial in this case.

http://www.cvtips.com/resume_employment_history.html

julian · Expert Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 255 Career Advice: +2/-0

Difficult to explain, but not impossible. I think you can explain everything just by adding some information when he lists the jobs he had and the companies he had worked in. Like for example if company X didn't survive, he should list something like " Position, Company X (The company didn't survive the market/bankrupt/" or if the company was acquired "Company moved over sea" or "company funds restrained" and things like those.
Also, be prepared to explain all these in an interview.
Questions....does he have references coming from those three cases?

C_Vaughan · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:09 pm Post subject:

Your husband's cover letter is going to be very important in this situation. Explain the buyouts and other situations honestly and briefly, noting how those lead to "greater opportunities" to explore new avenues of growth with other companies... or something similar. Spin it into a positive. State how he learned a new skill or something he did to benefit the new company - each time he moved on.

Sometimes, it's not what happens but how we look at it that makes the biggest difference in how we move forward.

~C. Vaughan

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