Demonstrate flexibility despite career-long tenure with one employer

Dear Sam: I have been working for the same company for 18 years. Through mergers and buyouts, the company name has changed three times. During these 18 years, I worked for one department for the first 7 years and another for the last 11 years. I have been promoted two times while working in each of these departments, thus a total of six different titles. How do I display this on my résumé? Steve

Dear Steve: When having worked for the same company for a long period of time, it is especially important to show progression throughout your tenure. I would therefore suggest presenting each department and the positions held, but presenting under one company heading. To communicate the company name changes, underneath the current company name make a brief italicized statement such as, "Previously worked for ABC, Inc. and XYZ, Ltd., being retained and promoted each time employer underwent a merger or acquisition." By stating this, you are not only providing the names of your previous employers, which may or may not be notable and therefore important, but also stating you have provided value throughout, so much so that it has resulted in continued promotions despite constant restructuring. If your positions within each department were very similar to one another, consider listing your titles together (and years you held each), followed by an explanation presenting the highest level of responsibility you held. In other words, present one employer followed by all three positions explained in one section per department. By following this approach you will reinforce your ability to remain flexible (often demonstrated by changing employers), accept heightened levels of responsibility, and provide significant value resulting in ongoing promotions.

Dear Sam: My daughter will be graduating this fall with a BBA from one of the few "working" colleges in the U.S. At this school, all of the students hold jobs and are responsible for running the college. The only non-student employees are the teachers and administration. The students are graded for their work and required to complete so many hours. Their work pays for their tuition. My question is how to put this unusual experience on a résumé. It is both work and educational experience. When you enter as a freshman, you are given jobs that are not necessarily connected to your major, and then you move up into more related positions. My daughter started out as a dishwasher operator, moved to life guard, head life guard, and is now an assistant student coach for the volleyball team. How do you suggest presenting this? As a senior, she has significant responsibilities on and off the court. - Richenda

Dear Richenda: What fantastic experience your daughter has been able to accrue, all while studying to achieve her degree. To present this and give it the weight it deserves, place this experience in a professional experience section. List, as you would any professional position, the core functions of each position and the key contributions she was able to make. In the qualifications summary, make a note to explain she was able to balance the rigors of a full-time undergraduate curriculum with an intensive work-study program, allowing her to play an integral role in the operation of the athletics department. Depending on what type of position she is seeking on graduation, you could focus on the sports aspect of her background, but if she isn't seeking a position in that industry then you would focus more heavily on skills such as operations management, leadership, teambuilding, organization, and multitasking. She could also take the opportunity in her cover letter to better explain a little about what a "working" college is, putting the positions displayed on her résumé into context.

Dear Sam: I have been employed for just over three years in a clerical / accounting capacity. Previous to this I was a stay-at-home Mom for 15 years. I'm attempting to update my résumé to seek a new position, but I'm confused about whether I should go back any further than my current position. Is there a time limit on experience you should include on your résumé? Also, how much detail should you give about your responsibilities? I currently have a very diverse position and have many things that I'm responsible for. Where or should I draw the line? - Susie

Dear Susie: Presenting your experience previous to your sabbatical is a decision that has to be evaluated based on whether those positions enhance your candidacy at this juncture in your career. You risk aging yourself as a candidate by including dated experience (1980s), but if you are applying for positions requiring 7-10 years of experience, it would serve you well to include earlier information. I'd suggest using a combination résumé format which presents a career overview or highlights section before the professional experience section, allowing you to focus the reader on what qualifies you most for the position of interest. If done strategically, a combination résumé can overcome a multitude of potentially disqualifying factors, one of which would be your 15-year absence from the workforce. In the highlights section, you would present your experience by functional area (the areas of experience that would attract your target audience - administrative support, accounting, recordkeeping, internal communications, etc.), meaning no dates would appear in this section, just a presentation of what you have done that is important based on your current objective. Then, in the professional experience section, present each employer with the dates of employment. Strategically, you will want to end page one with your most recent employer, making sure your early experience, and the dates of that, fall on page two. This last point is imperative in minimizing the impact of this disqualifying factor during the screening process.

Regarding how much information to include for a diverse position, it might help if you create a list of your responsibilities organized by importance. This will provide you with a clear picture of the scope of tasks with which you have been charged. It is advantageous to save less important items for discussion during an interview. Listing only those most important experiences and skills on your résumé will allow you to introduce additional supporting information during the interview. Keep in mind that a hiring manager doesn't want to see a laundry list of your responsibilities, they are much more interested in where you have gone over-and-above your job duties and contributed towards the success of the business. Try to focus on those areas in order to demonstrate the value you bring to an employer.