Share and Help your Friends With Their Job Search!
Employees who spend most of their careers at one company are about as rare as a unicorn sighting these days. However, there’s something to be said for loyalty to one company over a long tenure. Many companies will look fondly upon long term employment at one company as long as your resume tells a story of achievement rather than stagnation. Here’s how to make sure your career highs are front and center on your resume, not lost in a disorganized clutter.
Stack ‘em. Stacking your job titles is a nice, clean way to emphasize a history of promotion at one company. Begin with the highest ranking position, listing the rest of the positions you held in reverse chronological order. It’s also important to mark the dates each position was held next to the corresponding title. Here’s an example for review:
Best Buy, New York, New York, December 2003-Present
Store Manager, April 2008 to Present
Assistant Manager, February 2005-April 2008
Store Clerk, December 2003-February 2005
Beneath each title, provide a brief, bulleted job summary that details all of the responsibilities you assumed with each new position. Additionally, make sure you lead with language that spells out that you were promoted. You’ll find this approach works well for up to five job promotions at a single company.
Put the squeeze on. Once you move beyond five job titles at one employer, you need to be even more economical with your approach. That’s simply because you’re going to run out of room! The best solution is simply to condense your earliest job titles down to only one line of text. Here’s an example:
Best Buy, New York, New York, December 2003-Present
Store Manager, April 2008 to present
Assistant Manager, February 2005-April 2008
Store Clerk, December 2004-February 2005
Earlier Positions: Inventory; Security; Janitorial duty.
Switching It Up. Many people change their career paths – and departments – while they’re working at a company. Let’s say that somebody in accounting decided to start over in the marketing department. In this particular case, break the new position and department out cleanly on your resume as if it were a job position at an entirely different company. If you lump it in with everything else, a recruiter may not be able to gain a clear picture of you career history.
It’s all the same. Many employees find themselves entrusted with greater job responsibilities, rewarded with a generous raise, but no new job title. In this special case, itemize your responsibilities under one job title on the resume. If you’re called in for an interview, make sure you convey in person that there was a change in your job responsibilities and pay scale.
What about formatting? Don’t get creative. Keep it clean, be consistent, and be ever mindful if you’re submitting your resume via an applicant tracking system. Read our article on how to properly format your resume to increase the odds of being selected for an interview.
