Are Big Career Jumps Suspicious on a Resume?

[HeadhunterPaul]

Originally Posted by the_grimace

I'm curious about this. Are pretty big career jumps suspicious on a resume?

Examples:

Assistant, next job Manager
Associate, next job Director
so on and so forth.

Is this something that employers would be suspicious about, or rather does it shine positively on the person showing they are highly capable and good at their work?

Grimace-

First, there is some very good input from others here about this so be sure you paid attention to what was said.

In particular, 'fancy' titles are too often associated with jobs not normally associated with 'high level' responsibilities so just know that if you were given a fancy title or allowed to give yourself a fancy title, you will need to justify this.

The way to do this is to include examples of measurable achievements under each job listing. If your metrics are meaningful/if your achievements are meaningful, then you will have the credibility necessary to overcome a Resume Reader's skepticism.

Indicating how many staff you were managing is another way to ground your having a 'fancy' title.

The need is to head off any skepticism of a Resume Reader who is screening resumes. If you can't convince that RR of the seriousness of your job, that RR will simply toss your resume to the side in scorn.

So you need 'evidence' written into your employment history to back up the 'fancy' titles or you will be presumed to be another 'Manager'/'Director' who was a 'Manager'/'Director' in title only with no management [or Director level] duties to back it up.

Don't forget what I said- listing your duties is not enough- you need to show you made a measurable difference in the execution of your job. If you show achievement, the RR will be able to see that you can take those successes and duplicate them at their company and thus, they will be more willing to give you your next 'Manager'/'Director' job.



Paul.............


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[Nlambert]

Originally Posted by the_grimace

I'm curious about this. Are pretty big career jumps suspicious on a resume?

Examples:

Assistant, next job Manager
Associate, next job Director
so on and so forth.

Is this something that employers would be suspicious about, or rather does it shine positively on the person showing they are highly capable and good at their work?

I don't know.... it has never presented a negative impact for me....


My last title went from an inventory clerk to a Production manager. I explained my job duties below each description and it made sense as to how I got promoted.


I was never questioned when I started my current job. They actually reference my past experience in my reviews in terms of where they think my growth within the company should be. I guess as long as you can live up to what you wrote, you should be ok.

[Serious Conversation]

Yes, unless it's a small firm where it's basically a one person domain.

[HeadhunterPaul]

Originally Posted by the_grimace

I'm curious about this. Are pretty big career jumps suspicious on a resume?

Examples:

Assistant, next job Manager
Associate, next job Director
so on and so forth.

Is this something that employers would be suspicious about, or rather does it shine positively on the person showing they are highly capable and good at their work?

Serious Conversation

Yes, unless it's a small firm where it's basically a one person domain.

................................

This is a good point and I even knew very well of examples where what Serious Conversation said especially applies and I did not account for this in my post.

So I will amend what I said, keeping in mind what Serious Conversation said:

Those 'achievements' to which I referred will be meaningless if they are not, as per my examples, 'Manager'/'Director' level achievements.

Listing metrics/achievements that are not reflective of a manager or director level job will not convince the RR to select your resume.

For the Peanut Gallery and those in the shadows:

Physical Therapists are often given jobs of running a very small physical therapy practice where they see about a dozen patients all day and supervise, maybe, one PT assistant and are given the title 'Director'.

This is a joke in the extreme since no PT in such a position, no matter what metrics they list, can come close to being thought of as a 'Director' when in fact, in the domain of physical therapy, a director level person manages a staff of physical therapists, a staff of occupational therapists, a speech therapist and an audiologist.

So yes, Serious Conversation has got it right when s/he says that if your 'fancy title' jobs were executed in a limited environment, you will have a credibility issue. In such a case, it is likely no amount of metrics/achievements can be cited that would be considered equal to someone with the same title in a larger and perhaps more conventional enterprise.


Thank you, SC. I should have included your exception in my post.




Paul....


.....

[aweitzm1]

Before I moved to NY I have multiple jobs the longest lasting just under 2 years. I could explain all the reasons but I also knew my resume was not that good. I went to a lot of recruiters and they all said the same thing you are jumping around too much.


When I got my next job in finance I stayed there for 2.5 years even though I was being severely underpaid. However, the job got my foot in the door and gave me more opportunity. I was able to progress there to a bigger company and a better paying job. Since I have been here 1.5 years. I enjoy the company have been promoted once already and hoping I can move up the corporate ladder. I personally hate job hunting.


If your resume shows a vertical progression of improvement from jobs I think that is a good thing. Where you get into trouble is if each move was lateral.