Explain Layoffs on Your Resume

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

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  if you've been laid off or even furloughed, there's a

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  specific way to approach it on your resume That still

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  positions you as the best candidate for the job while

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  also addressing.

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  You know, that unexpected career blooper See the Internet is

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  ripe with articles urged jobseekers not to talk about a

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  layoff in the resume cover letter.

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  But actually avoiding the topic is a bigger risk than

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  upfront transparency.

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  We'll talk about that in this video.

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  My name is Lord Hammer, and I'm a nationally certified

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  resume writer and job search strategist.

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  As the founder of Launch Point Resume, I've written and

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  reviewed over 400 resumes for the modern day job hunter,

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  and they get results.

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  So today I want to talk about career bloopers, layoffs,

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  furloughs, contract terminations, plenty of people, especially in light of

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  recent events.

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  Our victim of unforeseen circumstance and struggle with how to

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  address is in the resume.

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  It's tough to explain this concisely, and without the role

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  emotion you may be feeling inside, I get it.

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  But on the flip side, not addressing the circumstances around

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  your last departure might leave hiring managers with unanswered questions

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  that hurt your chances of getting an interview.

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  Let's jump into the strategy I use will find launch

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  point Resume clients to explain layouts on your resume properly.

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  Following are three tips for how to do this, plus

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  a bonus tip for putting all this advice into action

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  for strategic job.

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  Search up first explain.

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  It's best to explain your situation head on so you

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  control the narrative and not the other way around.

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  But don't overdo it.

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  See, layoffs happen all the time and often is for

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  reasons beyond your control, such as company mergers, acquisitions, a

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  loss of funds or even unexpected financial circumstances.

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  No matter the reason, my favorite way to tackle this

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  distinctly is to adequate bull point explaining the circumstance of

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  the transition.

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  One sentence is all you need here.

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  Keep it short and sweet.

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  Take a look at a few examples I created on

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  the screen and notice how I've kept details to a

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  minimum while still explaining myself clearly.

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  The second point I want to make is not mislead

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  your reader in any way.

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  Remember, one goal of your resume is to eliminate any

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  questions potential readers may have while reviewing.

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  You could do this by including information that fills in

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  any gaps on your timeline or non traditional gray areas

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  like sudden terminations due to a layoff.

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  Now it may be tempting to adjust date on your

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  resume or paint the fax in a more appealing light.

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  But please resist this urge at all costs.

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  For one, interviewers will pick up on the stage you're

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  spewing. Second lies have a way of floating to the

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  surface, no matter how deep their very like.

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  When your professional reference tells the recruiter a much different

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  story than the one mentioned on your resume.

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  Now that's bad all around.

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  So instead, let's stay your facts objectively and professionally.

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  If it's true, you may also consider using language that

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  shows the layoff occurred for reasons outside of your company's

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  control, such as economic conditions related to Coburn 19.

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  For example, once you've adequately explained your layoff, it's time

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  to fill in your unemployment gap with information that highlights

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  the type of goal getter were course that you love.

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  So my 30 for addressing the layoff in your resume

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  is the show how you use your time off constructively

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  now. Hopefully, you've used this time wisely to catch up

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  on professional development related activities as a section into your

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  resume to draw attention to these endeavors.

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  Examples of this could be courses taken, new certifications earned

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  or skills learned networking events you attended or even volunteer

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  initiatives. See Prophet's perspective.

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  Employers will be delighted to learn you took the initiative

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  to acquire new skills.

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  Keep old competencies sharp ever being connected in the industry

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  rather than sulking in self pity for an extended period

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  of time, that is now you properly addressed your layoff.

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  It's time to launch a new job search, but more

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  than likely, this impending job search is going toe look

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  a whole lot different than the ones that you conducted

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  in the past.

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  That's why I want to add 1/4 tip here, which

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  is how to optimize your resume for the future.

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  What I like to call the modern day job search

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  see remote work is the new normal is more than

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  half of the US population will be working virtually now

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  forever more, according to a Forbes report.

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  This means that your resume must be optimized one for

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  virtual hiring processes and to the skills employers crave in

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  these types of environments.

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  Now there are two ways to do this.

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  First, let's make sure your resume highlights unique skills required

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  for those who work in remote companies.

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  This is a mixture of both hard and soft skills.

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  When I say heart skills, I mean things like technical

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  aptitude and the ability to operate in platforms such as

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  videoconferencing software or contracting team management portals.

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  The people who thrive in remote work environments also possess

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  possess a set of soft skills the cater to time

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  management and communication.

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  So if you possess common traits like the ability to

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  self manage and prioritize tasks or the ability to work

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  independently, according to a project timeline, make sure your resume

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  says that employers want to know that you could be

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  productive in any environment you're thrown into, so you can

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  eliminate concerns for actively by proving that's a case.

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  Just include numbers that show how you processes, save businesses

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  time, reduced costs or even raised newsletter opening rates with

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  your stellar coffee reading skills.

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  The second and final part of optimizing your is made

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  for the future is to ensure that the bones, every

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  resume give you a competitive advantage with both recruiters and

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  the digital hiring tools they used by that, I mean

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  the applicant tracking software or 80 s system, as you

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  might have heard.

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  See what good is explaining your layoff or your strength

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  on paper?

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  If that document fails to move through the online application

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  portals and into the hands of a human who makes

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  the decision to interview or reject you?

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  So it's for this reason I actually created resume templates

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  for my clients that 80 s tested and approved.

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  So take a look at your resume right now and

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  know that your eyes may might need extra attention.

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  If you have any of things I've listed over here,

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  these could be things such as added elements of flair.

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  What I like to say These are things like pictures,

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  charts, graphs.

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  These are elements that robots have trouble scanning, and when

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  they can't scan will move on to a file.

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  They can also overly designed templates that are built in

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  a format with icons.

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  More than one column or fancy text could risk your

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  resume content that list generic job duties rather than full

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  points that include keywords from the job description won't do

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  you any favours.

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  Normal, incompatible file types know that not all systems can

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  read PDS, so make sure you take note of this.

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  The file that the apple contracting system Ken read and

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  make sure your resume saved in that format.

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  Now, if I mentioned anything here that resonates with you,

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  it's time to take action.

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  It's worth reviewing your resume now or enlist in the

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  professional resume Runner to do it for you to wrap

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  up. I hope this video has helped outline how to

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  best explain a layoff in your resident and use that

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  resume to secure a new job.

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  Love. If you have any questions about how you should

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  position yourself is the top choice for any child, reach

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  out to me online or resume dot com again.

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  My name is Lauren Haber and, as we say, over

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  here on two point resonate on board enough word.

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  Good luck.