23

I had worked for a company that changed its name. In my résumé and cover letter should I just use the new name or should I mention the old one too? This wasn't an acquisition or anything, simply a change in name.I guess one must periodically check the names of past employers to make sure of their name.

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
42

In a cover letter: "During my time at XYZ Corporation (formerly ABC, Inc)..."

In a resume: SuperAwesomeWorker, XYZ Corporation (formerly ABC, Inc), 2008 - 2010

I wouldn't worry about going too far down the list of entries on your resume to correct names of companies, unless it will cause confusion when people attempt to verify employment and find all the paperwork/emails/calls come from XYZ Corporation and you listed only the name ABC Inc.

Improve this answer
6
  • 10
    Agreed .. or, alternatively, "ABC, Inc. (now known as XYZ Corporation)".
    – Carson63000
    Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 2:36
  • @Carson63000 Right!
    – jcmeloni
    Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 13:48
  • 3
    @Carson63000: I guess "ABC Inc. (now a part of XYZ Corp.)" would be appropriate if XYZ acquired ABC.
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 14:51
  • 6
    IMHO, it's better to mention the name first which is more well known. I.e. if company has made some big/successful product before name change, I'd go with ABC corp (now XYZ) and on the contrary.
    – Leri
    Commented Apr 3, 2014 at 8:08
  • Good point, but in my case this would get pretty silly fast... "In my time at ABC (formerly XYZ, XYZ bought out DEF (making it XYZ DEF), DEF and XYZ were then bought out by ABC, then it was ABC: XYZ DEF, then ABC said 'enough' and just rebranded everything as ABC and forbid companies from appending XYZ or DEF)." I've been just putting "ABC" on my resume... IMO it's probably better to not start up the whole story behind that on a resume or cover letter.
    – jrh
    Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 15:09
4

In addition to jcmeloni's excellent points, I think it's worth mentioning that you should not worry about changes to the name of a company before or after you were working for them, just the name or names of the company while you were working for them.

There is absolutely nothing to be gained by updating your resume to say that you worked for XYZ Corp if it was only known as ABC, Inc while you were working there. In fact, it could be considered dishonest to do so. If you worked for a startup, which was acquired by (say) Google after you left, it would be a lie to say that you worked for Google.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Good point about dishonesty and I think that depends on the nature of the name change. If it is a company that just chose to rename and rebrand itself independently, then it is essentially the same company and you might as well use the new name since that would probably be more recognizable. However, if it was an acquisition (especially by a big company like Google) then it would be misleading.
    – rmp251
    Commented Aug 10, 2018 at 16:25
1

It's actually a blank check to put any of the names, I advise you to put the most respected name, or the one helps you get the interview. And mention others in parenthesis after, or mention them in face-to-face interviews only.

Improve this answer
-2

To the thought of "dishonest" discussion. I would agree, but the original response said to included "formerly". This is hardly dishonest. In fact the exact opposite, if a company is doing a search on the OLD name, they might not find it, assume you do not know how to write a resume or are lying etc. Yes dishonest if you leave out the "formerly" part.

Improve this answer
1

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .