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How can I fix my resume in this specific case? I worked for company A from Feb 2015 to Feb 2017 (with a fixed term contract). In March, because of that, I joined company B that after a while outsourced all the IT department and I was laid off (I stayed from March to October --> 8 months). Luckily company A offered me another position, therefore I am back there from November.

Now I am thinking, what do I do with the B experience and how can I fix my resume? It was a very bad experience and I would not like to mention it. An option would be to say that I never left company A (so I do not list B) but in it is lying...another that I took a break to learn something...what do you think would be the best way?

Thank you.

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  • In what way was B a bad experience? Would you expect a poor reference from management there? Were you laid off as you say, or were you actually fired?
    – David K
    Nov 30, 2017 at 15:28
  • What gap??? Company A from Feb 2015 - Feb 2017, Company B from March 2017 to October 2017, and back to Company A from Nov 2017 to present, right? Are you looking to falsify a gap so that you don't have to talk about Company B to future employers? So what if Company B was a bad experience; just don't bad-mouth them in future interviews but make sure to note that they outsourced.
    – MonkeyZeus
    Nov 30, 2017 at 15:29
  • What's to fix? Company "A" obviously thought well enough of you to bring you back, and your entire department getting out-sourced does not reflect on you, yourself, in any way.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Nov 30, 2017 at 16:02
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    Possible duplicate of Is it OK to leave very short-term employment off my resume?
    – Bernhard Barker
    Nov 30, 2017 at 16:32
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    What are the chances and potential consequences of faked work experience being discovered?
    – Bernhard Barker
    Nov 30, 2017 at 16:33

3 Answers 3

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You're overthinking it. Believe it or not, many people have gaps in their employment to a greater or lesser degree. Having said that, what you have is not really a gap. On my resume I put Month/Year for my employment start and end dates so if you did that there would be no gap whatsoever, if i'm reading you correctly.

But should you ever have a gap, don't really worry about it. Explain what happened and you'll usually be fine. We all have times where it's tough to find new work. It's just really long or really frequent gaps that cause issue.

As far as not talking bad about your former employers, that's always a great idea. What you can do is talk about situations as opposed to the company. "It was a difficult situation there because departments were always being shifted around". That gives a more positive spin on what happened without having to say "management didn't know what they were doing".

I realize that you'd rather not mention it, but you're going to have to. Ignore all the bad things. Focus on the positive things. They'll ask "why did you leave" and you really only need to say "IT was outsourced so I was laid off."

Unless there's some misconduct on your part, you really shouldn't fear mentioning the job. Companies rarely dig into details of previous jobs with anyone but you.

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It was a very bad experience and I would not like to mention it.

Then leave it out. If you had no redeeming skills or achievements at company B, it makes sense to leave it off your resume considering the short stay. But if it's part of an upward progression in your career (title / responsibility wise) or you have certain achievements there despite your short tenure it can make sense to list it. You'll be asked about it in an interview but you can simply explain that the company outsourced / downscaled and you were laid off as part of it. Whether you have a good reference from your time at B should also factor into your decision.

There are two ways to list your time at A if you decide to leave B off your resume. If there was no change in title or responsibilities and you essentially picked up where you left off, you can do:

Job Title - Company A (Feb 2015 - Feb 2017, Nov 2017 - Present)

Assuming you're now getting a bit more responsibility or especially if you have a new title you'd split up the jobs and have unique bullet points for each.

Under no circumstances should you lie about being employed at A since 2015.

Regardless of whether you choose to list the short stay at B or leave a gap, any good interviewer will pick up on that and ask you about it. At that point you simply explain that shortly after moving to B the company downsized/outsourced and you or most/all of your department were laid off, but that Company A was eager to have you back. Companies have lay-offs and new joiners are usually the first to go so that doesn't reflect badly on you while the fact that A wanted to hire you back instantly speaks well of you. If asked why you didn't list B, you can simply explain that you felt you weren't there long enough to realise the kind of achievements that you felt justified the space on your resume.

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    Thank you. But if I leave it off, then I have a gap Feb-November to explain...what would you suggest?
    – Johann157
    Nov 30, 2017 at 16:38
  • @Johann157 You'll always have to explain. I've added a paragraph on what to do in an interview when you're asked about this.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Dec 1, 2017 at 8:31
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Not putting that info on there is indeed lying, and they may very well find out if they call Company A. I think it's quite normal to ask for confirmation that you've worked there from Date X to Date Y, and employers are expected to confirm that.

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