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For conditions where you are presently employed at a company that has been acquired and your job (title, responsibilities, assignment) has not changed because of the acquisition, what is the best way to indicate this on a resume?

When a company that you have previously worked at has been acquired (or otherwise changes names), what is the best way to indicate this on a resume? Should you continue to indicate the name of the organization as it was when you worked there or change it to match the current name of the organization?

Finally, does the format have a difference in how an acquisition is treated on a resume? Does a paper resume have different conventions than an electronic resume (such as Stack Overflow Careers or LinkedIn)?

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3 Answers 3

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The broad rule is: Always use the same name in the title as is present on your job experience letter(or certificate). Use the newer/older name in brackets, preferably qualified with a small description.

So if you joined OldCorp inc. and it was changed to NewCorp Inc. before you left(or, you are in the process of leaving), my preffered style would be:

Company: NewCorp Inc. (previously known as OldCorp Inc.)

Location: My City.

If you left before the company before the name change:

Company: OldCorp Inc. (now known as NewCorp Inc.)

Location: My City.

In case of mergers too the same rule applies. If LittleCorp was aquired by MegaCorp before you left:

Company: MegaCorp Inc. (merged from LittleCorp Inc.)

Location:

Description: (mention your date of joining in LittleCorp and the date of merger in a brief history, along with any designation changes.)

otherwise

Company: LittleCorp Inc. (acquired by MegaCorp Inc.)

In case of multiple name changes , you dont need to mention all of them in the title. You may do it in the description but it isn't really necessary. Just include the final name in the title.

Company: LittleCorp Inc. (now part of MegaCorp Inc.)

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  • This is how I handle it as well.
    – HLGEM
    Commented Jul 30, 2012 at 21:55
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    I'm not sure what a "job experience letter (or certificate)" is. I've never had or needed such a thing. Prospective employers might contact previous employers to verify my employment, but there's no formal "certificate" that I'm aware of. Perhaps it's a regional thing (I'm in the US).
    – Keith Thompson
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 16:04
  • "In case of multiple name changes , you dont need to mention all of them in the title." One exception would be if any of the previous names are highly recognized or reputable in your industry while the new name(s) may not be.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 11:24
  • What should you do if this happens more than once. Nested brackets or just more info.
    – Jeremy French
    Commented Sep 22, 2016 at 16:07
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I don't know if there's a standard format for this, but I just added a brief explanation after the name of the company (which had 4 different names while I worked there, and has a 5th name now):

Name4                                                                    YYYY-YYYY
City, State
(Name4 was previously known as Name3, Name2, and Name1, and is now part of Name5.)
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  • This appears to work for both paper and electronic resumes (and actually how I've done it so far), but it doesn't address the second question. If you are no longer employed at the company, do you still update the name? Or would it be more acceptable to leave the name as it was when you worked there and use a note to indicate it now has a new name?
    – Thomas Owens
    Commented Jul 28, 2012 at 8:57
  • The company was Name1 when I started, and Name4 when I left. I used Name4 as the primary name (on the top line). The note mentions all five names, including the one it acquired after I left. I wouldn't use Name5 as the primary name, because I never worked at Name5. (All four name changes were the result of mergers; perhaps my resume should make that clearer.)
    – Keith Thompson
    Commented Jul 28, 2012 at 9:10
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    @KeithThompson, If that company becomes name6, what would you do when you update your resume next time?
    – Nobody
    Commented Jul 28, 2012 at 9:43
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    @ThomasOwens: In my case, the 5 names take up just 1-2 lines on my resume. I've never heard of a company going through so many mergers and/or name changes that it would be a problem. But if it does, I suppose you could limit it to (1) the name the company had when you started, (2) the name it had when you left, and (3) the name it has now, so prospective employers can check the company's current web site. But I really don't think there needs to be a general rule.
    – Keith Thompson
    Commented Jul 29, 2012 at 0:25
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    @Frustrated: I didn't bother documenting the years of the name changes; it didn't seem relevant.
    – Keith Thompson
    Commented Jul 30, 2012 at 18:16
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If I've survived an acquisition, I list both company names:

Tiny Startup / Humongous Corporation

(I don't list past employers' addresses on my resume.)

If your title changed, you can list both:

Coding God / Junior Ant Farm Engineer (Dilbert Comic)

or the final one, or the less ridiculous one.

Unlike DPD, I rarely list the new name of a past employer has changed its name. I just list the name of the company as it was when I worked there:

Best Company Ever (now known as Defunct Hopeless Failure)

Best Company Ever

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