Put the Focus on the Positive

A lot of people feel they need to include a reference to their redundancy in their resume but the reality is this just draws the eye to a situation that really doesn’t need explaining.

Listing any reason for leaving an organisation on your resume is generally not a good idea because it puts the focus on a negative when you really want to reserve your resume space for showcasing your strengths, skills and achievements to illustrate the value you bring to potential organisations.

Gone are the days of a job for life so today employers expect people to move around. In fact, staying in one place too long can raise eye brows too so you definitely don’t need to explain a move unless you have a notable trend of extremely short positions.

Use resume space instead for selling you

When developing your resume, instead spend time building a strong resume that tells your employment story positively and in depth. Take time during resume preparation to reflect on your time with your past organisation so that your position description not only reflects the focus of the role, but also the value you brought to your workplace through your performance. Include solid achievements backed up by metrics wherever possible to really capture the employer’s attentions and engage them to want to bring you in for an interview.

Be ready to answer the question in an interview

The interview is a forum where you need to be prepared to answer the question “why did you leave your last role” so make sure you have your answer ready.  Again this isn’t a time for negatives but simply an opportunity to explain the situation factually.  If your role was affected by redundancy you can simply explain that the organisation was affected by change that resulted in workforce changes being needed, and your role was one of the positions affected.   If the entire organisation or team was affected, make sure to highlight this too.

Remember redundancy is simply a by-product of today’s work place and not a result of your actions or performance so put the focus instead where it deserves to be – on your performance and contributions!