Tricky Resume Date Range Situation
July 11, 2011 9:28 PM Subscribe
Resume-Filter: How can/should I neatly list employment dates for an internship I held for three separate non-continuous periods?
I held a particular internship May 2008-Aug 2008, did a school term for 4 months, returned to the job from Jan 2009-Apr 2009, did a school term for 4 months, and returned again from Sept 2009-Dec 2009.
Trying to list three seperate date ranges is totally screwing up my nice resume format.
At the end of each period of work, I was extended an offer to return following my school term. Would it be too dishonest to just put May 2008-Dec 2009? Or should I change my whole format to something that gives more space for dates so that I can fit all three periods of work?
I held a particular internship May 2008-Aug 2008, did a school term for 4 months, returned to the job from Jan 2009-Apr 2009, did a school term for 4 months, and returned again from Sept 2009-Dec 2009.
Trying to list three seperate date ranges is totally screwing up my nice resume format.
At the end of each period of work, I was extended an offer to return following my school term. Would it be too dishonest to just put May 2008-Dec 2009? Or should I change my whole format to something that gives more space for dates so that I can fit all three periods of work?
"May 2008-Dec 2009 (12 nonconsecutive months)"?
posted by foursentences at 9:37 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by foursentences at 9:37 PM on July 11, 2011
You went to Waterloo, didn't you. I had the exact same issue - three non-continuous periods with the same employer. In my current version of the resume, I wrote '2004 to 2005'. In previous versions I've said '2004 to 2005 (12 months total), or '2004 to 2005 (three 4-month internships)'. It's kind of a judgment call for you as to how precise you want to be right now. For me it has drifted far enough into the past that '2004 to 2005' is perfectly adequate. I don't think I ever spelled out the months as I found it kind of cumbersome and it's information that isn't important or valuable and is distracting to the eye.
posted by PercussivePaul at 9:39 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by PercussivePaul at 9:39 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Depending on how many other jobs you are showcasing in your resume' -
It may make sense to just say - 2008-2009. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, another approach could be say "2008-2009 (12 months)".
I would suggest leaving it at 2008-2009 and once you have your feet inside the door seguing the context casually over a conversation rather than trying squeeze it into the resume'.
Eventually, you may need to feel in those exact dates in a more tightly structured online and/or offline form, but that would likely come after the first (successful) interview and may not have as much impact as your interviews.
posted by justlooking at 9:40 PM on July 11, 2011
It may make sense to just say - 2008-2009. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, another approach could be say "2008-2009 (12 months)".
I would suggest leaving it at 2008-2009 and once you have your feet inside the door seguing the context casually over a conversation rather than trying squeeze it into the resume'.
Eventually, you may need to feel in those exact dates in a more tightly structured online and/or offline form, but that would likely come after the first (successful) interview and may not have as much impact as your interviews.
posted by justlooking at 9:40 PM on July 11, 2011
PS : Sorry, had meant to write "fill in" instead of "feel in" in previous post (in retrospect, even that is bad usage, but better than "feel in" :( )
posted by justlooking at 9:42 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by justlooking at 9:42 PM on July 11, 2011
Keep the resume neat and clean - don't mess with a working format just to fit in specific months. Your cover letters and interviews will provide you with plenty of opportunities for lengthier explanations.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 10:03 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by WaspEnterprises at 10:03 PM on July 11, 2011
As a former Warrior, I sympathize.
The approach I use now describes all 3 terms (my last 3 terms were at an industry giant that is still relevant today) as one big work experience, and lists the date for that job in this format: "May-Aug 2008, Jan-Apr 2009, Sep-Dec 2009". [Note: decades have been changed in this example.] The dashes and three letter months keep the real estate requirements down. Emphasize that they were consecutive student internships.
So, the experience portion of my current resume is laid out a little like this: (please ignore the dots used to simulate a center tab)
Company, City .........................MMM YYYY - MMM YYYY
Title
* was awesome in this post-grad job
* etc
Company, City .........................MMM-MMM YY, MMM-MMM YY, MMM-MMM YY
Title (Consecutive student internships)
* learned how to be awesome while interning here
* combined description of awesome things I did/worked on
* etc
When I was a more recent grad I used a slightly different format, and provided much more detail about each project (since I was rotated through several departments at the company in successive terms and didn't just do the exact same job/project each time):
Company, City .........................MMM/YY - MMM/YY
Title
* was awesome at this post grad job
Company, City
Title (Student internships)
Department/Project name........................MMM-MMM YY
* learned how to be awesome in this department
Department/Project2 name......................MMM-MMM YY
* before that I was awesome in this other department
Also, the "MM/YY" date format is coming back into style, which can give you a little more real estate to work with. Good luck!
posted by ceribus peribus at 10:33 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
The approach I use now describes all 3 terms (my last 3 terms were at an industry giant that is still relevant today) as one big work experience, and lists the date for that job in this format: "May-Aug 2008, Jan-Apr 2009, Sep-Dec 2009". [Note: decades have been changed in this example.] The dashes and three letter months keep the real estate requirements down. Emphasize that they were consecutive student internships.
So, the experience portion of my current resume is laid out a little like this: (please ignore the dots used to simulate a center tab)
Company, City .........................MMM YYYY - MMM YYYY
Title
* was awesome in this post-grad job
* etc
Company, City .........................MMM-MMM YY, MMM-MMM YY, MMM-MMM YY
Title (Consecutive student internships)
* learned how to be awesome while interning here
* combined description of awesome things I did/worked on
* etc
When I was a more recent grad I used a slightly different format, and provided much more detail about each project (since I was rotated through several departments at the company in successive terms and didn't just do the exact same job/project each time):
Company, City .........................MMM/YY - MMM/YY
Title
* was awesome at this post grad job
Company, City
Title (Student internships)
Department/Project name........................MMM-MMM YY
* learned how to be awesome in this department
Department/Project2 name......................MMM-MMM YY
* before that I was awesome in this other department
Also, the "MM/YY" date format is coming back into style, which can give you a little more real estate to work with. Good luck!
posted by ceribus peribus at 10:33 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I list that stuff under "Internships" on my resume, it is a non-linear aside to my work history at the end.
If you have no real work history, and your internships are your focus, then put the internships somewhere in the top in a non-linear format and highlight your awesome education.
You could also highlight your relevant work experience gained from the the internships in a skills section up top, and put the internships somewhere near the end as more of a cite that you actually do have the experience that created said skills.
posted by roboton666 at 10:38 PM on July 11, 2011
If you have no real work history, and your internships are your focus, then put the internships somewhere in the top in a non-linear format and highlight your awesome education.
You could also highlight your relevant work experience gained from the the internships in a skills section up top, and put the internships somewhere near the end as more of a cite that you actually do have the experience that created said skills.
posted by roboton666 at 10:38 PM on July 11, 2011
I'm similar to ceribus peribus, although a little different as well.
I've had multiple roles at several different companies (yay for incestuous industries) so I group employment on my resume by company first, not date. I then list the job title(s) as sub heading(s) with a date and explain them from there. My resume is quite jumbled chronologically but makes pretty good sense career wise.
A side benefit of this is that you can list your most significant job first, even if it's not quite your most recent. Probably not a good idea if it is 15 years ago, but you see where I'm going...
posted by deadwax at 11:04 PM on July 11, 2011
I've had multiple roles at several different companies (yay for incestuous industries) so I group employment on my resume by company first, not date. I then list the job title(s) as sub heading(s) with a date and explain them from there. My resume is quite jumbled chronologically but makes pretty good sense career wise.
A side benefit of this is that you can list your most significant job first, even if it's not quite your most recent. Probably not a good idea if it is 15 years ago, but you see where I'm going...
posted by deadwax at 11:04 PM on July 11, 2011
Bending the truth on a resume?!? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you! *rolls eyes* ...May 2008-Dec 2009 is fine...you can explain further in an interview, but I'd only bring it up if they ask why you were at an internship for so long. If they're such an uptight stickler that they'd view this as dishonest, would you really want to work for them anyway? (As an aside, there are basically two schools of management out there (thumb through a couple of management guides at the bookstore, you'll see what i'm talking about) 1. keep your employees happy 2. keep your employees scared. Here's what I wish someone had told me years ago: at the Very First Indication that you are dealing with the latter, get up. Walk away. Life is far to short to spend 8+ hours a day miserable for ANY length of time.)
posted by sexyrobot at 11:37 PM on July 11, 2011
posted by sexyrobot at 11:37 PM on July 11, 2011
Another Waterloo alumnus here, I second ceribus peribus' solution.
posted by KevCed at 5:35 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by KevCed at 5:35 AM on July 13, 2011
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Otherwise, I think it's fine to say May 2008 - December 2009. You can be more specific in the description if you feel that's dishonest.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:37 PM on July 11, 2011