How specific can I be?
July 22, 2010 10:13 AM   Subscribe

Is it acceptable to put the company names of customers I've worked with on my resume?

I'm applying for a project management position. At my current job, I've done a number of projects for some big-name customers. A major financial institution, an auto manufacturer, a couple of universities, school districts, etc. Is it acceptable to list these clients by name on my resume? Or should I list something like "completed software upgrade for school district" to make it non-specific?

I'd like to mention them if I can, as they're recognizable names, but I don't want to step on any toes or legalities. I will not be listing the names of individuals I worked with.
posted by JuiceBoxHero to Work & Money (9 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I would phrase it like this:
• Name of company I work for and my position.
• In my capacity in this position I worked on these projects:
• Project 1 for company A
• Project 2 for company B
• etc.
• etc.

So, yeah, name names. But do it under the umbrella of your current job duties.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:16 AM on July 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


Absolutely say the names, unless you've got some sort of confidentiality agreement with your current company. "XYZ Consulting" may or may not mean anything to your next employer, even if it's the best there is at what it does, but "Ohio State University" definitely means something.
posted by Etrigan at 10:21 AM on July 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


Thorzad's format is what I'd use. I used to create resumes for inclusion with proposal packages, and that was pretty much how we did them.
posted by MexicanYenta at 10:28 AM on July 22, 2010


I see something to that effect all the time on the resumes of the adjunct faculty who do a lot of consulting work.

Totally okay. Thorzdad's format is similar to what I see commonly.
posted by zizzle at 10:39 AM on July 22, 2010


(Previously, FWIW)
posted by hattifattener at 10:41 AM on July 22, 2010


This really has to do with your industry... I work in management consulting and my boss has always been very adamant that he would throw out the resume of any applicants if it mentioned a company by name, because he sees it as a violation of trust with past clients. His preference has always been "A Fortune x company in y industry" (or another more appropriate ballpark on size).
posted by telegraph at 1:09 PM on July 22, 2010


If the projects in question were performed by you while under the employment of another firm and not by you as an independent contractor, then mentioning the client firms by name would involve a breach of the assumption of confidentiality that exists between your employer and the client firm (and might involve a breach of a confidentiality clause in the contracts between your employer and its clients). For this reason, I would be inclined to use Thorzdad's suggested format with telegraph's suggested generalization a la "a Fortune Whatever Company in such-and-such industry."
posted by SuzB at 2:34 PM on July 22, 2010


Also previously.
posted by syzygy at 4:02 AM on July 26, 2010


I fail at linking. Trying again. Previously.
posted by syzygy at 4:04 AM on July 26, 2010


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