Resume help : how to express my (slightly) complicated work experiences

March 29, 2011 1:18 PM

In need of resume help. Abridged version : I worked for Company A, and then Company A split into two companies, Company B and Company C. Company A no longer exists. How do I list this on my resume?

Non-abridged version :

After college, I got a job at Foobar.com as a Web Weveloper. After a couple of years, I was promoted to Lead Developer. Later, the people who ran Foobar.com decided to launch a second website, Quux.com, and create a "parent" company called Xyzzy Media to run Foobar.com and Quux.com. I worked on both websites. A few years after I left the company, Xyzzy Media split into two separate companies, making Foobar.com and Quux.com legally "independent." Xyzzy Media no longer exists.

So, to recap :

1) I held two different positions at Foobar.com : Web Developer and Lead Developer.
2) I held one position at Xyzzy Media : Lead Developer
3) I worked on both Foobar.com and Quux.com
4) Foobar.com and Quux.com are somewhat prominent, so I would prefer to list Foobar.com and Quux.com as my former employers, as opposed to Xyzzy Media which nobody ever heard of and doesn't even exist anymore

How in the world do I list my work experiences on a resume?

Assume that I want to use the traditional resume format, where I list my work experiences sequentially.

posted by Sloop John B to Work & Money (9 answers total)

I might use Xyzzy Media as a header, and then as subheaders list foobar and quux and the the various tasks you did for them, respectively.

I did something similar for a consulting gig I had, where I worked for one parent company but different organizations for different contracted tasks.
posted by zug at 1:20 PM on March 29, 2011

Response by poster: (Web Weveloper = Web Developer)
(no, I am not Elmer Fudd)
posted by Sloop John B at 1:21 PM on March 29, 2011

You could say

"Company A for [period]"

"Company B, a successor firm to Company A for [period]"

Or something along those lines.

But the term "successor firm" generally refers to the situation in which one company is no longer extant, but parts of it have been spun off into new corporate entities.
posted by dfriedman at 1:22 PM on March 29, 2011

Listing yourself as being at foobar.com and quux.com would be lying. Don't do it. We don't care where you worked, we care what you did. List accomplishments related to the high profile sites.

MM/YY-MM/YY Xyzzy Media: Lead Developer
Description of position
-Delivered foobar.com site design that led to quantifiable result X
-Delivered quux.com site design that led to quantifiable result Y

MM/YY-MM/YY Foobar.com: Lead Developer
Description of position
-Accomplishment
-Accomplishment

MM/YY-MM/YY Foobar.com: Web Developer
Description of position
-Accomplishment
-Accomplishment
posted by bfranklin at 1:22 PM on March 29, 2011

Lead Developer - May 2005 - Feb 2009 - Xyzzy Media(formerly Foobar Corp.)
Foobar.com and Quux.com Starting as a Web Developer, did X work on Foobar.com, blah blah, promoted to Lead Developer primarily due to work on the Blixen project.
posted by theora55 at 1:26 PM on March 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

It is standard to list the title you currently/last held at a company, unless you switch to a completely unrelated role, and then detail applicable experience from your entire time at the company. So you can just list Lead Developer.

As far as the company, I like what theora55 did with the (formerly Foobar Corp.) If someone questions what that means, you can explain it when they ask.
posted by Kimberly at 1:51 PM on March 29, 2011

(Assume Xyzzy Media is created in 2007)

Lead Developer, Foobar.com 2005-2007
Did all sorts of great stuff for this innovative web property...

Lead Developer, Quux.com 2007-2009
As a Lead Designer at Xyzzy Media, continued to incentivize the wigets at Foobar.com while also creating synergies and new paradigms at Quux.com by blah blah blah
posted by Rock Steady at 2:45 PM on March 29, 2011

I worked at several startups that changed their names or where acquired. "... at Amazing New Co. (formerly Amazing Old Co.)" is a standard way to convey that. I frequently see similar on resumes.
posted by dws at 11:37 PM on March 29, 2011

Here is how I would do it, and how I do do it since I worked at multiple positions within the same company (although there was no name change)

Foobar.com (formerly Xyzzy Media) 2005-2009
- Lead Developer 2007-2009
- - Description
- Web Developer 2005-2009
- - Description

I think you want your whole period of employment dates shown together as one so people can easily see that you we're changing companies. A lot of companies value staying power.
posted by magnetsphere at 1:55 PM on March 31, 2011