6 Month Old Promotion Never Finalized Before Layoffs

July 30, 2013 2:05 PM

I accepted a new position at my company with the caveat that it would take a significant amount of time to have the new position, and significant promotion, finalized by HR. It is in the same department as my previous position, but with a new direct boss (I work for a VP now, rather than a manager). I’ve excelled, despite the significantly higher amount of work, responsibility, and visibility to the higher-ups in the rest of the company. However, company wide layoffs (~90% of my building) were announced to occur at the end of the summer, and now I’m at a loss how to depict this on my resume.

How do I depict the last 6 months on my resume? Do I list a promotion but just with some sort of disclaimer that it was never official? The new position did include a few responsibilies of my old job, but as a whole, it was clearly a completely different level of responsibility and authority so I don't think it would be appropriate to just include additional bullet points under my old position.

What is the best way to inform a potential employer of what I've been doing these past 6 months without overstating the situation or selling myself short? Feel free to include links to example resumes, as I have a feeling I may have to completely revamp mine due to this mess.

posted by Annon E Moose to Work & Money (11 answers total)

List the new promotion/title, in addition to your old one -- with your new and old responsibilities (edit: I can't read). If anyone asks about it, explain appropriately "I was promoted, but I didn't step into my new role fully, as the company dragged their feet while they circled the drain prior to laying everyone off". (Or some slightly-less-terrible way of saying the same thing).
posted by wrok at 2:37 PM on July 30, 2013

Put it as a separate position for that company. You were given more responsibility; the company just didn't give you the title (officially) or the extra money. You performed the responsibilities of the position so you were that position.
posted by notsnot at 2:38 PM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: wrok: Layout wise, I'm not sure I get what you're suggesting. Do I show it as a completely different position?

Notsnot: Wouldn't I need to include some type of notification about it being unofficial? I'm concerned what would happen when they call to confirm my employment: the title is grossly different and does not depict a change in position.
posted by Annon E Moose at 2:57 PM on July 30, 2013

List the position on your resume as if you had the promotion. In your cover letter add a line explaining that the title change is pending HR processing but, as *reference* would be happy to confirm, that you have been promoted to the role and have been performing all responsibilities of that role since *date*.
posted by erst at 2:58 PM on July 30, 2013

Who, from this company, would you provide as references?

Ask them if they're okay with the title bump since they're pretty much the only folks who'd confirm the new title.

Layout wise, I'm not sure I get what you're suggesting. Do I show it as a completely different position?

Yes traditionally if you have two separate positions within a company you'd show them as if they were completely different jobs.

Note I will say most folks who get promoted into an executive role will put that as their role for the duration of their employment.
posted by bitdamaged at 2:59 PM on July 30, 2013 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Yes, two separate positions on resume, but only if it makes sense to put "acting" in front of the title. Widget maker to acting widget manager makes sense, but widget maker to acting senior widget maker doesn't.

If you had an unofficial level bump then you'll just need to explain it somehow. I would list only the senior duties under the junior title and explain in cover letter.
posted by crazycanuck at 3:02 PM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]

I was promoted to (this position of greater responsibility reporting directly to the VP) 6 months before the dissolution of the company.
posted by Cranberry at 3:23 PM on July 30, 2013

Best answer: I just sorted through a bunch of relatively senior-level resumes for an upcoming hire, and most people did something like:

Acting Manager of Widget Makers (2013)
-- Did highfalutin-stuff and also blah-blah-blah.
Widget Maker (2008-2013)
-- Did blah-blah-blah.

Not saying it's right or wrong, just saying that at least 50 or 60 people, most with master's degrees, did it this way last month.
posted by SMPA at 3:47 PM on July 30, 2013 [3 favorites]

Also, bitdamaged is right - the ones who had a "director" type role had absurd lengths of time in those positions (no one was the CFO of International Widget Empire from 1986 to 2013, having graduated from college with a degree in French literature in 1986.) Only the military people separated out things like "I was commander of so-and-so from this year to that year, and then I was commander of this-other-place from that year to some other year..." Their resumes were ridiculous in the exact opposite way, but only the CEOs of International Widget Empires got a footnote to explain that no, that isn't a typo.
posted by SMPA at 3:53 PM on July 30, 2013

Best answer: Agree with the above, but wanted to add a caveat. Be prepared for the people who gave you the promotion (and HR) to be unwilling to acknowledge that it ever happened. Make a plan for what you'll do if you can't get any of it verified in any official way and if no one involved will give an 'unofficial' reference, since that's likely to happen if they are kept on and you go.

Unfortunately, the scenario you are describing doesn't sound to me like an HR snafu: it sounds like the person who 'promoted' you had an inkling (or more) of what was coming and made either an attempt to save your employment (by showing the higher-ups making layoff decisions how valuable you could be) or to save his/her own (by showing they could get more out of you without an increase in costs: "look how loyal my team is, taking a title-only promotion!".) You may be the victim of a largely imaginary promotion that you will have a hard time proving ever happened, so have a strategy for dealing with that in interviews ready.
posted by Wylla at 1:59 AM on July 31, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think adding "Acting," is the best way for me to move forward.

My only concern is whether to a busy HR rep or hiring manager, this addition might raise enough of a red flag that I'm removed from consideration early on (due to amount of work required to verify).
posted by Annon E Moose at 10:11 AM on July 31, 2013