Listing Many Jobs at Same Company on Résumés

Dear Deb,

Q. I have been at the same company for 12 years and the firm I am with has recently been sold. I am thinking about making a career move and haven’t updated my résumé in a long time. My question is - how do I reflect the many job changes I have had within the company over the past 12 years?  Is it better to list them each as individual jobs or should I group them together? Your advice is greatly appreciated.  - GT, Colorado

A. Assuming that you have been promoted throughout your time with the company, I recommend referencing your current role with the dates, including responsibilities and achievements and previous roles in the same manner.

This will not only show progression, but it will also help the reader connect the dots regarding the value you have added over your tenure. As you work your way backward, earlier roles will have reduced amounts of information to allow you to capitalize on more recent work. (Presumably, this is more relevant to what you want to do going forward and illustrates seniority in your career).

The other way to handle this is to highlight your current role with a few lines indicating promotions from earlier positions. This method might leave the reader wondering about previous achievements though.

One of the factors that must also be considered is space.  Most executive level résumés require a second page.  If breaking the jobs up into numerous separate roles is going to make your résumé overflow to a third page, you should reference earlier roles with the title, and dates to alleviate space issues.

Your résumé should serve as an appetizer – the prelude to the interview. Use that as your guide to highlight the most compelling information and achievements that make you a unique and qualified candidate.  

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Do you have a question for Deb?  If so email Debra@careersdonewrite.com. The Ask Deb blog appears weekly every Friday at http://www.careersdonewrite.com/blog