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Last October, I was moved from managing a team of software developers to become one of two Senior Project Managers in a matrix style organization. I was told this was a lateral move that was made because the previous director of the department was demoted for lack of performance. I really wasn't given a choice in the matter, but I was rewarded with a substantial raise and a move to a bigger, corner office.

I think... OK... it's kinda nice to not have to deal with HR issues of having direct reports, but still have authority over members of my project teams.

Well, within the first 6 weeks in my new position, 6 of the 10 remaining staff members resigned, leaving only 4 of 13 positions filled. This exodus is believed to be a direct result of the previous manager and the perception of financial difficulties of the company.

So, the other Senior Project Manager, VP, 4 staff members, and I worked tirelessly to keep the department running while interviewing to fill the vacant positions. During most of this time, I was performing tactical functions that I was doing long before I became a manager at the company.

Now that we have filled several of the positions and have a little breathing room, I was recently given 5 direct reports.

My question is... should I put this new job on my resume knowing that I have no real accomplishments in my new position other than hiring new staff members and performing technical tasks that would have been done by my subordinates?

I really like the way my resume flows right now and would have to do a ton of surgery to add this new job.

Thanks in advance!

ramiska's picture

The question will come up: "where were you for the past year?" Leaving it off will look like you are hiding something. You don't want that.

Are you job-seeking now? I'm sure that you will build accomplishments as you stay in your current position. Can you spin rebuilding the staff into an accomplishment?

lefonquey1's picture

It hasn't been a year... it was only 3.5 - 4 months... and I'm working for the same company.

I've tried spinning the rebuild into an accomplishment but don't really know how to do this without negative implication on my company. Also, I'd prefer to avoid having to spend time in an interview explaining this.

I'm not really actively pursuing a new job but I would like to start to soon. I've been at the company for more than 10 years and would like to try something new.

Mark's picture
Admin Role Badge

I don't understand. Are you talking about not including the role you had for 4 months, because you didn't really do anything, and simply fudging the dates so that it looks like you started this "new" job with the directs earlier?

Mark

lefonquey1's picture

[quote="mahorstman"]I don't understand. Are you talking about not including the role you had for 4 months, because you didn't really do anything, and simply fudging the dates so that it looks like you started this "new" job with the directs earlier?

Mark[/quote]

No, I'm talking about fudging the dates on my resume to make it look like I never took that last job. I had 7 direct reports, then I had 0 for 3 months, now I have 5 new ones.

I ended up including the new job. I figured that it's better not to do any fudging.

Is this the right thing to do?

ramiska's picture
jhack's picture

Your resume should have zero fudge.

You had a role. You succeeded in keeping things running, and rebuilding. That's a worthy accomplishment and you probably learned a lot.

Employers don't look for an unbroken line of ever-increasing perfection (OK, they wouldn't mind...). Hiring managers want to know how you act when faced with challenges.

You have a good story to tell...

John

US41's picture

Let me get this straight...

You accepted an entirely new role as a project manager after managing developers, and while learning this new role, you also helped your organization keep it's head above water during a major resource-starved crisis period AND you conducted interviews at the same time to staff the department back up to full strength, and in the end you were given five direct reports...

... and you think you have no accomplishments?!?

:shock:

Dude, could you please get my back in a corporate firefight? Because what you describe sounds completely awesome to me.

Like John said: tell the story. It's a good one.

lefonquey1's picture

hmm... Thanks! I never really thought of it that way!

This makes me think I should add the following two accomplishments:

• Maintained monthly billing objectives during a major resource-starved crisis.
• Conducted interviews and hired 4 staff members to bring department back to full strength.

Is it a good idea to include these and if so, any recommendations on the wording?

US41's picture

"Maintained" and "conducted" are not very good management words. They sound very non-accomplishment oriented.

Try this:

* Managed resource-starved team following mass exodus while continuing to hit departmental objectives (list time period here) while simultaneously hiring 4 staff members to bring dept back to full strength

* Statistic

* Statistic

Your second and third accomplishment are your results. What were your departmental objectives? Put the statistics in there:

Achieved 99% of billing timeliness, system uptime, whatever your metrics are.

kimberlygehl's picture

This post helped me realize that I actually had accomplishments I could list for an on-call job that I left on not-so-great terms after less than a year.

Thanks!