BXL08's picture Submitted by BXL08 on
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Career Management

Hi there,

I’ve a little dilemma about adding my recent promotion to my CV and I would like to hear your thoughts about that.

Since Aug 1st I’ve been promoted within my company, the thing is that the decision was made about 5 months ago but due to internal reorganization and coverage issues, it took until now to for me to get officially the new job. In the meantime, I made up my mind and I've decided to move with my family to another country in EU and find a new job, so I’m working hard on my resume.

My dilemma :roll: do I mention my new responsibilities and having to explain why I am looking for new opportunities shortly after my promotion, or do I just live it out? The other thing is that as I just started, I do not have yet any significant accomplishments to talk about, except some suggestions for improvement that I made to decrease the admin work...significantly ;)

I would very much appreciate your input here :)

Thanks
BXL

HMac's picture
Submitted by HMac on Tuesday August 12th, 2008 3:19 pm

A couple of thoughts:

As you look for new work, would you want to be considered as a) what title you are now, or b) what you were prior to promotion?

[list][i]My guess is that you're going to want option B - so you should update your CV.[/i][/list:u]

Finding work takes time. By the time you're interviewing, you may well have accomplishments in the new role to talk about or to update your resume with.

[list][i]So don't break out your new role as a separate job/text block the way you have with all the prior jobs. Here's my suggestion:[/i]

Update your CV entry for your current job by changing the job title to the new one. In the job description, add "started as XXX(old title)." Then add one more accomplishment to your bullet list: "Promoted to XXX (new title) in August, 2008."[/list:u]

You're going to have to explain why you're looking for work regardless of the new promotion. Presumably your reasons for looking to move aren't about the title, job or money - so the promotion was well-earned, but isn't reason for you to reconsider your desire to move on.

Good luck!

-Hugh

wendii's picture
Admin Role Badge
Submitted by wendii on Tuesday August 12th, 2008 4:14 pm

Hugh,

I have to disagree. Promotions arn't accomplishments in and of themselves. Promotions are the result of a series of accomplishments which got you noticed, allowed you to be considered and eventually led to promotion. As a recruiter I want to know what you accomplished, not how the company rewarded you for it.

What you do in this situation depends on a number of things but the most important is what's the difference between the responsibilities in the two roles? If you went from being a director to a VP and essentially carried on with the same role but changed titles and got a payrise, that's different to being Accountant, Widgets and then being Finance Director, Subcompany Y.

We need more information B!

Wendii

BXL08's picture
Submitted by BXL08 on Tuesday August 12th, 2008 4:39 pm

Thank you Wendii, thank you Hugh for your input :)

I wish I was moving from director to a VP…but I’m not there yet ;)

Basically I moved from a management position within customer service into operations support, leading a group of trainers. The responsibilities are different but at the end of the day I still have to lead and motivate people to achieve results.

What do you think?

Thanks!
BXL

HMac's picture
Submitted by HMac on Tuesday August 12th, 2008 5:21 pm

Fair enough Wendii - I was just trying to figure out a way to show the current title without it appearing as an "empty job block" since it's so new.

I'm glad you weighed in.

BXL - you're getting the best possible advice!

-Hugh

wendii's picture
Admin Role Badge
Submitted by wendii on Wednesday August 13th, 2008 3:35 pm

If the job descriptions are different, then you do need to include the new job as a seperate section on your resume. However, changes you have made which you anticipate will have effects on productivity can be accomplishments as long it is clear that the results have not yet materialised. For example: "Reorganised workload increase training hours, anticipated additional 10 hours per trainer per month". One or two accomplishments will be enough. Can you think of another - or break the changes you've made into two?

It's situations like this when agency recruiters are your friends. Part of a recruiter's job is to understand your circumstances and to sell you to a client. If they would be confused by your CV, or your circumstances are atypical, having someone sell all your good points and get the hiring manager interested before he sees your CV can really help you in your search.

On the other hand, you will not be the first person to have made this decision. Ensure you have practiced an answer for the question 'Why are you moving on so soon after your promotion?' Make sure it is short, positive, and you have delivered it so often to your empty bedroom that you can deliver it with only positive emotion, and no stutters. It's not a big deal, just a coincidence of timing and you need to ensure your interviewers think so too.

Wendii