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Today was one of, if not the most grueling, interviews I have ever had. I sat in a conference room BESIDE the VP (the gentleman that I would report to). I had created a 90 day management plan and only got the chance to hand it to him at the end of a non-stop conversation. Had it been a terrible interview I would be concerned that I didnt get a chance to present my plan but an hour and a half FLEW by.
This was my 3rd interview with this company. I am being told by some internal folks that I should expect upwards of 8-10 interviews before all is said and done. I closed him and was told that I would be interviewing next with the Systems Engineering Manager (the one that would support me and my team of Account Managers). The VP has his MBA from Duke. He was crisp, poignant and simply dead on with his questions and his answers to my questions.

I had another interview in the afternoon with three people at one (including the COO) and also closed them. I am expecting a call from their CEO tomorrow or early next week to discuss final steps. Lastly, I received a call from an interview last week stating that they want to chat about travel arrangements to Minneapolis next week to meet their executive team. When it rains, it pours I guess.

My major decision is going to come down to my desire to stay in management or to go into an individual contributor role to get a better grasp on a business and prepare myself for long term growth and stability (not that stability should even be included in the telecom dictionary).

One thing that I wanted to run by folks here is something about my MT resume. The VP in my first interview made mention that it looked like I had a fair amount of jobs since 1995. I made sure that he was clear on the fact that three companies on my resume were each listed twice because I had been promoted up the ranks on three separate occasions. I am wondering if it would make more visual sense to combine the company's that I have been promoted in so that it doesn't appear like a laundry list of employment.

I couldn't have been as successful as I was without the help of this site and the people here. Thank you all for your assistance.

ramiska's picture

Well done. Good luck.

rthibode's picture

Way to go, yahtzee! Wow, 8 to 10 interviews, eh? That's a lot. It's great that you had such a positive experience and you seem to be confident going into the next round. Well done!

As for the resume, I recall that the MT view is the resume's function is to get you interviews. Well, you've got interviews, right? I wouldn't mess with it.

HMac's picture

Well done! You're on a roll!

I got the same feedback (I've had four increasingly responsible jobs over the last 12 years at a company) about looking like "too many jobs."

As a clarifier - starting with an MT resume format in reverse chronological order- I simply made it a little more clear this way (note - NOTHING is indented - everything is flush left because I don't want to give up any line space)

[u][b][i]Mo/Yr - Mo/Yr:[/i] Company Name[/b][/u] MOST RECENT EMPLOYER

[b]Title,[/b] Location - [i](Mo/Yr - Mo - Yr)[/i] MOST RECENT JOB
Responsibilities
Bulleted Accomplishment
Bulleted Acomplishment
Bulleted Accomplishment

[b]Title,[/b] Location - [i](Mo/Yr - Mo - Yr)[/i] SECOND MOST RECENT JOB
Responsibilities
Bulleted Accomplishment
Bulleted Acomplishment
Bulleted Accomplishment

[b]Title,[/b] Location - [i](Mo/Yr - Mo - Yr)[/i] THIRD MOST RECENT JOB
Responsibilities
Bulleted Accomplishment
Bulleted Acomplishment
Bulleted Accomplishment

[b]Title,[/b] Location - [i](Mo/Yr - Mo - Yr)[/i] FOURTH MOST RECENT JOB
Responsibilities
Bulleted Accomplishment
Bulleted Acomplishment
Bulleted Accomplishment

[u][b][i]Mo/Yr - Mo/Yr:[/i] Company Name[/b][/u][u][b], [/b][/u][i][b][u]Location[/u][/b][/i] NEXT RECENT EMPLOYER
Responsibilities
Bulleted Accomplishment
Bulleted Acomplishment
Bulleted Accomplishment

[u][b][i]Mo/Yr - Mo/Yr:[/i] Company Name[/b][/u][u][b], [/b][/u][i][b][u]Location[/u][/b][/i] THIRD RECENT EMPLOYER
Responsibilities
Bulleted Accomplishment
Bulleted Acomplishment
Bulleted Accomplishment

ETC
All I did was "group" the four positions together under the master heading of that one employer. So the reader can see an overall span of time (12 years) with one employer, and then see the title, locations (which changed) and duration for each of the four positions I held.

I adjusted the approach a little with sparing use of Bold, underline and italics - if you look carefully at the example. But - be REALLY sparing and really consistent if you use any of these! It's easy to end up with something that looks like the dog's breakfast.

Yes, it takes an additional line or two (or as Mark says using that great retro term: a few more[i] carriage returns[/i]) :)

And this approach isn't perfect - every approach has tradeoffs - but at least this was a way for people to look at my resume and say: "12 years at one company - wow" instead of: "you seem to have a lot of jobs here."

Finally, yahtzee - take this advice like you would any other: consider if it really works for your particular needs or not. As rthibode suggests, maybe you shouldn't mess with your success! Woo hoo - go get 'em!!

pmoriarty's picture
Training Badge

Congratulations! Sounds like you're doing great on interviews.

Best of luck!

TomW's picture
Training Badge

awesome. Congratulations!