Hi E, Thank you; I'm always SO happy to hear when someone finds the
book useful. I commend you for your willingness to examine what is
going on and how to convey it effectively to others. Here are a few
questions to ask yourself (no reply here is necessary) before
formulating what to write: 1. Did you learn anything from the six
experiences? 2. Did you add value during each? 3. If any of them were
a firing-in-layoff's-clothing, lessons valuable to prospective
employers can be learned from that, too. If you can figure out what
you bring to the table as a result of emerging alive and intact from
6 layoffs, you then will want to think about how to express it in ONE
sentence of your cover letter. (The sample sentence you mentioned is
a good first draft of such a sentence.) A sentence such as this (1)
makes the real dates a non-issue and (2) removes the need to insert
an explanatory sentence between blurbs, which may appear confusing
(which job does it apply to?, whose bankruptcy?) and apologetic. I
hope this helps. I do not "review" resumes; I encourage you to wear
the book out and refer to this message to avoid spending wheelbarrows
of cash for me to help you re-write your documents. -Respectfully, SB


--- In askthecareerguru@yahoogroups.com, "edyckman" <edyckman@...>
wrote:
>
> I bought your book and loved it! Great read and at times funny
because you are so honest
> and right on. I revised my entire resume just like you suggested in
the book. The problem
> I am having is I have been laid off of from the last 6 jobs in a
row!! I am in accounting and
> the managers and HR people who hire for accounting/finance
positions look first at your
> dates of employment. All they see on my resume is job hopping and I
have been at each
> job for less than a year. Then it takes me many many months to find
a job due to layoffs
> and gaps in employment. It is just a vicious circle for me. I have
been working since 1989
> and moved to another state around 10 years ago. Thats when all the
layoffs started to
> happen. I am not at the executive level, experienced (non-manager)
or manager level.
>
> Yes, I asked all the right questions when I interviewed with these
companies, but they lied
> to me or things changed once I started working there. Last one
hired, first one out rule
> always applies to me. And yes I also did my own research too. But
when you are laid off
> you need a job and it pays decent or good and it seems everything
there is fine, you take
> the job. At each job, I was recognized as doing a great job and a
go-to person. Worked
> hard long hours etc...They always say, nothing personal just a
change in business needs.
>
> So my question is how do I address the job hopping on my resume due
to only layoffs? I
> have all the experience the ads require so I know I should at least
be getting interviews/
> calls. My resume looks good and shows that. But again, the first
thing people see is the
> dates of employment per your book. They also see too many jobs,
even though I did not
> put a blurb for all jobs they are still listed. Other books have
the dates off your job
> description and title and save them for a separate section and
leave out months, like
> "Competency-Based Resumes" and other books. They are basically the
complete opposite
> of your book.
>
> I have a one sentece line under my first job blurb (my most recent
job) that says
> "Persevered through layoffs due to workforce reductions,
mergers/acquisitions, and
> bankruptcy." There is a space between this sentence and my job
blurb and the next job so
> it stands out. If you have time to look at my resume that would be
great!
>
> Please help!
> Thanks.
>