Does This Make Me Sound Too Negative?

I was working with a resume client this week who made a mistake many people make ... misunderstanding what is meant by the common advice "don't be negative about former employers."

This person had consistently inherited disorganized departments and quickly whipped them into shape. She could quantify her successes in each position, which made the stories all the more powerful.

When I wrote her resume, I emphasized the initial situation for each position, writing descriptions such as 'inherited disorganized department that lacked formal procedures." I then went on to show how my client had addressed these problems and what results she achieved.

But when she read the new resume, she felt that my descriptions broke the golden rule concerning the need to be positive about former employers. Her reaction is not uncommon, so I hope I can open a few eyes with this post.

My original description - "inherited disorganized department that lacked formal procedures" - is simply an honest recitation of the situation when she was hired. But if my client had said "took over from disorganized former manager who hadn't even bothered to implement any procedures," that would have been negative!

"Turned around under-performing department" is simply a statement of fact. "Took over from lazy, no-good, untalented fool and quickly turned around under-performing department" is negative.

See the difference? One sets the stage by explaining the situation without judgment. The other apportions blame (and I know I'm exaggerating, but just to make a point).

If you do this the right way, there is no way for a hiring manager to know why the department was disorganized - often these things happen because a manager's position has been vacant for a while, or because a company has grown rapidly and its systems haven't kept pace - but they do know that you have the ability to make order out of chaos and that's what matters.

Why is this important?

It's important because context is everything when you're writing a resume. If a sales person says that he improved revenues by 10%, a hiring manager has no way to know how impressive that is. (What were sales increases in the preceding years? What is the general industry average? Is 10% good or bad?)  But if the sales person provides context, suddenly everything is clear.

Compare the two:

• Increased sales by 10% within the first year.

• Reversed 3-year trend of declining sales - achieving a 10% increase in the first year - through new channel strategy. Achieved these results despite general industry slump.

Now the hiring manager can tell what to make of the information ... and unless you add something about your "idiot boss" you're not being negative!