Monday, December 19, 2011

Surviving a Layoff and Explaining it Gracefully on Resume

Layoff on resume


Due to the economic recession suffered by the IT industry in recent few years, many employees were laid off to downsize the company or due to unavailability of projects. Employees are forced to change their jobs during such economic slowdown. Layoff may make a bad impact in your CV and raise the eyebrows of the employers when you apply for the job next time. Not only recession, but there are many other reasons for lay offs. An employee may be fired for not performing according to the expectations or due to misbehavior. Hence, your potential employers will need clarification of the reasons of your layoff. When applying for the job, it is important to design your CV in such way that it makes you the most suitable candidate for the job and provides explanation of your job loss. 
Surviving layoff

How to present layoff in your CV?
There are various reasons for the layoffs. Many times company has to let you go for economic reasons, no matter how good your performance is. Sometimes, your poor performance can be the reason, but you may get prior notice for such kind of layoff. When you are applying for any job after suffering a sudden job loss, it is important to explain your layoff carefully to the employer or you may lose the job opportunity. You may not even be called for the personal interview to prove your suitability for the job. 
Here are certain things that you need to keep in mind while presenting the information of your layoff in your CV –
  • Be straight forward while listing the information of your job loss. Many companies will fire the employees due to the poor economic condition suffered by the company. You will not be blamed for such layoff during your prospective job application if you present these details carefully. Many times companies reduce the highest paid employees or cut down their salaries during economic slowdown. Such fired employees are replaced by the lower paid employees.
  • If your layoff was due to your poor performance, such information in your CV will certainly affect your chances of getting a job. If this is the case with you, you need to hide these details and explain to the employer that there were certain personal reasons that affected your performance. You must also make sure to tell them that these problems do not exist anymore and will not affect your efficiency in the future. The layoff information in your CV should not say anything negative about you. Explain as much as you can about your job loss and convince the employer in a proper way.
  • Even if you are dismissed for bad conduct or poor performance, it is bad idea to hide this fact from employers. Your dismissal will not change your capabilities and experiences. Some people may, however, look at it in a negative way; the layoffs generally don’t affect your performance. You must learn from your past mistakes and understand the reasons for your dismissal and try to avoid them. You can convince the employer by stressing on your work history and your unique skills and capabilities. If your details exactly match the job requirements, employer will at least call you for the personal interview to know the reasons for your dismissal.
Creativity is another best thing to survive a layoff in your CV. Be creative while writing your CV and add the details depending on the position applied for and expectations of the employers. You must not be ashamed of the layoff; rather you can explain the circumstances under which the layoff happened.
You can view open office resume template and resume examples for writing an awesome resume.