How To Craft a Resume After a Layoff

After being laid off, you may want to immediately start applying for jobs with the resume you have on hand. Stop: Use this time to process your emotions and discover what you want (or don’t want) in your next position. Then leverage that knowledge to create a resume with keywords, skills and experience targeted directly to the type of job you want next in your career journey.??

By Helen Harris ?

Anytime you submit a resume for a job, you are aiming to put your best self forward. However, in the face of a recent layoff, your self-confidence can inadvertently take a hit.?

With this in mind — before opening your laptop to spruce up your resume and other career materials — you may consider taking some much-needed time to process any emotions you are feeling and reassure yourself that what has happened is not a reflection of your work performance, skills or value.?

Process Your Emotions and Gain Clarity for Your Next Position?

“The immediate reflex following a layoff is to hurry up and find another job,” said Caroline Castrillon, career and life coach and founder of Corporate Escape Artist. “Yes, a paycheck is important. But if you’ve been laid off and received an attractive severance package, this might be the perfect time to consider a professional pivot. Take some time off to take a step back to reassess your career and determine what direction you’d like to go in. Even if it's just a few weeks, doing a little soul-searching before jumping back into the workforce is worth it.”?

This also gives you time to think about how you will approach your next venture, tell your story and craft a resume to best depict that story to hiring managers.?

Harvard Business Review emphasizes the importance of taking your time and not rushing to apply to a “perfect” job with a resume that isn’t quite ready.

“Your approach and demeanor when interviewing and networking are just as important as your resume and LinkedIn profile ,” reported HBR. “Create a journey that not only will help you land your next opportunity but will make you feel confident about your value.”

You can view this as a time to brainstorm your ideal job and think about the aspects you loved about your previous position — and maybe some of the things you didn’t.

Forbes shares that if you know now what tasks and projects you’d rather not be a part of, you can better allocate your time and energy to the applications and interviews that mean the most to you.?

It recommends that you ask yourself the following questions during this brainstorming period:?

• What’s important in the next company I join??
• What core values align with mine? What products or services am I passionate about??
• What do I need from my manager and my team?
• What benefits are non-negotiable??

After you have taken time (however much you need) to process your emotions and clear any negativity, you should update your resume.

Perfect Your Professional Story?

You may be wondering how to tell your story at this challenging time in your career.?

Again, although a layoff says nothing negative about your professional performance or character, you still want to find a way to best highlight your strengths and instill a sense of assurance in your next employer.?

That’s why Castrillon recommends that if it’s been a while since you’ve updated your resume, you will want to get up to speed on current resume formats and trends. For instance, she recommends that if you've been in the workforce for five years or more and have yet to do it, move your education section to the bottom.?

“You might even consider hiring a resume writer ,” said Castrillon. “Most importantly, focus on your accomplishments and all the strengths that you bring to the table. What would vary is how you explain why you’re applying for this job when you get to the first interview. At that point, you can describe how your previous company was reorganized and that your position was eliminated if that was the case.”

She additionally recommends that if you were only in the role for a short time (such as six months or less), you may consider not including it on the resume at all.

Anne Genduso , career coach, strategist and owner of MPWR Services, says you can keep your resume simple and just put the start and end dates, as you will always have your cover letter or the interview to explain things in further detail if you wish.?

For example, in the cover letter, you could include a sentence similar to this one: “Unfortunately, I was one of 500 people laid off company-wide due to the recent economic downturn.”?

Genduso cautions that you shouldn’t badmouth your employer and that you’re being factual with your statement about being laid off.?

Forbes reminds job seekers who have been laid off to keep a folder (mental, physical or digital) of the accomplishments you had at your last workplace. And you’ll want to continue tracking your accomplishments throughout each role you acquire.?

These milestones in your career are built-in testimonials to your work and will advocate for you not just now but every time you enter the job search.?

“One of the biggest mistakes most people make while they’re employed is not documenting the projects they’ve taken on and contributed to, skills they’ve acquired, and knowledge they’ve gained,” reported Forbes . “Consequently, as they try to reflect on those things post-job, they forget many of the contributions they’ve made. For this reason, it’s important to spend time reflecting on everything you’ve done in previous positions. After assessing your skills, you’ll want to update your resume and LinkedIn accordingly.”

Research Which Keywords To Include on Your Resume

Just like in any job-application situation, Castrillon recommends that you first scan the job description and pull out any words describing specific job requirements. This will help you determine which keywords to integrate into your resume.?

“Job-related keywords describe your primary soft and hard skills, and action verbs show what you’ve accomplished,” said Castrillon. “Some examples of action verbs are words like developed, managed, produced, etc. Also, include keywords that reflect the educational requirements.”

HBR also stresses the value of keywords and reports that they are essential for knowing how your experience compares to the job description and for ensuring that recruiters and hiring managers know you have the skills for the role.

For example, the article listed a few keywords found in a job description for an analyst:?

• technical leadership?
• reporting and analytics goals and objectives
• technical knowledge
• best practices??
• coordinates project management?
• analytics insights
• communicate with stakeholders and leaders?
• translate technical issues in non-technical terms

These keywords may seem random, but no matter which industry you’re in, HBR recommends you ensure the terms currently on your resume align with those being used in the job postings.?

“If your resume is missing keywords for a job, you could be dismissed quickly as not having enough experience or a specific kind of experience,” HBR reported . “If you’re applying to similar jobs that have keywords in common, then you may be able to get away with having just one version of your resume. But if you include keywords from multiple types of jobs that don’t relate to each other, you may need multiple versions, or your resume will come across as unfocused. Therefore, finding keywords will help you craft each resume through the lens of a particular role.”?

By focusing your use of keywords, you will also be able to stray away from keywords that are watered-down and have little meaning.?

For instance, Castrillon additionally advises against keywords like layoff, quit and reorganization, generic phrases like "strategic thinker," "proactive" and "team player" and business jargon or acronyms that recruiters may not be familiar with.

Think About What To Keep on or Take Off Your Resume?

“Whether you were laid off or not shouldn't dramatically affect the resume template,” said Castrillon. “However, you may want to consider a functional resume because it focuses on your skills and experience without emphasizing dates.”?

Castrillon says this format will help avoid showing employment gaps and that you may want to consider removing months on your resume and just focusing on the years.

Genduso states that employers and hiring managers are much more understanding about gaps these days and don’t automatically assume something bad happened.?

With this in mind, you can certainly address in person, and add to your resume, what you've been doing in your employment gap since you've been laid off.?

For example, you may have spent time volunteering, taking online courses, serving on board positions or taking on freelance projects .

Additionally, Castrillon said another great idea is to add a testimonial from your last employer to show that you didn't leave on bad terms.?

Ultimately, this resume is like all other resumes you have crafted in your professional career. Genduso emphasizes that your job experience is still your job experience, regardless of how it ended.?

“My top advice to a job seeker who is crafting a resume who has been laid off is to not dwell on the negative and just remember you have so much experience. Getting laid off is not personal and it does not negate all of the wonderful contributions you've made. And it's important to highlight all of those contributions and not let your confidence take a hit.”

Top Takeaways

How To Craft a Resume After a Layoff

• First, take some time to process any emotions you are feeling and reassure yourself that what has happened is absolutely not a reflection of your work performance, skills or value.?
• Think about how you will approach your next professional venture, best tell your professional story, and then craft a resume to best depict that story to hiring managers.?
• If it's been a while since you’ve updated your resume (over five years), you will want to get up to speed on current resume formats and trends and consider hiring a resume writer.?
• “You may want to consider a functional resume because it focuses on your skills and experience without emphasizing dates.”?
• Focus your use of keywords within your industry and target job.?
• Getting laid off is not personal and it does not negate all of the wonderful contributions you've made.