As a Third Party Recruiter, recruiting for the plastics industry, one of the least pleasant things I have to ask a job seeker is “why did you leave your last employer?”. This question must be asked because, it is one of the first questions the company’s hiring manager or human resources representative asks us, and if the candidate has had several recent job changes, they want to know the reason for all of the recent job changes.
I am writing this blog to suggest to unemployed job seekers, as many unemployed job seekers are now doing, to place a brief reason for each recent job change on their resume. Reasons for being unemployed include; downsized along with 1/3 of the plant production employees, plant is closing, operations are being relocated to Asia, company has ceased doing R&D, etc. Stating the reason for being unemployed on the resume can be a big help for the job seeker because some potential employers feel that anyone who is out of work is because of poor job performance. The hiring manager may pass on a candidate simply because they are not currently employed, if the reason for unemployment is not included on their resume.
Obviously, some companies have used the economy as an excuse to shed poor performers but the majority of unemployed job seekers are unemployed because companies have to make deep cuts (sometimes deeper than they probably should have). If you were terminated from a company for performance reasons, you might not want to include that on you resume, but if you were merely downsized, I see no reason not to include an explanation on the resume.
There has been a great deal of upheaval in the plastics industry over the past couple of years and being unemployed in the plastics industry should no longer have the stigma attached it once did.