Title: Transition Focus from Family-Owned to Value-Added

Content:

Dear Sam: I am seeking a job as an Accounting/Operations Manager. Half of my experience (aside from education) comes from running a family-owned (i.e., my husband is the President) business. I've been meeting with recruiters and submitting my résumé for consideration online for certain opportunities, without much luck. Could working for a family business affect my ability to get a job? How do I overcome this challenge? - Elena

Dear Elena: Absolutely, often presenting experience with a family business is immediately discredited as it is assumed you did not have to do too much to get the job nor keep it. It is so unfortunate that this can be the assumption, or that other inaccurate assumptions are made, because having worked for a family-owned business-growing up-and now as a business owner myself, I know how hard you must have worked and the value you gained in being given the opportunity to wear multiple hats during your tenure.

To overcome this, you need to present your experience in the same way as you would any other professional experience. If it is difficult to hide the fact that this is a family business (i.e., if the business has your last name in it), then I would pull out highlights of your career and place them in their own section before presenting the employer's name, your title, and the remainder of your professional experience section. If the company name will not immediately be seen as a family business, then you could present a more traditional reverse-chronological résumé. The point would be not to showcase that you worked for a family business, so as to avoid the reader discounting the experience.

I mentioned presenting this experience in the same manner as any other professional position, as I see a lot of résumés from candidates who really dilute their experience which occurred in a family business. Another fault I see often is candidates who try to communicate too much about the diversity of their experiences, positioning themselves as a jack of all trades and a master of none. Just be careful to present select aspects of your background (i.e., those operations- and accounting-related) that are going to market you well for your current career objective. Best of luck to you!

Dear Sam: I read your column every week and need some assistance. I have had to leave a position involuntarily and I am not sure how to handle this in my résumé. I have 30+ years of professional experience, so you can imagine that this came as a shock. I am a self-starter, motivated to do a good job, and educated. Everyone who knows me is in shock. So, I am on a new path for a career change and looking faithfully every day for a new opportunity! I need some suggestions on how to handle this. - LK

Dear LK: I'm sorry to hear that you were let go from your position. As you haven't had to look for a job in some time, I am sure this is a difficult situation. Let's first address the résumé. There is no reason to include the reason for leaving a position on a résumé, so really that is not a concern. You can, however, utilize certain strategies within your résumé to curb some of the negativity hiring managers may feel when they hear that you were let go involuntarily.

As you have 30+ years of experience, I am assuming that you had many good performance evaluations. If so, pull out quotes from some of them to include at the top of your résumé. This will be great reinforcement when you tell the hiring manager that your separation came as a shock. If you don't have access to these, try to have a former peer or supervisor write a recommendation letter from which you can pull out quotes and also present at the interview. If you still have a good relationship with your former manager, you could also ask for a letter from him/her attesting to your performance, only if you feel doing so would result in a positive reference.

Additionally, be sure that you focus your résumé on your past accomplishments; doing so will diminish the impact of an assumption that you were let go for performance reasons. Also, include the promotions you have had over your tenure to show that you were rewarded for a job well done.

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Do you have a question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@semissourian.com. Samantha Nolan owns Ladybug Design, a résumé writing and interview coaching firm. For more information, call (888) 9-LADYBUG (888-952-3928) or visit www.ladybug-design.com.

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