A layoff can be a tremendous shock. Once you come to terms with the change, and hit the job market again, it can be tough to know how to position yourself in the marketplace, and how to talk about the layoff. Here’s our advice. 

A few weeks ago, we spoke with a job candidate for one of our open procurement roles. She had recently been laid off from a position due to an internal restructuring, and after taking a few months to be with family, was spooling up her job search again. Her LinkedIn profile said that she was still with her previous employer, but her resume said that she had left. 

When our recruiter asked her about the discrepancy, she laid it all out on the table. She wasn’t sure how to position her layoff. She had been with the organization for many years. Even though she knew restructuring and layoffs were on the table at her company, it still came as a shock. She had updated her resume, but she “hadn’t got around to” updating her LinkedIn profile. Putting a firm end date on her profile would be her broadcasting to the world that she was no longer with the company. It would invite questions, she thought, and scrutiny. Why had she left? Were there issues with her performance? So instead of making that clean break, she let the profile stand.

As part of our conversation, she also asked for advice: how would you go about explaining a layoff on a resume? How about on her LinkedIn profile? How about in a job interview? 

This is something that candidates ask for advice about all the time. As a recruitment firm that sits at the nexus of companies looking to hire and candidates looking for jobs, we’ve seen a lot of candidates deal with this situation, and we’ve seen a lot of reactions to it.

So today, we’re sharing our advice: 

Be Transparent. Companies get it.

If you take one thing away from this post, this is it. Hiring managers understand that there’s a lot of uncertainty in the business environment right now. They get that companies are adjusting their headcount for many reasons that have nothing to do with individual performance, especially so in this environment.

If you’re a strong contributor, that will come through on a resume, or in a job interview. If you’ve been laid off, it’s important to put your efforts towards showing those contributions. Make sure that your resume speaks to concrete accomplishments, whether it’s in terms of major projects or transformations. Companies are more interested in what you did than the circumstances that led to your leaving. 

But the important thing is to be transparent. You want to avoid anything that might call your credibility into question. And listing a previous employer as a “current” employer on a resume or a LinkedIn profile will raise a red flag, even if your reasons for doing it are well-intentioned. You might think that you’ll clear it up in an interview, but that’s a big risk. It creates the perception for the interviewer, however slight, that you’ve been dishonest, and they’ll wonder what else you’ve been dishonest about. As a recruiter, we can help position a candidate who’s been affected by a layoff to succeed, but we can’t position someone who isn’t being fully transparent about their career. 

Being in-between roles isn’t necessarily a negative. 

There’s a bit of a misconception that recruitment firms primarily work with candidates who are in-between jobs. Many of the candidates we represent are considered “passive talent”—that is, candidates who are currently employed but might be moveable for the right opportunity. That being said, we speak with candidates who are in-between jobs all the time.  

One big thing we always highlight: candidates no longer have to wear a layoff like a scarlet letter. There’s an old adage that it’s easier to find a job when you have a job, and that remains true. For hiring managers, pulling a strong candidate out of a competitor organization will always have a certain appeal. But a candidate who’s experienced a layoff is far from damaged goods. It means you’ll be open to opportunities in a way that you might not have been before. It also makes things simpler from a recruiting standpoint. If a company makes you an offer, they don’t have to worry about your current employer issuing a counter-offer. It means there are fewer loose ends to tie up in terms of starting a new role. If you’re a senior candidate, there’s a certain shine that comes from you being newly on the market.

How to position yourself:

In a bigger-picture sense, job searching is all about storytelling: what’s the story of your career, and how do you tell it? When a layoff or other job loss happens, it can make a candidate feel powerless. But there are ways to take charge of the narrative. 

One good rule of thumb is to have your LinkedIn profile match your resume in every way, as it’s often the first thing hiring managers look at after a resume. Put a firm end date on your employment if you’ve left your most recent role. This maximizes your transparency—and it also might increase the chance of recruiters contacting you. You can also consider doing a post to announce that you’re now on the market, and thank your previous employer for the time you were there. It can be difficult to make this clean break, but it’s worth it to move forward. 

On a resume, one option is to include the reason for leaving your most recent role (i.e. “company restructure”). You don’t have to include this for every role, just the most recent one. If you’re applying with cover letters, mention the date that you left your most recent role, as well as the reason for leaving. Even if leaving wasn’t your decision, you can still spin it in a positive way, and highlight your eagerness to move forward with a new organization where you can find a long term fit. 

And in an interview, it’s all about how you tell the story. If you’ve experienced a layoff, be honest about it. However you phrase it, avoid badmouthing your previous employer. You don’t have to make it sound like the layoff was a good thing, but show that you don’t have hard feelings, and that you’re excited to see what else is out there. If you’ve turned the page, that will show with your interviewer. 

Companies and hiring managers get how tough it can be for candidates in the marketplace. If you’re transparent and upbeat about it, you’ll set yourself up for success. 

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We hope you’ve found this advice useful. And as always, if you’re looking for your next career move in supply chain or procurement—or are looking to hire in these areas, and facing difficulty through your own hiring process—reach out to Argentus! Send an email outlining your requirements to recruit@argentus.com.