“Dear Career Resumes®, after three years working for an independent retailer as an assistant manager, the company was bought by a big national chain. Part of the deal of the acquisition was that all the employees would be absorbed by the new company at the same location. I was assistant manager for the independent retailer and had a spotless work record, plus a great many accomplishments. With the “old” employer, I was making a pretty good salary, higher than the average for my position and for the geographic area. A week after the acquisition was complete, I was fired by the new company for a minor issue that I actually brought to the attention of the new manager. I’ve found out through the grapevine that the new hire is making a fraction of my salary. I am in a right to work state and there’s not much I can do legally. My biggest concern is how to address this in the resume. Do you have any suggestions?” signed – Chucked Out in Missouri
Answer from Career Resumes®:
Dear Chucked Out,
Since you only worked for the “new” employer for a week, I would not mention the change in employer. Use the position of Assistant Manager for the independent retailer as the most recent work experience. You did not have enough time to build up any accomplishments or a work history under the new company’s flag so all your information would fall under the old company’s heading anyway. Do you have a supervisor from the old company who could write a letter of recommendation for you? If so, I’d get that immediately so you can counter any bad press the new employer might give to potential employers. It’s a toss up on whether or not a background investigation would turn this short period under the new employer up anyway; however, if you are asked about it, you can show them the letter of recommendation, and explain that they were actually looking to lower payroll and you were a casualty of that. It’s not an uncommon occurrence when acquisitions occur to try to weed out highly paid employees in order to fill the space with a “company man” or a lesser-paid new hire.
