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Resume Strategy: How to Present Multiple Roles at One Company

A Guide to the Umbrella Format

The key to a great resume is clarity. Important information should immediately catch the hiring manager’s eye. The layout should be easy to follow. Your accomplishments should be succinct and measurable.

For certain job seekers, being concise is a serious obstacle. For example, how do you arrange a resume to highlight promotion within the same company? What do you do when you’ve worked so many jobs for one employer or as a contractor/freelancer that the dates on your resume make the format difficult to follow?

If these issues sound familiar, umbrella formatting may be the solution you need. It allows you to consolidate multiple job titles under a single employer and time period, clearly show progression, and decrease the chances of being perceived as a job hopper. Check out the guide below for more umbrella resume tips and tricks.

 

How to Write a Resume with Multiple Jobs & Contract Assignments

As the gig economy grows increasingly prevalent, more and more job seekers are faced with the challenge of how to write a resume with multiple jobs and projects under their belt. Contract workers and freelancers especially need to consider the impact of employment dates on resume format and appearance.

Depicting each contract as a completely individual entry on your resume creates a choppy work timeline with numerous positions that last just a short period of time. This will likely look like job-hopping, which may scare employers away with the assumption that you’ll move on from their company just as quickly.

Using the umbrella format can help you pull your gigs together into one section, simplifying your dates of hire by combining several titles or projects into one time span. First, list the organization you used to get your assignments and its location. Include the total years you used that service on the right side of the page. The shorter periods of time you worked should be listed less prominently, directly beside each contract.

 

ABC Contractors, City, State | 2005–Present

Virtual Assistant—Contracted to XYZ, Inc. (2017–Present)

Description of duties and responsibilities

  • Accomplishment
  • Accomplishment

​   Document Specialist—Contracted to 123 Business (2015–2017)

   Description of duties and responsibilities

  • Accomplishment
  • Accomplishment

etc…

 

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How to List Internal Promotion on Resume – Similar Duties

If you’ve worked for a single company and duties and responsibilities were largely the same before and after a title change, the umbrella format can help you eliminate repetitive content.

As always, begin with the company name, location, and dates you worked for that company. Then, directly under the company name, compose a reverse-chronological stack of the titles you held. Your summary of responsibilities then goes under that list of roles. This way, you create just one general job description on your resume for promotions within the same company.

If you go with this strategy, your first accomplishment bullet point should describe any minor changes in your responsibilities (where you in charge of any additional employees, for example) and the reason you were promoted.

 

My Employer, Location | 2010–Present

Senior HR Representative (2016–Present)

HR Specialist (2013–2016)

HR Associate (2010–2013)

Description of duties

  • Promoted for…
  • Accomplishment
  • Accomplishment

 

 

 

How to List Internal Promotion on Resume – Different Responsibilities

Even if your title changes result in dramatically different sets of tasks, you should still consider using the umbrella strategy. By organizing your resume so promotion within the same company is under a single heading, you highlight at least two important points that hiring managers will appreciate: previous supervisors have recognized your talents as particularly valuable, and you have been loyal to one employer long enough to progress internally.

When jobs are split out and employer information repeated above each title, it is more difficult to trace your advancement through the ranks than if positions are grouped together.

In this situation, simply list the job description beneath each title, rather than beneath the full list of positions.

 

Restaurant, Location | 2010–Present

Executive Chef (2016–Present)

Description of duties

  • Accomplishment
  • Accomplishment

  Head Chef (2013–2016)

  Description of duties

  • Accomplishment
  • Accomplishment

  Sous Chef (2010–2013)

  Description of duties

  • Accomplishment
  • Accomplishment

 

 

Umbrella formatting is just one of many resume tips and tricks iHire’s expert writers use to help struggling job seekers land their dream jobs. Need more assistance to craft the ultimate application tool? Get individualized attention from a professional with iHire’s Resume Writing Services.

By Erin Coursey, iHire | August 08, 2019

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