RE: should a resume have a "Reason for Leaving" line? general resume assessment request

Terrence, I just saw your original post.

You don't need a reason for leaving on your resume, but in this case it
would not have hurt. I often see contractor resumes with reasons for
leaving included. However, IMO your recruiter did not do their job. They
should have anticipated the question. Then again, you could have
anticipated it too and given your recruiter the information. Also make
sure the recruiter knows why you fit, what your pay needs are, and MOST
OF ALL that they agree to tell you where your resume is going BEFORE
they submit it.  You are the one who has more to lose in agency
conflicts. Many companies back off of a candidate and for contracts it's
not just the agency that send the resume first that wins. It's the one
that causes the hire.

I have submitted many candidates after initial submittal and gotten the
deal because the candidate was turned down, but I tested, or included
more information or checked references... Something substantial that
showed to the client that the candidate should be seen. In California,
for W2 contracts, the legal winner is usually the agency that caused the
hire. Most often that is the first to submit, but there are lots of
exceptions. For direct, fulltime positions the first submittal is a
stronger case in a conflict.


Lars
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Terrence Brannon [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 8:29 AM
To: L-Perl-Jobs-Discuss
Subject: should a resume have a "Reason for Leaving" line? general
resume assessment request

On one of my recent jobs I was laid off after 3 months. The company I
was submitted to noticed this and asked the recruiter about it, who then
asked me and then relayed the information. This delayed the application
process.

Had I put a "Reason for leaving" line on my resume, this delay could
have been avoided.

Is it a good idea to add such a line to expedite resume evaluation?

BTW, here is my resume:
http://metaperl.com/resume/newperlresume.html
http://metaperl.com/resume/newperlresume.pdf

Some other things I added were a "tools used" and "skills used" line
based on feedback. If anyone has any other suggestions I would
appreciate it.

I've been told my resume is too long, but I don't know how to shorten it
without omitting important details.