What Does it Mean to be Positive?

During a job search, you'll inevitably hear the advice that you must always be positive about your former employers. Good advice! You should never bad-mouth a company or manager that you worked for. It always makes you look bad.

But it's important to distinguish between being honest about challenges and being negative about former companies. I say that because I am currently working on a resume for a client who is worried that I am being too negative in my portrayal of her former job. I had written:

"Assumed responsibility for delayed project and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to bring the software in on time and within budget."

She felt that the word "delayed" and the word "insurmountable" were negative and wanted me to put a more positive spin on the situation. But I don't agree that those words are negative in the context I've used them. They are just factual and they help to tell her story. If I simply said that she delivered a project on time and within budget, without the additional information, it would not be nearly as impressive as this story.

An interviewer will want to know "what were the seemingly insurmountable obstacles" giving my client a further opportunity to impress (because they were some monumental obstacles!) As long as she doesn't say "well my boss was an ass and the company was stupid enough to think they could do the project on a shoestring" she is not being negative.

So avoid bashing your former employers at all costs - but don't confuse telling the truth about challenges with being negative.

Comments

[Tey]

What is the difference between being confused and telling the truth?