Should You Put Your Professional Failures on Your Resume

Should You Put Your Professional Failures on Your Resume Do You Put Your Career Failures on Your Resume? If So, How?What happens when you experience a professional failure? Heres how to determine if it needs to be on your resume and, if so, how to address it.As much as youd like to succeed professionally 100% of the time, its just not possible. Everyones bound to experience some degree of professional failure. It could be a slight hiccup like a failed project or proposal. Or maybe its larger in scale a demotion, a job dismissal, or a failed startup.Whatever it is, it doesnt mean your career is over. You simply need to learn from your failure. But as youre trying to move on, youll quickly come to wonder Should I put my failed geschftsleben on my resume? Do I include my other career failures? If so, how do I address it?Should you put your career failures on your resume?Whether or not you choose to include your failures on your resume will depend on a lot of factors, but remember that its ultimately your decision. Theres no universell rule that forces you to advertise your every mistake in fact, you probably shouldnt.Before you decide, take some time to put your professional failure into perspective. In the moment, its going to feel like a massive roadblock one youll never overcome. But once you create some distance, itll feel less significant in the context of your entire career.If the failure is a short-term blip in your career, you might not worry about including it on your resume. Instead, youll simply have a short employment gap, which you can then address in your cover letter or during your einstellungsgesprch if asked. A few examples of incidents like this include being let go after two months with a new company, taking six months to try freelancing full time, being demoted after three months in a new position, or getting hired at a startup that flops after youre there only four months.If your failure is longer term or includes failed business ventures, then its worth including on your resume. This can include anything from working at a company for six years before being let go or running a startup for four years before you ran out of funding. Whatever the case, you cant let this single failure define a long-term endeavor. After all, youve likely acquired new skills and gained a wealth of knowledge along the way.How to include your professional failures on your resumeIf you decide to include a failure on your resume, youll want to be strategic about how you do so. Of course, youll need to be honest, but as you take the time to process your experience, think about it in a positive light. Ask yourself what you learned, what new skills you acquired, and how you can use these experiences to excel in another position at another company.If you want some help with this process, consider writing a failure resume. Its basically a resume for your failures. Now, this isnt what youll send to potential employers this is just for you.New York Times editor Tim Herrera is a big fan of failure resumes. He suggests ...instead of focusing on how that failure makes you feel, take the time to step back and analyze the practical, operational reasons that you failed. Did you wait until the last minute to work on it? Were you too casual in your preparation? Were you simply out of your depth?Once youve taken the proper time to reflect, here are two more tips to keep in mind when adding a professional failure to your resumeAvoid using the words failure or mistake. Its essential to position your failure as an experience of growth. Instead of dwelling on the negative, focus on the positive what you learned and how it can help you in a future position. If you were fired, you dont have to explicitly state that in your resume use these tips instead.Offer more context in your supporting materials. Use your cover letter to better explain your failure, what it taught you, and how youre moving forward. No need to focus on it too much you c an address it more in the interview if asked. But still, your cover letter is a great place to explain what happened and how it benefited you.In conclusionNo one likes failing, but once you take some time to process what happened, youll be able to reflect on what youve learned and how its helped you grow in your career.Youre under no obligation to list your failures on your resume. However, if you leave it off, expect hiring managers to ask about the employment gap. If you decide to include it, dont label it a failure simply focus on what you learned and the new skills you acquired.Need some help finessing your resume to showcase you in the best light? Start with a free resume review and go from there.Recommended ReadingHow to Answer Why Did You Leave Your Last Job Even if You Got FiredWhy Failure is the Most Critical Component to Long-Term SuccessHow to Repair Your Reputation at Work After a MistakeRelated Articles