Resume question: how to describe multiple promotions at the same company?

I have that issue. I was with the same company for 30 years and they had multiple name changes on top of that, so it’s confusing to just look at it. You will want to highlight the most important positions to the job you are seeking, so you will probably have 3 or 4 different resume’s.
The resume service that helped with my resume told me that the dates were not that important, so going by that you could just say “managed 2 staff members”.

After you describe your current position you can write below that other positions held and then list the other positions.

I don’t know if you can do it with your job, but I gave the dates for different job titles in a list, then summarized my duties in one paragraph, sort of: “Joined News Organization as beat reporter, promoted to slot editor at progressively larger bureaus, ultimately managing up to Xnum reporters and winning Big Award for Some Story at [one of the positions in the list]. As one of several national editors, supervised the entire universe before being named special editor for fluffy bunnies. I now guide all of News Org’s coverage of fluffy bunnies and related topics, including the annual Fluffy Bunny Spectacular issue.”

Here is a rough outline of effective resumes I’ve seen (as an HR person) to express what you described:

Company Name
Job title (Promoted) dates
-duties
-duties
-duties

Job title (Promoted) dates
-duties
-duties
-duties

Job title dates
-duties
-duties
-duties

I have had professionals write resumes for me and helped many different people writer theirs. What @mrrich724 describes is probably the most efficient.

Do NOT use numbers such as ‘2’ on your resume. Numbers are like abbreviations and one does not use abbreviations on one’s resume, or in any other formal writing. Write out ALL numbers, for example, “two.”

As to the other…just put in what your total responsibilities were in the end, as if those were your responsibilities from the beginning. You can explain the fine details at the interview.

Good luck.

I only “list” the last position held. Then I summarize my time there, much like @perg describes, above. For instance, my career at Fluther would look something like this:

Fluther, Inc.
2008 – Present
Community Manager

I began as a volunteer moderator, was promoted to part-time community manager, and am now a full-time salaried employee.

@Dutchess_III I had been taught numbers over 20 can be written numerically, would you disagree with that? I completely agree 2 should be written out.

[mod says] This is our Question of the Day!

@JLeslie @Dutchess_III The style I follow and that I think is followed in most business correspondence is to spell out numbers up to nine, then use digits for 10 and up. It’s advised in the AP Stylebook and, I think, the Chicago Manual of Style.

@JLeslie Well, in my old school I was taught to write ALL numbers out…How much longer, really, does it take to write ‘20’ than ‘twenty.’ Further, why would there be a different set of standards for writing two than there would be for anything over twenty? I’m asking what the logic is. Why is writing ‘2’ not ok, but ‘20’ is? I guess it’s going to depend on who is reading the resume. I, personally, would ‘err’ on the side of caution and write all numbers out. To me, numbers in a formal paper are jarring. To a 25 year old reading a resume, perhaps not.

Did you figure it out yet, @sfgal? I, for one, would love to peruse it!

@Dutchess_III Well, I can understand there is a cut-off at some point. Like if I was writing I worked in an organization of 36,000 employees, I think we would all agree we wouldn’t write it out. But I agree it can be jarring when smaller numbers are not writen out.

@Dutchess_III I note you wrote “25 year old” and not “twenty-five year old”. I believe the style rules are meant for readability, consistency and practicality. It’s easy to misread 1 instead of one, but 111 is kind of hard to miss even without writing “one-hundred and eleven.”

Thirty-six thousand. .... Why not write it out? Let’s look further into it. I just see it as “slang” when I see it.

@perg re: the fact that I wrot ‘25’ instead of ‘twenty-five’.....I don’t think this here for-um calls fer formal writin’. As far as I know. Although Andrew would probably like to see it that way!

@Dutchess_III I thought @perg kind of did that AP Stylebook and Chicago Manual of style.

@JLeslie What?? I’m lost!

Seven answers above this.

Use a FUNCTIONAL RESUME, perfect for an internal company resume with the aim of a promotion or raise. It is also the easiest to write.

To me dates confuse employers, what with gaps, training, leaves of absence, promotions, job overlaps. Suddenly the focus has shifted from all your wonderfulness.

Titles mean something different to every company. In mine (a world-wide company), Marketing is customer relations and Customer Service is purchase expediting.

Lots of info and templates on the net, but these are the basics of preparing a functional resume:

1) Write down everything you’ve done that makes you marketable: all your skills, experience, responsibilities, achievements throughout your entire career. This is the great thing about the functional — dates don’t matter in the writing phase. You can tell about that fantastical thing you did at that job you held for only a couple months. Don’t edit or make it sound pretty; that’s for later.

2) Group this awesomeness into at least three but not more than four functions. For example: Systems Administration, Quality Assurance, Management and Facilitation. These are not job titles but headings.

3) Make it sound pretty.

I wouldn’t use multiple numbers of how many people you have managed. I would rather talk about your level of responsibilities and only once mention (range of) team size.

@JLeslie O! I see. @perg said The style I follow and that I think is followed in most business correspondence is to spell out numbers up to nine, then use digits for 10 and up. It’s advised in the AP Stylebook and, I think, the Chicago Manual of Style. So it’s kind of an official thing. Hm. I guess it comes down to what the individual wants to use. Me, personally, I’ll continue to spell out numbers as words. (And who’d a thunk I’d spend so much time thinking about this issue! I love Fluther! :)