Won’t that look weird on my resume?
One of the most common questions we get is, “won’t that look weird on my resume?” The candidate is usually referring to a new job or a job title that is a slight departure from their previous roles and responsibilities. The question in and of itself and the beliefs surrounding it is a problem for many reasons.
First, if someone thinks it’s weird that you took, for example, a 6-month Social Media Coordinator contract for a Cannabis brand, during a global pandemic, after you lost your job as a Senior Brand Manager at a CPG company, due to the pandemic, you probably don’t want to work with/for that person. Don’t let titles control you.
Countless factors can come into play when you are choosing your next job that is not typically outlined on a resume. Even more factors and variables come into play that may cause your career to be non-linear including but not limited to; finances, the economy, family reasons, health reasons etc.
The belief that you will always be, and must always be, moving up and up and up in your career is an old and outdated idea. This nonsensical view of employment and careers comes from the fact that after the industrial revolution, careers were linear, people did stay in jobs for 10-15 years and remained there to slowly climb the corporate ladder. That was the dream. Now, we are seeing most people stay in jobs for 3-5 years, at most, as people are looking to expand their horizons and soak up as much experience as possible. The world is now both bigger and smaller than ever before, all at once. It is now possible to work remotely for a company in a different city or even country, which means that the opportunity to change your career path is now more available and possible than ever before.
It’s important that you stop forming the shape of their career for the sake of impressing others. It’s important that you don’t make decisions based on the belief that at some point in the future, someone may or may not ask you a question on why you had a 2-month gap, or why you chose to move from the airline industry into the Cannabis industry. At the end of the day, it’s your life and your career. Paint the picture. When choices are made to please strangers that we may or may not encounter, we begin to feel disconnected from our career and our true purpose because of some possible fear. We lose our power and control. We are at the mercy of others. This sentiment rings true in all avenues of life, not just recruitment/careers.
Your career is a story you are writing every day, your resume is merely the table of contents. From my understanding, the best stories in history are never linear and there’s nothing weird about that.
Looking for a new opportunity or to move into the cannabis field? View our job postings to see what roles may be a fit for you!