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Comment by colonelxc | Hacker News Reader

I don't think that is unusual to list the latest level on a resume. I'm certainly not going to dedicate space on a resume to list time ranges for every promotion.

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So if this person had been promoted to staff level in 2022, they could have changed their resume to "Staff Research Scientist, 2016-present" and that would be okay with you? Because it seems deliberately misleading to me.

It's different if the level isn't represented in the title - if they went from one band to another but the title was the same, I don't see a problem with putting down something like "Software Engineer, 2016-present" without wasting space on each promotion.

In general, yes, I think that would be okay. I think it would be a mistake to create separate sections for each level. Overall your achievements within a single company should not be organized chronologically, but by what you want to show off. This may still be mostly chronological as you take on more responsibility/leadership.

Now, I don't object to adding a line like: "promoted twice from Software Engineer 2 to Staff Software Engineer" or whatever, which I think is a good middle ground (and I would put this as the very last, least important entry for that company)

But it undeniably misleads the reader into thinking this person has held senior responsibilities since 2016, which is outright false, and may instill in the reader more confidence than is due.

As a hiring manager, I don't assume that. When there's a single title over a long range of time, I assume it's a terminal title. I look to the details for the position to see what kinds of work they've done. In the interview, I'll dig into trajectory and experience at various levels.

Then how am I to communicate to you, the hiring manager, that I held significant responsibilities for a longer period of time (eg 6 years) than an applicant who ducked out the moment their new title kicked in (eg 6 weeks)?

How much does that matter to you, anyway?

As a hiring manager I have learned that some people are trying to be deceptive that way and can thus no longer assume.

Thus I have to make sure either way and probe a lot unfortunately. Did they hold the title for the last 2 months and are jumping soon after? Will they do the same here? I want to know about and see the progression. There are situations where it is sort of irrelevant but in others it is detrimental if I have to probe.

If you are say in year 5 of your career and at senior level at just one company I want to know if you were a junior when hired out of college, were super awesome and made intermediate after one year and have been senior since year 2.5. You can show that to me right on the CV by listing it individually. If you just put the end title and that's it I will assume that you made senior this week and are trying to jump ship. This doesn't mean we can't figure it out together in the interview if it gets to that stage. But it sets a certain tone and connotation for the entire conversation. A bias to overcome.

I'll add another data point in opposition. I expect to see only the latest title for each company on a resume and my resume is organized the same way. It's practical, not deceptive.

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