Latest / The Resume Room with Fexingo: Resume Writing, Cover Letters, and Application Strategy / How to Explain a Job You Took for the Money on Your Resume
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we get a lot of listener questions about how to handle the jobs we're not exactly proud of on paper. The gap, the demotion, the quick exit. But there's one that rarely gets asked directly, even though I suspect it's everywhere. Luna: Which is? Lucas: The job you took for the money. Not the passion project, not the strategic step. Just the plain, honest, 'this paycheck was 40 percent bigger and I had bills to pay' job. Luna: Oh, that's the one. And honestly, a lot of people have been there. I took a temp data-entry role once for the overtime. It was not on my dream career path. Lucas: Right. And the thing is, the resume doesn't need to broadcast the motivation. It needs to sell the experience. But how do you do that when the role feels like a detour? We've had episodes on skill-building or pivots, but not this specific tension. So let's get into it. Luna: Before we do, I want to say something real. This show is ad-free, and that's because a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's genuinely what keeps us going, and we don't take it for granted. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small group, but it's the reason we can spend ten minutes on a niche resume problem like this. So if you're one of those people, thank you. Now, back to the money job. Lucas: Let's start with a concrete case. A marketing manager we'll call Dana. She was laid off from an agency, and after four months of searching, she took a six-month contract at a fintech startup. The pay was 40 percent higher than her last role, but the job itself was more junior—mostly content production and campaign coordination. Luna: And her resume, if she's not careful, would show a step backward. A senior person doing junior work. That's a red flag for recruiters. Lucas: Exactly. But it doesn't have to be. The first rule is to stop thinking in titles and start thinking in impact. So instead of leading with 'Content Coordinator,' she leads with the results. For example, 'Owned end to end delivery of 12 campaign assets per month, reducing production time by 20 percent.' Luna: But isn't that still junior? I mean, a senior person could say that too. Lucas: Sure, but the context changes it. When you add the fintech industry and the speed of a startup, that same bullet shows adaptability. She can also add something like 'Partnered with cross-functional teams to launch a product update in three weeks.' That's not junior. That's agile. Luna: Okay, so it's about extracting the highest-level achievement from the role, even if the day-to-day was repetitive. Lucas: Precisely. And that leads to rule number two: don't include the salary in the resume. I know that sounds obvious, but some people think mentioning 'contract' or 'temp' invites questions. It doesn't. You list the title, the company, the dates. If they ask about the short tenure in an interview, you have a script. Luna: What's the script? 'I took it for the money' probably isn't the best opener. Lucas: No. You say something like, 'I was in between roles and this opportunity allowed me to work in a fast-paced environment while maintaining my income. It turned out to be a great learning experience.' That's honest, and it reframes the decision as strategic rather than desperate. Luna: I like that. But what if the job was totally unrelated to your field? Like, I know a teacher who did a summer of construction for the money. Lucas: That's a different beast. If it's completely unrelated, you might consider leaving it off entirely, especially if it was short-term. But if it was longer than a few months, you need to include it to avoid a gap. In that case, you focus on transferable skills: project management, teamwork, safety compliance, whatever. Luna: So it's not always about including every job, but being strategic about what you put down. Lucas: Right. And that's rule three: customize your resume for the job you want, not the job you had. So Dana, targeting a marketing manager role again, wouldn't lead with her fintech contract if she had an earlier, more relevant role. She'd lead with that, and list the contract later, under 'Additional Experience' with a couple of bullets that show impact. Luna: But wouldn't a recruiter wonder why a senior person is doing a lower-level contract? Won't they question the step down? Lucas: They might. But you can preempt that in your cover letter or LinkedIn summary. A line like, 'Most recently, I took on a contract role to deepen my fintech experience and deliver results in a startup environment.' That turns the step down into a deliberate choice. Luna: So you're not hiding it, you're contextualizing it. Lucas: Exactly. And the final rule is to be honest with yourself. If the job gave you nothing but a paycheck, maybe it's okay to leave it off. But often, we undervalue what we learned. Dana, in that contract, probably mastered a new CMS, learned about compliance in finance, and worked with data teams. Those are assets. Luna: That's a good point. I remember a listener wrote in about a retail job they took during a downturn. They thought it was a blight, but they had actually improved the store's inventory system. That became a bullet point. Lucas: Perfect example. And that's the core message here: the resume is not a confession. It's a marketing document. You're not obligated to list every reason you took a job. You're obligated to show what you can do for the next employer. Luna: So if someone's listening and they're in the middle of a money job right now, what should they be doing besides updating their resume? Lucas: Keep a running list of accomplishments. Every time you do something that could be a bullet point, write it down. Because when you're in the thick of it, you forget the wins. And also, try to take on one project that aligns with your career goals. That way, you're not just collecting a paycheck, you're building a bridge. Luna: That's the takeaway. It's not about lying, it's about framing. Lucas: And remember, recruiters know people take jobs for money. They've done it themselves. What they care about is whether you can do the job they're hiring for. So show them that. Luna: Thanks for that, Lucas. And thanks to everyone who supports the show. If this helped, maybe share it with a friend who's in the same boat. Lucas: Yeah, and if you have a resume question, we're always reading. But for now, go rewrite that bullet point.