Latest / The Resume Room with Fexingo: Resume Writing, Cover Letters, and Application Strategy / How to Explain a Job You Took for the Experience
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we've been getting a lot of questions about a specific situation lately: a job you took purely for the experience. Not the title, not the salary, but because you knew you'd learn something that would pay off later. Luna: Yeah, that's a tough one to put on a resume. It can feel like you're admitting you took a step back. Lucas: Exactly. And last week on the show we talked about framing a job you took out of necessity, but this is different. This is a deliberate choice, usually with a longer-term goal in mind. The challenge is that a recruiter looking at your resume in isolation might just see a downgrade. Luna: So how do you make it look like a strategic move rather than a misstep? Lucas: I've got a concrete example that I think really nails it. A marketing coordinator I've been working with, let's call her Sarah, took a job as a social media assistant at a much smaller company. Her previous title was 'Marketing Coordinator' at a mid-sized firm, and the new role was a step down in responsibility and pay. But she took it because the company was doing cutting-edge work in short-form video ads, and she knew that was the skill she was missing. Luna: So she was betting on the learning curve rather than the title. Lucas: Right. And the way we positioned it on her resume was to flip the narrative from 'I took a lower title' to 'I went somewhere to acquire a specific, high-demand skill.' The key is to lead with the intentionality. Luna: How do you actually write that? I mean, you can't just say 'Took this job for the experience'. Lucas: No, you don't say that at all. In fact, you rarely even need to mention that it was a step down. Instead, you reframe the job description around what you set out to learn and what you achieved. For Sarah, we wrote her bullet points around 'spearheaded the company's TikTok ad strategy' and 'increased video engagement by forty percent within six months.' The title is there, but the emphasis is on the skill acquisition and the impact. Luna: So you're basically focusing on the outcome, not the job level. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the core principle: if you took a job for the experience, your resume needs to sell that experience, not the title. Recruiters care about what you can do, not the label on your old business card. Luna: But what if the title itself looks so below your level that it raises eyebrows? Like, you were a manager and you took an associate job. Lucas: That's a tougher situation, and it's where you might need to get creative with the title itself. A lot of people don't realize that you can use a functional title on your resume, as long as it's not misleading. So if your official title was 'Associate' but you were actually running the social media strategy, you can title yourself 'Social Media Strategist' — as long as you can back it up in the interview. Luna: Is that really okay? I've always been wary about tweaking job titles. Lucas: It's a gray area, but the rule of thumb is: you can adjust the title to reflect the actual duties, not the other way around. You can't inflate a title, but you can make it more accurate. And in Sarah's case, we used 'Social Media Strategist' because that's what she was doing. It's honest and it helps the recruiter see the seniority of the work, not just the HR label. Luna: That makes sense. So the real work is in the bullet points, not just the title. Lucas: Absolutely. And there's a formula I like to use: the 'intention skill result' structure. First, you convey the intention, maybe in a summary line like 'Moved to a smaller team to gain hands-on experience in paid social,' then you list the specific skills you acquired, and then you show the measurable results. That way, the recruiter understands the 'why' before they even get to the bullets. Luna: I like that. It gives context without sounding defensive. Lucas: Right. And it's a much stronger approach than just leaving the job off entirely, which I see a lot of people do because they're embarrassed by it. But that can create a gap that's harder to explain than the job itself. Luna: So you'd rather see the job on there with a strong narrative than missing altogether? Lucas: In most cases, yes. The only time I'd say leave it off is if the job is completely irrelevant to your current path and you learned nothing transferable. But if you gained a skill, even a soft skill, it's probably worth including. Just make sure it's positioned as a stepping stone, not a detour. Luna: That's a good point. And it reminds me of something I've been thinking about — you know, a lot of our listeners have been really supportive of the show, and we've been thinking about how to keep it going without ads. If today's episode helped you think through a career move, and you feel like buying us a coffee, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, but it does keep us going. Lucas: Yeah, thanks for that, Luna. And honestly, just a few coffees from listeners who find this useful makes a big difference. But back to the resume — the other thing to think about is the interview. Because at some point, someone's going to ask you directly, 'Why did you take this job?' Luna: Oh, that's a tricky one. You don't want to sound like you're making excuses. Lucas: Right. And the answer should be the same as your resume strategy: focus on the intentional skill-building. So Sarah, when she interviewed for her next role, said something like, 'I saw an opportunity to get deep, hands-on experience in video advertising, which I didn't have at my previous job. It was a deliberate trade-off to build that expertise, and I think it's paid off in the results I've been able to deliver.' That's confident, honest, and shows self-awareness. Luna: It also flips the conversation from 'why would you take a step down' to 'what did you learn and what can you do now.' Lucas: Exactly. And that's the whole game: you're reframing the narrative from a potential negative to a positive career move. It's all about the story you tell. Luna: So, before we wrap up, what's the one takeaway you'd want listeners to remember? Lucas: If you took a job for the experience, don't hide it. Lead with the skill you gained and the results you achieved. Recruiters want to see growth, not a perfect linear path. It's the learning and the impact that matter most. Luna: That's a great note to end on. Thanks for listening, everyone. Lucas: And if you have a resume question you'd like us to tackle, send it our way. We're always looking for new angles.