Resume Conundrum - To Merge Titles or Not?
Hello,
In Q1 2021 I interviewed for an analyst position (corporate finance-ish role) as a fresh new grad, and, long story short, I was a finalist but they went with a more experienced internal hire. Fast forward a couple months (now Q2) and they reached back out saying that they still wanted me for the analyst position, but their budget for another analyst would not kick-in until Q3 (~Sep 2021).
They did, however, have budget for an intern position on the team, and offered me that position, as well as a direct conversion to full-time analyst at the end of the "internship", which was roughly ~July 2021, provided I did not screw up. They said to view it as a way for me to be onboarded earlier and retain some optionality. Of course, they had their motives as well.
As an "intern", I worked like any other salaried analyst on the team. I worked 40-50 hours a week, on long term projects they assumed I would be around for, as well as the regular day-to-day tasks. This is all to say that, I really was just another one of the analysts, albeit in a probationary period of sorts. I updated my resume with the new role, and July '21 came and I was converted. There were no other candidates ever interviewed.
When I was converted I changed me title from "intern" to "analyst." The bullet points did not and have not changed, and I effectively merged titles by not separately listing the internship with separate dates.
Fast forward to today and I have changed roles a couple times, and have passed several background checks. However, something triggered compulsive thoughts in me that make me feel that my representation of the "internship" as ultimately being part of my analyst tenure at the company was somehow unethical or unfair.
I genuinely believe that I have fairly represented my experience given the circumstance. But, even after an exhaustive search, I did not find satisfactory opinions online about how people might approach this, given the uniqueness of my situation. For what its worth, people IRL said I was making a big hoopla about nothing.
Your input is appreciated.
You'll be fine. I don't think anyone will ever notice or probe you regarding it, but if they do, just tell them that you had a hybrid internship experience that went so well you were immediately offered an FT spot and took on analyst duties as an intern. That will more than compensate for anything that you could lose.
But like I said, I don't think anyone will notice or care. If they do, then you'll still be fine. Don't stress.
I really appreciate the response. For what it's worth, to date nobody has cared, and I have felt confident about my ability to explain the situation, either how you did above, or by referring to the intern period as more of a probationary period since I was offered a conditional FT spot from the beginning. I have passed interviews and background checks no issue.
I guess a better way to ask my question is, in your viewpoint: Is doing what I did unethical our way outside normative practice?
I ask because my internal strife is not my ability to sell my action, but whether or not it was right to take it in the first place, if that makes sense. Would you do what I did, sort of thing.
Would I do what you did, in the context you've provided? Yes. I just don't see a problem with it, it's more of a technical detail than a lie. The only difference between the intern and the analyst role was the title, not the duration, the scope of work, and the tasks assigned. Those things are what I'd use to distinguish the two, not your LinkedIn header.
It’s only one extra line to break it up.
I would do like
Firm XYZ City DEF
Analyst Sep ‘21 - Present
Intern. Jul ‘21 - Sep ‘21
From a background check standpoint the distinction matters because temp hires and permanent hires aren’t listed the same in the system. Thus, writing your resume as above saves a lot of confusion on the hiring managers/recruiter end and puts your mind at ease.
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