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I've worked with a few startups which are still operating in stealth mode, and/or which are working on confidential or otherwise non-public projects.

Is there a standard way to report on this kind of work in a resume, where the employer may not want to be named or publicized?

blueberryfields
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    Possible duplicate?http://workplace.stackexchange.com/q/3890/869 – yoozer8 Mar 08 '13 at 18:16
  • Hi blueberryfields, can you edit your post and clarify what makes this different from the linked duplicate, assuming the other answers in the dup don't answer your question? We may close this and merge the answers with the other post if there are no differences. Hope this helps! :) – jmort253 Mar 08 '13 at 19:32
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    I think the difference is that in the linked question, the OP is determining what they do not want to include, for personal reasons, and here the organization has made that determination themselves. There's a difference in intention, and this manifests itself in differences in tone and information provided both on the resume/cover letter and throughout the interview/verification process -- both the concrete "how" and the why, etc. – jcmeloni Mar 08 '13 at 19:40
  • @jcmeloni - Makes sense! Thanks for weighing in! :) – jmort253 Mar 08 '13 at 23:43

2 Answers2

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If they're that confidential/secretive, you should probably talk to them first, if you think there's a chance that they'll take legal action against you if they feel you've given away too much. You could say something like:

"I need to list you as a former employer on my resume, how would you like me to describe you?"

FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
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    I think I'd go one further and rather than say I need to list you, instead ask if they wouldn't mind, simply out of good manners. – R4D4 Mar 08 '13 at 17:07
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    Or simply "How should I list you on my résumé?" – Caleb Mar 08 '13 at 17:11
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How I've done it in the past (as a developer) and how I see it (and am fine with it) as a hiring manager is:

Job Title, (Confidential Company), fromdate - todate 
Description of work/duties/responsibilities in as generic but useful way as possible.

Note: Company is operating in stealth mode and wishes to remain anonymous, but 
can verify employment.
jcmeloni
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  • When you get to that stage, HR understands about maintaining confidentiality and you tell them, but if the company absolutely refuses to even answer that question, then you say that as well. – jcmeloni Mar 08 '13 at 17:55
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    The question is whether or not there is a standard way to present known information on this subject on your resume. As a rule, you don't put information on your resume that isn't true. Therefore, whatever you put on your resume in this (and other) regard should be true, and there are commonly accepted/acceptable ways of doing so in this situation, as I indicate in my example as the answer to the OP's question. – jcmeloni Mar 08 '13 at 18:07
  • The hiring company's HR will want to see the NDA that you're under from the stealth outfit anyway, and there's a good chance that NDA will require you to provide a copy to your new employer. So they're gonna know who each other are. – Ross Patterson Mar 11 '13 at 23:39