Though you may boost your credibility by listing the names of respectable companies and their exact location on your resume, it's not your fault if your former boss suddenly closed shop and left town with no forwarding address. Submitting an application letter or resume without an address for a former employer who went belly up shouldn't be a problem because it's acceptable to simply list the company's name and the city where you worked.
The primary purpose of a resume and cover letter is to portray your skills and qualifications to a prospective employer. When someone reviews your resume, knowledge of the companies that shaped your past professional experience also helps the hiring manager understand the type of training you may have received. Your career progression, however, is more noteworthy than the street address of a company that's no longer there.
A resume does not need to include the complete address of previous employers. In general, you only need to use something like, "ABCDE Company, San Francisco, CA, Information Technology Specialist, 05-2009 to 08-2017." Many job seekers prefer to keep the resume to one page, and unnecessary street and zip code information takes up space. You want as much room as possible to explain your past job duties, accomplishments and skills. However, if you have to fill out a job application form or submit a separate sheet for professional references as a part of the hiring process, you may need the full address of where the company was located when you worked there.
Advertisement Article continues below this adThe reasons that you left past employers may play a part in listing the address on the resume. Human resources professionals and hiring managers understand terms like "reorganization," "restructuring," "mergers" and "consolidations," notes Military.com. Restructuring activities can cause businesses to change addresses and that can create confusion about current locations. The following example shows how to write a company merger on a resume: "ABCDE Company, San Francisco, CA (merged with VWXYZ Company in New York City, 06-2011), Information Technology Specialist, 05-2009 to 08-2017."
Companies often have a public website and a social networking presence that provide location details for corporate headquarters and branch offices across the country. Some local and national business databases are free to the public via the Internet or using public library resources. You may have to contact the national or regional human resources department of a former employer that closed down locally, asking how you should correctly list the location on the resume document. The New York Post recommends disclosing a former employer even if there's no longer information anywhere on the internet about the company. Briefly list the name of the company and job held; add that the business is defunct.
Advertisement Article continues below this adSome employers have had experiences with applicants who intentionally state that a company has gone out of business or is no longer in operation to cover up that they were fired or terminated. If you mistakenly list the wrong address location for a past employer on the resume, the hiring manager might become suspicious about your work experience.
For example, you may list the company's former location as a small town or neighborhood that is familiar to you, but the official postal address is a larger city. This might confuse a hiring manager not familiar with the area. In addition, errors or flat-out lies on resumes can come back to haunt employees even if the issues are found after being hired.