Q: Since being laid off several years ago from a management position, I've taken several lateral jobs where I am overqualified. I viewed my first job after the layoff as temporary from the beginning; it was beneath me, but I accepted it just to have something. I left after three months.

My next job was also a lateral move, but management was better than at the first job. The trouble was that after I worked there for a month, I realized it was a mistake; I did not like the staff my boss was arrogant and irritable from job pressure. I stayed for two months and found a third job fairly soon, but it too, was a lateral move. I didn't want to take it, but I wanted out of that second job. I thought it best to leave before I lost my temper and said something to the boss I'd regret.

This third job is better — I like my boss and my co-workers, but I don't like the work. I've now made three lateral job moves. I want a job similar to what I was doing so I want to start looking again, but this time I'm willing to wait to find the right job so I don't move to yet a fourth lateral job. How will I explain these short periods of employment on my resume, and in an interview?

A: You can't explain on your resume why you left jobs, though you must think about reasonable explanations for doing so. Most hiring managers would accept a person making a lateral job move soon after a layoff. Many people are not financially or emotionally prepared to remain unemployed long enough to be selective in their job search, allowing for continuing interviews, offers, and refusals, in hopes for a more perfect situation to present itself. They would do as you did, and accept the first job offer so as to not remain unemployed for a long time. Once working, they would continue their job searches, taking the time needed to find a desirable job.

Unfortunately, you jumped into a few undesirable positions, so you must now make a choice. Delete the jobs from your resume or develop acceptable reasons as to why you left each one. If you include them on your resume, here's what you may be faced with in your job search.

With three lateral job-moves of two to four months each, you've all but announced you can't tolerate doing anything you dislike and may indicate an entitlement attitude. Don't explain that you left because you deserve more than you've been given in a job. Perhaps you have not allowed enough time in any position to see what the job and the company has to offer.

People accept jobs for myriad reasons outside their original desires, but most know that apart from a serious personality conflict with a boss where the parting is mutual, it's best to stay a year in a position and work with the person. Unless you excelled in "Smooth Talking 101," you're unlikely to be able to explain to an employer's satisfaction why you keep leaving jobs so quickly. If you insist on listing the jobs on your resume, don't be shocked if fewer and fewer employers express interest.

If you are not working in a close-knit area where top industry professionals know one another, the better choice may be to delete the brief jobs from your resume and show it as an employment gap due to the original downsizing. If you can't convince yourself to stay working in a lateral position, don't interview for it. Eventually, if you are not offered positions you consider worthy of your ability, you may need to re-access your value in your industry and why this is happening.

Email your questions to workplace expert LindseyNovak@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @TheLindseyNovak and Facebook at Lindsey.Novak.12. To find out more on Lindsey Novak, visit Creators Syndicate Website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2016 CREATORS.COM