Should tell the interviewer that you were an excess worker due to restructuring within your former company?

No. "Excess worker" makes you sound like too much of a useless blob. Here's my strategy in a nutshell: Every employer has problem(s) that need fixing and wonders if you're the person to help. These may be getting things organized or executed or produced, etc. Show these people that you are: - The best person to fix those problems, (i.e. you're interested in finding out about them, you've done preliminary research if possible, and you can even suggest some ideas right there on the spot maybe..) - That you are available for reasons of chance, i.e. you're on the market not because no one else wants you or you've been in prison for 7 years but rather you have just become available and are looking. Give them the impression that due to no fault of your own, you were laid off in a mass downsizing or in one of the last rounds of layoffs. Compliment your last job previous to this if possible, even if your boss was a miserable #$%^. "I loved my last job but unfortunately the firm had numerous rounds of layoffs and in one of the last ones I was let go" Something like that. Interviewers aren't looking for "the magic phrase", they're just more often looking for reasons NOT to hire you in a job interview, problems that wouldn't be obvious from a resume alone. It's a screening process in many ways.