Should You Include a Short-Term Job on Your Resume?

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WHO CAN ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANN of KY 7:58AM August 21, 2012

Hello. Good day.

I actually just finished college last March 2012 and currently I'm working as a customer service representative over the phone for almost 3 months. The thing is, I found out I really do not like the work I'm doing and this is not the kind of job I can keep up doing for say 20 years; so I am actually planning to resign. A week ago I already informed my manager that I am leaving the company and she gave me time to think it through.

Right now, I am confused because I want to look for work in a different industry. I am not sure which is better to do, work and start applying or to hand over my resignation letter first and then look for a job?

And should I include this job in my resume? I am afraid if I wont include they might eventually find out when the potential company will do a background check on me.

Siichi Marcos 8:13PM August 15, 2012

Hi...I had a job for 3 mths and was let go in my 3 month probation period because they figured I was not a good fit with the company yet there were many other circumstances on the employers side that was not favourable by me an many others, from lack of training, not very good managers and just over all on how the company was run and still had lack of employees to provide the appropriate customer service. I did not include on my resume but now will be having an interview in the next couple of days and I'm think I will be asked have I not been working for 4 months. Not sure how to respond to that, without sounding like a loser. I performed my job to the best I could, learnt a new program and was never late and I had customers that loved me.

Liz 2:16PM July 21, 2012

I worked with my brother on his company for a while because the job market was bad and he could hardly pay anything. I included what I did for him on my resume and now a temp service has listed me as fraudulent employement how can I fix this? Where did they report to this to?

Jennifer of AZ 9:27PM June 26, 2012

I am currently employed, but I am looking for another job because my current job pays me very very little, like $8/h and I have a college degree. They said that they would pay me 3% commission but they are finding ways around it and so needless to say, i am struggling to make enough to even pay my rent.

Should I include this job position in my resume? I have only been working there for a couple of months, and I am looking for an entry level position! PLEASE HELP!!!

Nida of ID 10:51PM July 07, 2011

I am wondering about leaving off or otherwise re-arranging my most recent, 6-month temporary job as an executive assistant. I took this job because I relocated for personal reasons and needed something to pay the bills during the job search. But it is far below the level of responsibility I have had for the 3 years prior, and at much lower pay.

I don't want this to be the very first thing employers see on my resume - I want them to focus on the more senior positions I have had with more impressive achievements. But would a 6-month "unemployment" gap look worse? I'm at a loss!

Erica of CA 3:00PM May 19, 2011

What is your advice to someone who has had a job for a few months, and is let go, when it comes to interviewing for new jobs? Yes they can keep it off the resume (a marketing document as you point out) but what do you do about job applications and more importantly, interviews? If the employer finds out you intentionally withheld the information it can

(a) totally undermine your credibility, and/or

(b) be grounds to fire you.

What are your suggestions for this portion of the job acquisition process? Yes, you can withhold the information entirely but are the potential costs too great once you move past the resume?

Lilly of CA 10:12PM March 26, 2011

When working for a temporary agency, we advise customers to include the Temp Agency as the employer. If working several jobs for the agency, the tenure at the agency gives a sum total of employment. This looks better than all the short stints.

We also advise to include volunteer positions. Nothing says you have to be paid for what you are doing especially if it is in your area of expertise.

Dee Reinhardt of IL 10:18AM March 22, 2011

I actually still include a 2 and a half week temporary position on my CV. Why? Because I'm in IT, and in that short time I had to administer a number of systems that cover skillsets not shown in my other positions, and that aren't reflected by my qualifications. In this case, it was Active Directory.

Obviously this helps with the likes of recruiters doing keyword searches on job sites, and even though I wasn't there long, it demonstrates that I have the skills necessary to work with these systems in future positions. Additionally, I did rather well during this position, and was able to clear a 6 month backlog of jobs left by the previous employee.

Listing this short term work helped me nail a 14 month internship several years later in a development role involving a corporate directory system, which I also excelled at.

On the other hand I have other temporary jobs that would be fairly pointless to include. A week long job that boiled down to doing basic network cabling for a small site? Fairly pointless to include. Really, it's okay to include temporary positions on your CV, but only include them if their listing works towards your benefit in promoting your skillset. Just keep in mind to remove it later if this is covered elsewhere on your CV in a new position.

Richard Hodgson 11:17PM March 21, 2011

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