Put your best foot forward and describe a professional background that highlights your qualifications when you want a recruiter or hiring manager to give you favorable consideration. Putting your skills and qualifications on display doesn’t always require going into great detail about your previous employment. In some circumstances, you should concentrate on emphasizing the most pertinent work history. In other instances, you are required to give a potential employer your entire work history, even if you believe some of those positions are unimportant to your application.
It’s wise to think about full disclosure of your background when describing your experience and qualifications when applying for jobs. Even if you don’t believe your previous jobs prepared you for the position you currently want, recruiters may still view them as relevant. You must disclose every position you’ve ever held for positions requiring government security clearances, account for periods of unemployment, list volunteer or unpaid roles in your background, and more.
Long-term employees frequently condense their resumes or limit their job applications to only listing their most recent or most pertinent positions. Instead of listing every single job you’ve held over the past 25 or 30 years, focus on your most recent employment if you believe it to be the most relevant given the changing nature of technology, best practices, and business methodologies. That being said, don’t lie or withhold information if you’re asked about prior employment in your career.
Short-term employment may be defined as that which lasts 90 days or less. Some career counselors, like Marie McIntyre, the founder of Atlanta-based Your Office Coach, say it’s acceptable to leave out temporary positions that lasted no longer than a few weeks. However, McIntyre emphasizes the significance of being truthful about your entire work history when questioned about it in an interview. If you omit temporary employment, be prepared to provide an explanation during the interview. Simply explain why you left out any short-term employment to avoid coming across as a job-hopper and assure the interviewer that you are currently seeking a long-term position.
Because a two-page resume is much easier to read than a six-pager, job seekers with 20 to 30 years of experience occasionally condense their work history on it. Indeed, Alison Green, a career adviser, reminds job seekers that a resume isn’t meant to be a diary. According to her, a resume should contain enough details to pique the reader’s interest in you. This advice was in her May 2011, article for “U. S. News To avoid giving the impression that you are hiding something, however, since the employment application is a formal document, provide a complete work history.
Professionals with multiple roles as independent contractors frequently wonder how to present their work history in a way that doesn’t make it appear as though they worked for so many different companies in a short period of time. Use the phrase “Contract Work” in this situation on your resume or employment application, and list the businesses for which you worked during that time. For instance, if you worked for XYZ Corp. from April 2011 to March 2011 while employed by ABC Company from May 2011 to January 2012, and Acme Corp. Combine every assignment from February 2012 to January 2013 into a single role. List your title as “Independent Contractor” and the dates from March 2011 to January 2013 that you worked there. Include the names of the companies and your responsibilities in a single paragraph or set of bullets for your description.
Since the middle of the 1980s, Ruth Mayhew has been writing, and since 1995, she has been a subject matter expert in HR. She has been cited in numerous publications, including journals and textbooks that concentrate on human resources management techniques, and her work is included in “The Multi-Generational Workforce in the Health Care Industry.” She graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a Master of Arts in sociology. Ruth resides in the nations capital, Washington, D. C.
Factors to consider about job history
Consider each job, your tenure there, and your reasons for leaving, and then consider how each circumstance might affect you during the interview process. Here are some typical elements to consider when considering your own employment history:
Whatever your motivations, be sure to mention each of your previous employers and the positions you held in a favorable manner. As you gain expertise in your field, you can concentrate on how your experience has helped you hone your skills.
Do you have to put every job on an application?
If you’ve ever wondered, “Do I have to put every job on an application?” the short answer is no, especially if you have a lengthy employment history, you don’t have to list every single position that you’ve ever held. Although everyone has a different employment history, and every employer has different expectations, there is no “correct” response to this question.
The requirement to sign a job application and attest that all the information you’ve provided is accurate is typically the last step in the application process. Never lie about yourself, so carefully read the application’s language and decide whether it’s in your best interests to disclose every position you’ve held, even temporary ones.
How to choose which jobs to include on an application
To choose which jobs to list on your job application, follow these steps:
1. Create a plan for your application
Make a complete list of all of your prior employment to begin your job application. Consider each position you’ve held in the past and write down any experiences that are pertinent to your current job search. Some jobs that need thorough background checks may want to know about your employment history going back at least ten years.
Make a fact sheet with the names of any supervisors who could serve as references, their contact information, and information about their employment history. This fact sheet can serve as a helpful resource as you start completing job applications. As a result, you will be able to avoid making mistakes that could cause you to lose the job and provide consistently accurate information throughout the entire application process.
2. Decide which jobs to exclude from your resume
You can start eliminating any jobs that might not be relevant to your current job application once you have a complete work history that you can use as a reference. Regarding the information you must include on your application, there is no set rule. Any position held for less than six months would be regarded as temporary or contract work, and can be disregarded unless it results in an unusual gap in employment. Feel free to omit a job from 20 years ago unless it is absolutely necessary to your resume.
You might have changed roles or career paths as you progressed in your career. You do not have to list irrelevant positions. You can probably exclude any entry-level positions you previously held if you are currently in an executive management position because they are no longer as relevant to the work you do today.
3. Follow the instructions
You might observe that an employer has specific instructions for how to complete your employment history as you complete an application. For instance, they might tell you to share the last ten jobs you had or make a list of all the jobs you had in the previous seven years. If so, make sure to adhere to the directions to the letter. If the job description section allows it, explain any gaps in employment, any temporary employment, or any other reasons you might have taken a job that doesn’t seem to fit with the other positions in your employment history.
Consider limiting the number of positions to those that are most pertinent to the position you’re applying for if the employer does not require you to provide your entire work history or all positions held within a specific time period. Make sure your work history doesn’t contain any significant gaps; if it does, be ready to explain any gaps in detail.
4. Look for any employment gaps
Decide if explaining why you left a previous job trumps a gap in your employment history. Think about what a hiring manager might think based on the type of your work history and whether it results in a gap in your employment history. It might look better to have a string of brief positions rather than no gaps in employment.
If you don’t have any gaps in your employment history, they won’t come up during your interview because you may not want to have to explain them. However, if your employment history includes a number of temporary jobs, you might prefer to omit some of those to avoid appearing to be a job hopper. Simply be prepared to respond to inquiries regarding any apparent employment gaps.
Whatever choice you make, review the job application and prepare for the interview so that you can have a professional approach to the hiring process.
5. Make a plan for short-term jobs
Form a solid strategy before leaving out any odd jobs or freelance work from your application if you have them. A hiring manager will be aware that you have held a variety of contract positions that were never permanent if you include all of your temporary employment that is pertinent. A gap in your employment history results from leaving out even one.
An alternative strategy is to group all of your contract employment under a single position with a broad title, such as “freelance writer.” You can then describe your experience working on various projects for various clients and employers under that job title. List any pertinent abilities you used or learned during that period.
6. Prepare for the interview
If you are selected for an interview, the hiring manager or a human resources representative may request references from you or inform you that a background check will be conducted. In preparation for this possibility, practice your interview answers. To concentrate primarily on the most relevant positions for the position you are applying for, you might consider telling the hiring manager right away that you left some positions off of your application.
Hiring managers are aware that not every position will be a good fit. Work-life balance and company culture are essential components for any position in the modern economy, which is changing and the remote workforce is expanding. A simple desire for better benefits or paid time off can be a legitimate reason for leaving a job and is unlikely to negatively affect your chances of getting hired. In this case, list these positions whenever in doubt and explain to the employer why you’re looking for something new and how enthusiastic you are about their opportunity.
7. Consider the available space on the application
Some job applications are now available online with limitless space for prior positions, but you might not have limitless time to complete them. When the fact sheet has been created, you can think about how and which positions should be listed first. To decide which positions to keep and how to defend your decision to eliminate any positions, consult the other steps in this process.
Make sure to include the most recent positions if you can only list the last four positions. However, you might also want to emphasize a crucial managerial position from earlier in your career while also leaving room for more recent positions.
8. Dont forget to list your skills
Don’t let the valuable skills and experience you gained at any positions you are leaving out go to waste. Make sure to highlight these abilities throughout your application, in your cover letter, and on your resume.
For instance, someone who has held a number of positions has developed their ability to quickly adapt to new procedures and is likely to possess a broad range of skills. No matter which jobs you decide to keep on your application, make sure to emphasize these crucial skills because this could become a distinctive aspect of your work history.
9. Be honest
Being truthful about your work history during the hiring process is one of the most crucial things you can do. When you put your signature on a job application, you affirm that the information you have provided is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. Employers might conduct a thorough investigation, and being dishonest could cost you a job.
Career Tip #8: Fired – What to Say on a Job Application
FAQ
Can I omit a job on an application?
You can remove a job from your resume, yes. Resumes are adaptable and ought to be seen as concise summaries of your most relevant education, training, and experience.
Do you have to mention all previous jobs?
Short answer: No, you don’t have to list every position you’ve ever held on your resume. But if a potential employer finds out about it or inquires about any employment gaps between the jobs you did list on your resume, be prepared to explain why an old job isn’t listed there.
Do you have to list all your employers?
The first concern that job seekers frequently have is whether potential employers can conduct background checks that reveal any previous employment that isn’t listed on the resume. No, there isn’t a centralized database that compiles a list of all the places you’ve worked in your life.
