Do you have to include an unpaid internship on a job application? (employment, interviewed)

[sandsthetime]

How do unpaid internships generally work when it comes to being listed on a job application, as well as during background checks? Is it best to mention it on your resume, even if from several years ago to cover up a gap, and exclude it from listing it on an actual job application?

I did an unpaid internship for a few months during school a few years back in addition to my regular job at the time. None of the managers are still there and wouldn't even remember me if they saw me. I doubt the place has any records as I never signed any forms or clocked in/out, etc. I pretty much flew under the radar and could come and go as I pleased. Best to just have this on the resume and skip it on the job app?

[fishbrains]

Include it on both if you think it will help you get the job. Leave it off both if you don’t think it will help you.

Putting it on one but not the other looks sloppy.

[KellyXY]

Does the application specify to include internships? If so, you should put it down (since in that case they're asking about it, and leaving it off could be considered an omission).

Otherwise, it's best to have the application match your résumé.

[bUU]

Originally Posted by fishbrains

Include it on both if you think it will help you get the job. Leave it off both if you don’t think it will help you. Putting it on one but not the other looks sloppy.

This.

Even with paid positions, it isn't clear to me that you are obligated to share information you don't wish to share. It is not only permitted but is actually standard practice to share only relevant job experience going back no more than twenty years, now, regardless of what other employment you've had. I am coming to realize that my co-workers who interviewed me were led to believe, by my youthful perspective and energetic disposition, that I was ten years younger than I actually am. If the omission of the first ten years of my professional work experience helped overcome age discrimination I might have been subjected to, then that's a good thing.