Do you HAVE to put ALL your past jobs on a resume? (application, company)

[caldercay]

Originally Posted by kindafedup

Heres a question I've always wondered. Not that I would consider doing it, I just wondered is it ok to omit previous jobs on your resumes/applications? [snipped]

Why not - in many instances, it's standard fare.

For example: me. I'm slightly over 50, so although I have
20+ years in my field, I've only shown 15 years - the main
reason for doing that is to not "show" my age. Also, if
you show too much, it'll make your resume too long.

I've been visiting with a career counselor (Mon was my
last visit) and they said, "we need to get your resume
to 2 pages (it has been at 3 full pages), so I've had to
knock off another 5 years, plus a lot of consolidation of
text in the "experience" section to get it to 2 full pages.

So now I'm only showing 10 years of experience. I had
a concern about this and he said, "if they want to talk
more about your past employment (beyond 10 years),
you can talk about it in the interview".

This is just an example. Your situation is slightly different,
because you're not wanting to show employment that is
not relevant to the position. The only thing I can see that
might be a "red flag" is if you remove a past employer,
will you show a significant gap in employment? Otherwise,
I see no reason to keep said "un-related" employer on
your resume.

[tijlover]

Back when I was going to college, I worked as a male prostitute to help pay my tuition and rent.

I've never put that down in any of my applications or resumes, but perhaps today, it might be a very good idea. What do you think?

[kattwoman2]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Back when I was going to college, I worked as a male prostitute to help pay my tuition and rent.

I've never put that down in any of my applications or resumes, but perhaps today, it might be a very good idea. What do you think?

Ha-ha! Maybe you can use it as experience for when you decide to apply as a pimp assistant . Who knows, in 10 years you might move up to head pimp .

Actually, the question about posting all past jobs on my resume is one I'm still wrestling with. On the one hand, I've heard many "job experts" (career centers at my college, self-proclaimed job experts in newspapers, etc) say that you should target your resume. They claim that you should only list jobs on your resume which are applicable for the job you want. Also, they say you should limit your resume to 2-3 page AT MOST.

On the other hand, having gaps in your resume also makes you look bad. I've had one employer in late 2008 ask me why I didn't have a job for six months after I graduated and I was almost tempted to say, "Do you live under a rock by any chance?" Instead, I told him that I spent the past 6 months applying for jobs in three cities--living in two of them--only to discover that I was overqualified or the job market was bad. I ended up getting the job, but it's made me a little concerned about what these "job experts" are claiming when it comes to resumes.

I've left off a couple of jobs that did not pertain to the jobs I applied to. I wasn't fired from them, they just took up space on my resume that I could use for my education, volunteer, awards, etc. So, if you want to leave off a couple of jobs then go ahead, but I am still confused about whether or not the gaps in between would count off more than having a long resume.

[Nexxt89]

I was told by a job site that was doing a resume critique not to list jobs on your resume outside of the job category for which you are applying. For example if you are applying for customer service, do not list Ron's Hamburgers on your resume. Was the information given to me inaccurate?

[tulip143]

I quite a job 6 years ago, due to constant layoffs. I took another jobs, long story short I hated that jobs and quite after 7 weeks. Since then I have stayed home to raise my children, held 1 temp job about a year ago. my question is do I have to list the 7 wk job on my resume? Application? Will this show up on a background check? How do I handle this in an interview?

[brocco]

i dont even remember all of the part time jobs ive had here and there in hs and college lol. i definitely wouldnt put them on a resume. why would you? the employer doesnt need to know. i wouldnt (and havent) put them on applications, either. when the employer does a "background check" they check to see if you really worked where you say you did, they don't try to uncover every single job you've ever held. again- why would they care? unless the job requires some high level security clearance i would never put a dinky retail/restaurant job on a resume or application for a professional job. i can't believe people actually do this. i can KINDA understand the gap issue, but even so i'd rather have a 6 month gap than a 6 month stint at mcd's listed on there. at least in the former scenario i could have chosen not to work, been traveling, or been working on other personal projects. if i list mcd's then i'd be admitting that that was the best job i could get.

[TiltheEndofTime]

Seeing as how I am only twenty and only have thirty months' worth of experience....I put all of my jobs down. Any experience is good...when you are young. I also include relevant volunteer experience.

[TiltheEndofTime]

Originally Posted by nickjbor

If I can, I'd like to jump in with a related question.

I am 23 years old and live in Toronto. Between the ages of 10 and 20 I lived in Prince Edward Island (a different province about 1000 miles away. Think Chicago to Rural Maine). Back in PEI I was a slacker, and a bad worker. I worked for a tax centre for 3 days when I was about 15, but left after seeing that I was not up to par on workload. I then worked at McDonalds for 2 years. I consistatnly called in sick and had my paretns fight my battles for me. I finally quit because the first assistant manager was a.... well yea. From there I took 6 months as a student, then worked at burger king for 6 months. I took a summer job at a "museum" that was really more of me screwing around bored on a computer all day long. Next was a one week job at A&W, then a 3 months stint at another McDonalds, where I, again, did not leave under the best of circumstances. Following this was a few more months at a student, and then a week at subway, and 4 months at Wendys which, at one point, I walked out only to come back and apologise the next day before finally quitting without notice.

of all these jobs the only one that I left under proper circumstances was the museum, but that job was partly government funded, and I told them flat out when they called that they should not fund the program next year. As well I did a pretty poor job (though I did go above and beyond on some things, like organizing the files, because I was getting frustrated trying to find things).

When I came to Toronto I got a job going door to door - hated it. Did one day and never went back. The following day I got a job with a security company and I've been doing the same job ever since. Two and a half years with no unexpained sick days (I've taken 5 sick days on my request. Each in two days stints. The latter was ment to be a 2 days stint but they asked if I could come back a day early - I said yes and literally got sick and made a mess at work. I got a week off at the employers request after that). My experince with this company and it's boses is far above and beyond my experinces back in PEI. Not to mention the entire time I was on PEI I was a student.

Hence my question:
what details, if any, should I provide on a resume about my jobs on PEI?

I would include your two years at McDonald's, your six months at Burger King, your four months at Wendy's, the museum job as well as the job you have now.

[dracounouse]

I am 23 with the great dilemma I am 23 I have an exceedingly spotty work history with large gaps in employment. My first job was at 18. I don't know which jobs I have held that should be listed and which ones I should leave out. I moved around a lot and have had medical issues (which have been resolved) that resulted in most jobs I held were 3 months or less. The circumstances around each termination (be it my choice or the company's) aren't things I would tell a perspective employer. I have had no significant work history. The last two years I have been a housewife but am looking at going back into the working world and don't know how to "sell" myself as it were to a perspective employer, because I don't have the stable work history to show my usefulness to any company even though I am diligent. goal oriented, and hard-working while employed.

I have a high school diploma with no college experience.

Below are the job I have had the time frames I was working there and the circumstances around them jobs termination:
Two months working at Publix, I quit to help with the emotional strain on my marriage because my husband and I both worked there
A month working Data Entry (I was a temp from another company) before I was let go due to missing work because I started to go through a divorce and couldn't function on the job.
A few weeks working as a waitress in 2006 the owner flat out said she didn't like working with me when she fired me, I didn't get the abbreviations down fast enough, and was charged in my pay for a pitcher of beer that when my table was passed to another girl because my shift was over it didn't get written down.
A week at wendy's because I sprained my ankle so bad I couldn't walk for a couple months on 3 day of work (2007)
2 months at sonic (2007) to save up for a bus ticket to move back to another state.
I worked 4 months at a health food store (2008), I had 4 managers who all had their own ideas of just what my job entailed and all of them conflicted. I tried listening to just the Owner and subsequently lost my job.
I worked as a security officer for 3 months (2009) in before Illness caused me to need to take time off.

I have been a housewife since then, and the health problems that I have had have finally started to be resolved. If anyone here has advice on any way I can put a spin on it or make it not seem as bad as I think it looks I would greatly appreciate it as I am at a complete loss for what I can do.

[garcidom]

To Cleveburg: I know this posting is from 4 years ago and I hope ur still a member here. I just have some questions for now I will start with just one. Is it a good idea to return to a company you resigned from 8 years ago? The reason for resigning was due to having a very complicated pregnancy which caused me to stay on maternity leave for 6 months and the baby was born early and always had issues with health. So for me I worried about the baby and plus lack of sleep equals not be my 100% self that my job was used to prior. I was assigned to another supervisor who was very hard on her team and just had no empathy towards her team. I wasn't used to have a supervisor so strict and again not being at right mind so it caused conflicts a lot. So instead of not showing back up. I painfully explained to human resources that I could no longer continue my employment with the company. My idiot self on my resignation gave my reason other than to me a stay at home mom. I added that I had conflict with the new supervisor. The job may have been stressful but the pay and yearly bonuses lets just say I miss it so much. The company is always hiring but each time I apply for a position I never get not a call nor an email. I know that if your a former employee and if you dont keep in contact with someone there. If it shows on your resume your a former employee they will look over your application and rather go with someone with less experience that is not a former employee. Please help what can I do.