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If you leave a blank, or mention that you'd prefer that they don't contact your previous employer, that is a RED FLAG! Be proud that you are willing to do a job that is undesirable. Instead of trying to hide it, enhance it. Don't say that your boss was an idiot. Just that you left on unfavorable terms, if you have to. Never be ashamed of something you did while trying to improve yourself. I have a reference on my resume that is not only uncomplimentary, it's absolutely derogatory. The job I applied for immediately after it, I told the interviewer that I'd left under less-than-friendly terms. I'd released a bit of verbal tension, included with hand gestures in case there was any confusion. She laughed, said that she could separate personalities from job performance, and I got called back about a week later. She even said that my last employer gave me a good reference. I told her that there was an obvious memory loss, and I took the job.
I can't believe the number of posters who are suggesting you just "fudge" your resume' a little bit. No wonder resume's are often looked at askance by employers. Is it that common?
Be honest. You can never go wrong being honest. Prospective employers are usually not monsters and are human beings who've often been there and done that themselves. Judging by what I see in this thread, if you REALLY want to set yourself apart from other candidates, tell the brutal truth.
And, by the way, having sat on the other side of the desk, I can tell you that at least here in Texas, prospective employers who do a background check on an applicant can only verify the dates of employment and ask whether the company would hire that person again. They cannot ask, and a company cannot tell, WHY a person quit or was discharged, unless they want to get sued.
The OP was in school. Where's the beef?
I have lots of versions of my resume. It is my marketing tool. Some of the resume's list all my education while others only list high school. I use whatever resume is to my best advantage. If a prospective employer asks what I was doing for the last year, I tell them I was remodeling my house. That's true, I was. But I was also looking for work.
What I do is no worse than the employers manipulation of the truth. I applied for a few low pay jobs for the holidays. Almost all of them were singing about full time, permanent. Very few would admit they planned to lay me off after the holidays. They were covering their own hind ends because they are afraid they will lose their seasonal folks to other positions.
And believe me, I know I would never have gotten the seasonal job I got if they knew I had 3 degrees. But I show up every day and hold up my end of the deal. I just refused to allow them to judge me as overqualified.
I have lots of versions of my resume. It is my marketing tool. Some of the resume's list all my education while others only list high school. I use whatever resume is to my best advantage. If a prospective employer asks what I was doing for the last year, I tell them I was remodeling my house. That's true, I was. But I was also looking for work.
What I do is no worse than the employers manipulation of the truth. I applied for a few low pay jobs for the holidays. Almost all of them were singing about full time, permanent. Very few would admit they planned to lay me off after the holidays. They were covering their own hind ends because they are afraid they will lose their seasonal folks to other positions.
And believe me, I know I would never have gotten the seasonal job I got if they knew I had 3 degrees. But I show up every day and hold up my end of the deal. I just refused to allow them to judge me as overqualified.
To each his own. I never lied on my resume' or during a job interview. Neither did I ever "shade" the truth or claim something which wasn't totally right. If I got the job (which I usually did), great. If not, fine.
I can't say about everyone else, but when I was on the other side of the desk, a falsehood or something less than the unvarnished truth would send an applicant right back out the door where he came from. As the boss, I NEEDED honest, straight forward men and women working for me much, much more than I need con men and liars, even if they'd had trouble at a job somewhere else.
I can't say about everyone else, but when I was on the other side of the desk, a falsehood or something less than the unvarnished truth would send an applicant right back out the door where he came from. As the boss, I NEEDED honest, straight forward men and women working for me much, much more than I need con men and liars, even if they'd had trouble at a job somewhere else.
Calling someone a con man or a liar because they don't tell you they've got three degrees when you don't need them is hardly a con.
Does your legal counsel know you demand irrelevant information about employees or potential hires, and use that irrelevant information in your hiring or termination decisions? I'd be very surprised if any lawyer thought this was a wise idea. Even with 'at-will' employment laws it is a huge liability to fire someone for details of their personal life that have absolutely no bearing on the work you have hired them to do.
Calling someone a con man or a liar because they don't tell you they've got three degrees when you don't need them is hardly a con.
Does your legal counsel know you demand irrelevant information about employees or potential hires, and use that irrelevant information in your hiring or termination decisions? I'd be very surprised if any lawyer thought this was a wise idea. Even with 'at-will' employment laws it is a huge liability to fire someone for details of their personal life that have absolutely no bearing on the work you have hired them to do.
What on earth are you talking about? The OP has a previous job he doesn't want mentioned. What's that got to do with the number of degrees he might have?
In any case, why NOT mention all your degrees? It might not help, but it surely can't hurt, can it?
As for your second paragraph? I'm no longer employed, thank you. I'm retired.
The OP has a previous job he doesn't want mentioned. What's that got to do with the number of degrees he might have?
Your response about being a con man and a liar immediately followed someone who said they had three degrees.
Quote:
It might not help, but it surely can't hurt, can it?
If you have your head in the sand this much, you shouldn't be commenting on this forum at all. Of course it can hurt. No one wants to hire someone who is likely to quit in a few months or a year or whenever they find a job in their intended field.
Like I've said in another employment Thread.........a person has got to do what a person thinks is necessary to get a job! Now, if that means doctoring up their resume some or covering up something and they are able to get away with it.........go for it/so be it!
Now, if you have all this stuff (that some people don't have):
Right/Perfect age
Perfect work history
Perfect references
Perfect college education
you don't have to doctor-up a resume at all! But, for a large part of us, we don't have all of this PERFECT stuff!
Like I've said in another employment Thread.........a person has got to do what a person thinks is necessary to get a job! Now, if that means doctoring up their resume some or covering up something and they are able to get away with it.........go for it/so be it!
Now, if you have all this stuff (that some people don't have):
Right/Perfect age
Perfect work history
Perfect references
Perfect college education
you don't have to doctor-up a resume at all! But, for a large part of us, we don't have all of this PERFECT stuff!
Love Boating, your criteria list is 100% on the money. And, like you, I would love to meet all of the "perfect" candidates. Stillkit, I believe that you mentioned you are retired. How long has it been since you had to look for a position? (Please correct me if I am wrong). Leaving off degrees and minimizing experience when the situation requires it is common sense.
Love Boating, your criteria list is 100% on the money. And, like you, I would love to meet all of the "perfect" candidates. Stillkit, I believe that you mentioned you are retired. How long has it been since you had to look for a position? (Please correct me if I am wrong). Leaving off degrees and minimizing experience when the situation requires it is common sense.
It's been about ten years, but I don't think the basic things have changed all that much. Honesty is still honesty, and situational ethics are still situational ethics.
I still prefer the former, especially in someone who will be working for me.
It's been about ten years, but I don't think the basic things have changed all that much. Honesty is still honesty, and situational ethics are still situational ethics.
I still prefer the former, especially in someone who will be working for me.
Amen. I will never compromise my morals or ethics to get a job. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Truth is truth, and dishonesty is dishonesty. "Fudging" or fabricating a resume or work experience is dishonest and wrong. If I don't get hired - fine. I'd rather be rejected for who I am than hired for who I'm not.
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