Hello Everyone,

I've have been with my current employer for a little over a year.  Before my current position, I held 2 jobs for about 6 months each and prior to that spent a year with another company.  Before that, I spent 15 years with one company and then relocated across the country.  I've been trying to find the right fit and earning potential since relocating.

It was my choice to move on to other opportunities with all jobs and I've never been terminated in my career (knock on wood ).  My dilemma is whether I should omit either of the 2 short stints of 6 months.  I'm in sales but still haven't found the right place and product for me yet but I'll never give up.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, comments or advice.

Don't omit any jobs from your resume, but if you are having trouble getting interviews, blame it on the way you're trying to get them.

Co's use resumes to screen people out. What you should do is send a Marketing letter to the hiring authority, telling her/him about some of the main sales skills you have, as the RESULT of your experience. If she's interested, she'll contact you and if she wants to see a resume, you can send or take one to her.

For more reality-based tips and pointers, send an email to CareerKeysMan@gmail.com

TOM KELLUM
Job Hunter's Consultant & Strategist. Since 1987.

Thank you for your advice.

Hi Optimist,

Before considering whether to omit eithe rof the 2 short stints of half a year each, I strongly urge you to consider the skills, knowledge and experiences acquired during the 2 short stints. Although the length of each employment is significant, I would think that the various skills acquired during the stints to be even more important. Some questions for your consideration:

1. What are your key learnings and contributions in each of the 6 months spent.
2. What were your contributions to the company then and how significant were they.
3. Are these skills, knowledge and experiences transferable ie can they benefit your new employer in any way.

Once you have answers to these questions, then the next step is to explore different ways of "packaging" your statements to make you Resume the outstanding one. If the skills acquired during your 6 months are significant and are potentially value-adding to your new prospective employer, my suggestion would be to write it down as one of the regular items in your Resume. It is something to be proud of.

Alternatively, the other option would be to present your Resume using the Functional format in which the job seeker presents himself according to the skills he have. This works just fine too.

Hope the above information is useful.

All the best to your job hunt.

Raiden.

http://iwantthedamnjob.com

 

The real question is why you'd want to omit those jobs. To you, it might look like you're job hopping, but that's always better to have on your resume than a one-year gap, which is what you would be creating by omitting them.

Excellent points.  Thank you very much.

Hi Eternal_Optimist,

I wouldn't omit the jobs from your resume. They could very easily come up during a background check, and it could look like you were being dishonest about your work history. It's very common for people to have short-term jobs in recent years and hiring managers will quickly see your 15-year tenure with your previous employer. I don't think including these two short-term positions will hurt your chances of getting job interviews.

I hope this helps!

Hi Kim,.

I appreciate your comments.  I don't mind talking about them or including the jobs on an application, I just didn't want listing them to prevent me from getting in the door.  It makes the resume look very "busy".

Best,

E.O.

Better to have worked than not. What you might want is to come up with a better reason to give in interviews. 'I didn't find thebright fit' sounds like you'rechoosy. I can'tadvise on sales motivations, bc I stunk at sales, but surely you want to sell yourself he best way possible.

So I guess you're saying that yelling "Of course, I moved on...I needed to make more money for Pete's sake" won't impress the interviewer?   LOL. 

Thank you, authorjln.  I appreciate your comments...well taken, seriously.