Will it make since to remove this job I was fired from in 2013?

[renter]

I was fired in Sept of 2013 which was a job I had for 9 months. I was able to find another job in December of 2013 and I am now closing in on 3 years at the job. So once I reach 5 years at my current job do I even have to list this job in my employment history anymore? I mean employers only can about your previous job not the one before that. And what will being fired mean if the job after that lasted 5 or more years?

[gebaird]

If you are very young, 5 years of employment history may be sufficient. If you are planning to list any jobs prior to that one on your resume, however, employers may ask about the 9 month gap.

 

One option is to just show years on your resume, like "Worked at Acme Corp from 2013 - 2016" If you had a job in 2012, doing this will make it look like there isn't an employment gap. Sometimes employers require you to fill out an application, though, and you may be required to enter the month.

[renter]

If you are very young, 5 years of employment history may be sufficient. If you are planning to list any jobs prior to that one on your resume, however, employers may ask about the 9 month gap.

 

One option is to just show years on your resume, like "Worked at Acme Corp from 2013 - 2016" If you had a job in 2012, doing this will make it look like there isn't an employment gap. Sometimes employers require you to fill out an application, though, and you may be required to enter the month.

 

But I figured a current job of 5 years or more would overshadow a gap from 5 years ago.

[gebaird]

But I figured a current job of 5 years or more would overshadow a gap from 5 years ago.

 

Maybe. It depends on the employer.

[SkellyWoozle]

Be honest. If you need to put it, then put it. I guess it depends why you got fired, but they might not even ask. Good luck X

[renter]

Be honest. If you need to put it, then put it. I guess it depends why you got fired, but they might not even ask. Good luck X

 

Fired for violating company internet policy and posting during work hours. But being at the next job for 5 plus years would have shown I learned from my mistake.

 

I was just so surprised they didn't ask me why I was fired at the interview.

[LiamLondon]

Generally include it and try and polish the dates up (see last pargaraphs for suggestions). It just depends upon the employer, the industry and what an employer expects of someone in your specific situation. Some employers in some industries just don't ask and guys like me that hire (and friends of mine) would see it as quite a bad message to send out to someone if we asked about gaps from 2 years ago or beyond.

 

It also depends upon how relevant that old job was - if you are in a vastly different line of work now, well then I wouldn't care much. I often interview people that have changed career and many have 1-2 year gaps on their CV as switching track is hard, so 3 months is nothing. Just explain why you did the switch in terms of a change of scenery and I wouldn't ask much more.

 

If you are still in the same line of work then it depends upon the perception of your interviewer. If they do it right they would only be mildly apprehensive that you might have been, say, fired and then went to an employer with softer standards and are on a PIP and looking to escape being fired again. Then again some interviewers are just power trippers and might come out with crap like "I was once let go and got a job within a month in the same role you are in now, so what's your excuse?" without realising they are talking about something that happened in 1823B.C. It is a bit sad to be like that and I would turn someone like that down if they offered - my own experience is that someone that asks such dumb questions always turns out to be a jobsworth clown to work for.

 

I wouldn't ask someone about a gap, because if they were fired but then did 3 solid years it is obvious if they are up to scratch or not. Also consider speaking to someone in your industry to gain some perspective - even before the recession people in my line of work often had 6-12 month gaps on their CV, but sales guys I know NEVER have gaps. So if you are in a career like mine and have worked 3 years in another job after the firing it really isn't much of an issue, but in a sales career it might be a slight issue, you need to assess this.

 

Finally in terms of how to present it. Maybe try and stretch the dates e.g. if it was 30 Sep 2013, that can mean "Oct 2013", similarly 1 Dec 2013 can become "Nov 2013". Even if I were to find out about such a thing it wouldn't worry me. But personally I hate seeing years only on a CV. It is lame and obvious and this is usually the only time I will go a bit mad on the gaps repeatedly asking in interview "and what month was that?". A few years ago I had that situation where one interview went that way and as I went along I just kept finding more and more skeletons (e.g. he tried to hide the fact that he didn't actually build mathematical models but just used them, when this role needed someone that could do that). Then I interviewed someone with no experience who was nearly a year out of college with a 4 months gap after leaving followed by a stop-gap job in a bar. Aside from understanding the industry better than the other guy he was refreshingly I wouldn't say honest was the right word but refreshing in how he relfected his CV. I asked about his latest bar job and he interjected "That finished 3 weeks ago as they sold the pub, I do apologise as I need to update that". It really was a breath of fresh air and the funny thing was that was the only thing resembling a skeleton in the CV (even in people we hire we always find something) and we hired him and never regretted it.

 

Thing is there are so many other issues on CVs were I feel misinformed where in the middle of an interview it becomes obvious they have lied about job responsibilities, over-sold their knowledge, the recruiter has mis-sold them and/or my time is being wasted. And it really pisses me off when someone tries to be someone else in an interview and not be straight and this makes me think "what is she/he like when they make errors? Will she/he put their hand up and correct it quickly or will I have to look through files and logs myself?" as I have worked with under par colleagues before.

[LiamLondon]

Fired for violating company internet policy and posting during work hours. But being at the next job for 5 plus years would have shown I learned from my mistake.

 

I was just so surprised they didn't ask me why I was fired at the interview.

 

In a lot of industries firms aren't asking as much anymore because redundancies are so common since 2008 that they need to be fair to anyone that was caught out and wound up with a stinking gap. Even when it is asked I have been told it is a HR thing where in the past when people did actually get interviewed within days and a job within a week (i.e. like Holywood still thinks it works) they were worried in case you went to prison. People think it is improving as the general unemployment rate is lowering, but it is still harder to move around in some industries as firms are very finnicky about specialism. Unless they knew for a fact you were fired they probably assumed you were "let go" which is vastly different.

 

I knew a guy in a part time job in college that had been fired by the last firm he was at for going to the toilet too much (as it was a call centre job in theory this wasn't allowed as it meant less dialling time on the phones) - the trainer in the place where we worked apparently went "You worked at Company X too? What a horrible place!" and they just clicked and he wasn't asked about what happened.

 

If anyone does ask just make up some bull about redundancy and looking for a new challenge in your new company. Don't be going "I learnt my lesson but I broke their internet policy" because as far I am concerned that means you were looking at porn (which is probably what it was to be fair) but more importantly are a little too honest - if you don't say that then as far as I am concerned you come across well and I don't care if you were fired (since you got 3 good years after that) or what you did as long as it's not something illegal that shows up on a reference check.

[thejigsup]

I've always been asked why my employment ended and I've always been honest (budget cuts). Internet play during work hours looks a hell of a lot better than dishonesty.

[renter]

I've always been asked why my employment ended and I've always been honest (budget cuts). Internet play during work hours looks a hell of a lot better than dishonesty.

 

Well I'm hoping the internet play during work won't matter after another 4 years

[TheAdvisor]

You aren't required to list all of your jobs on your employment history, so as long you have the 5 years at your current job, you should be fine just using that.