Bonnie writes:
I just read Getting Fired: An Opportunity for Change and Growth. You say that If you are fired in a job within 3 months you should not list that on your resume. Can you tell me why I should not list that employer?
The Career Doctor responds:
A resume is a critical marketing document that you construct to convince a prospective employer to invite you for an interview and then, ideally, offer you a job. It is not meant to be an all-inclusive document of your entire life, nor your entire work history.
A resume should ONLY contain the relevant information that is going to get your foot in the door.
If you were fired from your last job after only three months, but you had some amazing accomplishments and the work you performed is extremely relevant to the job you are seeking, then you can certainly consider including it on your resume.
That said, anytime an employer sees a short tenure on a resume it begs the question — why is this person looking for a new job after only such a short time on the job? And that means if you actually get the interview, you’ll need to be prepared to explain why you were fired.
Thus, unless the job is extremely relevant to the position you are seeking, it’s better to have an employment gap on your resume than have to explain why you were fired.
Get lots more resume tips, tools, and samples in the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
