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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Other - Careers & Employment |
Bad Past employment history, better to leave out or list? |
I am 19 years old and have had 3 jobs in my working experience on bad terms with all 3 and gaps between them all. The first job was a little under 3 months when I was 16 I just left it the day of because I wanted to go out of town and I was young, the 2nd job was a year later at 17 and worked there for 4-5 months and was terminated for abscenses, the 3rd job was recently for 5 months and got terminated for no show. The recent job was not my fault due to scheduling problems on the inside and I wish I would have realized the results of bad work history way back when I first got a job but I didn't and now need to know what to do... The next job I get I will stick with it for atleast a year and use that as the good reference but for now I've come to 2 decisions on what to do... 1) put on the applications no work history at all or 2) say that I'm still employed at my most recent job and tell them they cannot contact them.. whats best to do? or if theres something different I could do? You MUST put all of the work history on your application. A former employer of mine, a Fortune 500 company, pulled up as part of the background check a Social Security contributions report that showed from which companies your contributions were paid from. It is never okay to lie on the job application and don't talk bad about the employer. It's a smaller world than you think. The manager you're interviewing with can be your former manager's best friend or cousin. You never know. And if you're lie is discovered after you've been hired, you can be fired. Try explaining that on a job application or in an interview. Unfortunately, it is best to answer the question honestly. I have had a situation at my job where a gentleman was almost hired, but he left off a part of his application and when the truth was discovered, he was rejected. Although things can be bad...it is better to be honest than to have someone do a background check and discover you are trying to hide something. I would also explain that you had some scheduling issues in the past that have since been resolved, and also you should be sure to list at least one personal reference that is willing to testify to your character. Whichever of the last two you were at longer, use. ASSUMING they had no other complaints about you, other than no show/absences. You can always say you were sick for the absences, and the no show was a mistake in schedule. BUT, when you interview, make a point of adding (if you use the no show), that it wa "your fault". You should have recognized that the manager was prone to making scheduling errors and compensated by being twice as careful in checking your scheduling. You know better now. As far as lying... well, it depends on the position you're going for. Some positions don't bother to check references, others do. There's always a risk in lying, but it can pay off. Be honest. Employers will use dishonest answers in an application to either not hire you or terminate you. Explain to hte prospective employer that the first ans second situations happened long ago and the third was a misunderstanding. Sounds like you are getting on the right track. If you really want this job, work at it and show responsibility. The only way you beat this is to grow up a bit and start to develop a work ethic. You may be in luck as I would suggest that the work you have had in the past is not skilled work and not that higher paying. I assume that on the basis you didnt list your employment history. On that basis most employment you would be seeking is in high turnover industries such as labouring or fast food, where essentially they dont give a rats about your past history. All they want is someone on the job. I would suggest that you do list all the jobs you have and dont go into detail about them or the reasons you left. Basically most employers know there is no such thing as a bad reference so they usually dont check anyway. you are screwed. you can run from job history but you can not hide. your future employer will know even if you omitt from telling him. perhaps the best thing to do if you were talking to me would be to be honest. then tell me how you did not know and how now you are all mature and have responsibilities. tell me how you promise to be a good and reliable employee and ask for a chance to fix the screwed up situation you are in. it all sounds good and i would be impressed by your honesty. however i would not take a chance on you.. and probably no one will. your best bet is to take some small jobs that you can be an outstanding employee and to develope good work history. with the messed up way you have done things you will have to start small and work hard. you sure have alot of bridges to mend because job history does not stay in the past. you carry it with you until you get it cleaned up. i would also suggest doing some volunteer work so that you can use them as a reference also. that would help speed up the process. where were your parents when you were screwing things up so bad? was not there someone there who tried to tell you? Your best bet is to be honest and put down the skills that you have and then when you get an interview sell your self as someone they can count on to be at work every day and on time. It's up to you, your young and some employers will look past some of your earlier mistakes. But the older you get the harder it will be to get a job if all you have to show is that you're not reliable. |
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