Page 125 - Marky Stein - Get a Great Job When You Don't Have a Job-McGraw-Hill (2009)

Get a Great Job When You Don’t Have a Job

Job Title, Company, 2006–2007
City, State

Much better, isn’t it? It’s even possible that the person was at that
job from January 2006 to December 2007—almost two years.

• On a job application, you must write the year, the
month, and sometimes even the day that your employ-
ment began and ended. Fortunately, this is not necessary
on a résumé unless the employer specifically requests it,
which is very rare.

Omitting a Job from Your Résumé
Let’s look at an example of omitting a job from your employment
history.
October 2005–December 2008
June 2005–August 2005
June 2001–May 2005
Take a look at what happens when we omit the middle job, then
delete the months and use only years:
2005–2008
2001–2005
Unless the short job in the summer of 2005 (in the middle) is
absolutely essential to the job you’re seeking, I recommend that you
leave it out. We’ve already listed some of the many reasons that
jobs can end. If your shorter job ended for any of those reasons,
it’s within your rights and definitely to your advantage to put it
behind you.

Explain at Interview
If you have a gap of two years or more between positions, it’s bet-
ter to say on your résumé that you’re willing to explain the gap
than it is to ignore it. This is very simply done.
2008–present
Will explain at interview. 2004–2008
2000–2004

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