CV Question

ngk2112

I'm looking for some advice as to what I should include on my CV.

A couple of months ago I left my job for a better job with another bank.I did something very silly and broke their rules. Effectively they dismissed me but I was allowed to resign. I was only in the new job for 2 weeks. Previously, my employement history has been impeccable and this was the only mistake that I have made in 25 years.I found something part time almost immediately but I have been and still am looking for another full time job.
Initially, I included my previous role on my CV explaining when asked why I left that the job was not for me etc. However, I was told by an agency that if I have worked somewhere for less than 3 months then it does not need to be included on my CV. Subsequently I have removed it. I'm still worried though that I will need to disclose my previous employer at an interview and this will go against me.
Does anyone have any opinions as to whether I should include the role on my CV or leave it out and then raise it at an interview ?
It's bound to come up during a background check regardless of my short time there.

Thanks

jfh7gwa

Your CV is intended to highlight the skills, abilities and experience you can bring to a role that you're applying for.

It's supposed to paint you in the best possible light. it is NOT there to be a mass of facts. it's meant to sell you.

as long as you aren't LYING or misleading on the information contained within it, you can do whatever you like.

i don't understand why you would EVER put such a role as you described onto your CV - there would be no question in my mind that it would be left off.

you are not lying. you are simply omitting irrelevant information from your CV.

check out a few skills based CVs, which are a really good example of how a CV/application is meant to sell you, not regurgitate your life history since the age of 16 (etc.)

In summary: don't worry!

p.s. of course you need to be fully upfront about all employments if you're filling in forms for CRB checks, or if the employment forms ask for full disclosure of previous roles (not unusual in finance) - obviously don't omit it there. but don't VOLUNTEER this 2 week job on your CV, when you're trying to get your foot in the door. give them as much infromation on a need to know basis, if it's a negative fact.

ngk2112

Thanks. That's actually quite encouraging. Assuming that I do get an interview, would you volunteer the information at that stage or not? If they do raise it following a background or pre-employment check I can take the view that I regarded it as irrelevant due to the short period I spent there and therefore did not feel the need to include it?

jfh7gwa

ngk2112 wrote: »

would you volunteer the information at that stage or not?

Nope, I wouldn't. You're trying to sell yourself and highlight relevant facts at that stage.

ngk2112 wrote: »

If they do raise it following a background or pre-employment check I can take the view that I regarded it as irrelevant due to the short period I spent there and therefore did not feel the need to include it?

Yes, if they raise it. Obviously you wouldn't lie on a CRB check or something that asked for full disclosure, but I would only get into a discussion on it if they raise it - by that time hopefully you'd have impressed them enough that they don't care anyway (once you explained it). They'd only be put off at that point if it was something serious ("I spent 2 weeks working at [XYZ] and got fired in my second week for stealing office supplies" - that sort of thing ).

**Juice**

I agree with this!

ngk2112

Thanks for the advice. I don't know if I'm making too big a deal about this but as it's a situation that I've never experienced before I'm inclined to worry over it. I had actually come to the conclusion that this would probably prevent me from ever being hired again. My explanation that the job was not what I thought it would be sounds a bit lame but that's really all that I can say under the circumstances.
I guess that it comes down to whether the interviewer is more interested in why I left than what I can actually do. If I can pick up a contract job pretty quickly then it puts some distance between me and the last company which then means it wasn't my 'last job'.
Honest opinion, am I stressing too much about this?
Cheers

Swipe

Yes, no need to worry yourself so much.

Annisele

ngk2112 wrote: »

My explanation that the job was not what I thought it would be sounds a bit lame but that's really all that I can say under the circumstances.

I wouldn't say that (given that it isn't really true).

I wouldn't mention the two week job at all unless I was asked a direct question that I couldn't truthfully answer without mentioning it.

Without knowing what the "something silly" was, it's hard to say whether you're stressing over it too much (though I don't recommend you spill all on a public forum; if it was an unusual something you never know who's reading). I guess it can't have been that bad, or the police would have been involved and they wouldn't have let you resign - so you probably are stressing too much. However, "silly" potentially covers everything from "I punched my line manager" to "I slept with the boss's wife" to "I stole a single post-it note" - in your shoes I'd worry far more about the former than the latter.

ngk2112

The former being what ?
The problem is that the previous company will appear on my P45 even though I was only there for 2 weeks.
That means that even if I don't mention it at all, if I join a new company they will certainly ask why the name of the previous company appears on my P45 when I haven't previously mentioned them.
That is the real problem.

jfh7gwa

The "former" being referred to by Annisele is "I punched my line manager" (pretty bad under anyone's perceptions).

As to the P45 "problem" - it's not a problem - you seem to think this is something more dramatic than it really is

Just don't provide it!

Seriously, companies are often very lax in tying up this sort of thing, it's often been the case when I've been switching jobs that the p45 doesn't even arrive by the time i started a new job. A few weeks is nothing and no one would bat an eyelid.

Another time it got lost in the post (not really a rare exception since a sizable chunk of my mail goes AWOL on occasion - the joys of living with a communal post area in the building which sometimes gets bust open).

Basically they'll ask you to complete a p46 instead, or just ask your employer for the p46 form instead if they don't offer one, tick the box on it that says you didn't get one from your old employer yet, that's all (nothing more to it!). See here: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1083350295&type=RESOURCES The tax folk will sort it out properly eventually. But there REALLY is nothing to worry about regarding the p45 issue!

ngk2112

Thanks. I really do appreciate all of the advice.
I found out today that I've been shortlisted for a new position. I meet the agency next week to discuss in detail and prepare for an interview with the hiring company.
At the moment my CV is seamless as I've been working part time/self employed for a software company for the last 2 months (I knew them and they did me a favour)
Looking at the dates on my CV, there is no gap so to all intents and purposes, the episode with the previous company never happened.
So I go to the interview and don't even mention it? I can't believe that I'm free and clear that easy.
Maybe I have an unconscious need to be punished for making a stupid mistake in the first place.:o