On my resume, is it ok to include certifications I got for a scribe job I was fired from?

Question

Background: I am a pre med student/biology major in undergraduate year of university. I was recently fired from a scribe job because my training progress was slow. I had three other classes in my college semester so my studying time was already crunched and my mother died earlier this year so I was already having a hard time just trying to study everything. I'm thinking that I may have bit off more than I could chew at this time and as a result I did not do as great as I wanted to do with my training.

My training progress as a scribe was slow. I was fired during my last training session. Yet I have a certification for scribing from the training that we did, and even though I am not going to list the scribe job on my application, I want to at least put my certification in my education and job training section. Is it still possible to include my certification but not list the company I was terminated from? And to include my training in my education experience but list it at the hospital but again, not the company? When anyone asks I plan to explain that college classes had to come first or something.

Sorry to hear about your mother's passing. Are you saying that you were in the process of getting a certification and during that you got fired? Does that mean you don't have the certification? Unless you are able to get another attempt, I wouldn't even mention it. If you are currently attempting to retry, I would mention that, "attempting to get my X certification, expected Month of YYYY." — Dan, Dec 12 '17 at 17:05
You may expect some questions about when you did the certification and what the motivation for it was. Also, Is it OK to leave very short-term employment off my resume? Can I omit previous work experience from future job applications and my resume? — Bernhard Barker, Dec 12 '17 at 17:43
How are the company and certification related other than by time? — , Dec 12 '17 at 22:10

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 12 '17 at 17:02

I am a pre med student/biology major in undergraduate year of university. I was recently fired from a scribe job because my training progress was slow. I had Three other classes in my college semester so my studying time was already crunched but I wanted to take this opportunity and went for it. I have to mention that My mother died earlier this year so I was already having a hard time just trying to study everything but I still tried none the less because I didn't want my grief and stress to control me and I am kind of under pressure from my family. When they found out they were really proud of me so I had to keep going even though it is a tough year. I'm thinking that I may have bit off more than I could chew at this time and as a result I did not do as great as I wanted to do with my training. But we will get to the question now, I just wanted to explain where I'm coming from. My training progress as a scribe as I already mentioned, was slow. I was fired during my last training session. The thing is that I have a certification for scribing from the training that we did, and Even though I am not going to list the scribe job on my application for obvious reasons, I want to at least put my certification in my education and job training section. Is it still possible to include my certification but not list the company I was terminated from? and to include my training in my education experience but list it at the hospital but again, not the company? When Anyone asks I plan to explain that college classes had to come first or something or some projects came up? I just need advice on how to tailor my resume. I appreciate any help. Thank You. Also If you need me to explain something I will do the best that I can.

You have a certificate so list your certificate. It's pointless to put that as experience as you were not hired to do the job. I'd say you should just explain that you had to drop non-curriculors due to your study load. Being pre-med they'd understand. It's not like your a Norwegian Middle Ages Pottery Major or something.

what is the point of the giant quote? – Kate Gregory Dec 12 '17 at 17:05 — Kate Gregory, Dec 12 '17 at 17:05
@KateGregory the user is too low-rep to suggest edits? – Ben Barden Dec 12 '17 at 17:09 — Ben Barden, Dec 12 '17 at 17:09

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 12 '17 at 17:01

0

Many resumes contain a list of certifications, or something similar. If you put it there, it'll be on the resume, but not so prominent that people are likely to ask where you got it. The fact that you were taking college courses at the time should let you avoid the appearance of a hole in your history.

Note that you will want to be able to provide some form of evidence that you have that certification. If you can't do that without bringing in the whole story, it might be better to leave it off.

answered Dec 12 '17 at 17:01

Ben Barden

21,301
9
52
63

Keep in mind when employers verify previous employment, the previous employer will typically say to the effect of, "X was let go of for performance reasons." They wouldn't get into much detail about the circumstances or how far along they got with a certification. If anything, it might be better to use someone as a reference who can vouch your training progress and simply say due to this person's mother passing, they couldn't complete it. – Dan Dec 12 '17 at 17:09
@Dan the point is, they want to include the cert, but don't so much care about including the experience. Certs don't generally require references so much as verification. – Ben Barden Dec 12 '17 at 17:17
As far as what I can gather, the OP didn't get a certification because of being let go of. So by calling the previous employer, chances are they won't discuss the certification but the fact the person was let go of. That's why I'm suggesting a reference may be a better idea so it can be said the certification was going but unfortunately cut short. – Dan Dec 12 '17 at 17:47
@Dan - "Yet I have a certification for scribing from the training that we did" suggests that you are incorrect in your interpretation. – Ben Barden Dec 12 '17 at 18:44
I have the document of my certification on my computer so I'm going to attach it to my resume as a pdf file. – Maddie Dec 12 '17 at 19:51
@Maddie - that shouldn't be necessary, unless you're really interested in scribe jobs, and your resume is painfully weak without it. Just keep it safe (keeping a backup on a thumb drive or some such might be good) and be prepared to produce it on demand. – Ben Barden Dec 12 '17 at 22:07

On my resume, is it ok to include certifications I got for a scribe job I was fired from?

2 Answers2