-3

I was at a job for about 10 months five years ago. I was terminated for a "he said, she said" disagreement with someone I worked with only one day. She had been there for nearly 10 years and so they took her word over mine.

Today I had a job interview and didn't list that job on my application/resume and was asked about the gap in employment. Luckily I had an answer - I was in my final year of graduate school.

The two interviews went very well and I was told they would do a criminal background check and call my references today. The assistant manager said I would likely be asked to come in tomorrow for a final interview after all of this was done and be offered a position at that time. No promises, but that is how he put it.

This job is with a large retail business that employs thousands of people all over the world and my position would be entry level.

Neither of my references have been called today. Does this mean they found out I omitted that job from my application? If applying for a job, should I be listing this on my resume?

jmort253
  • 11,416
  • 5
  • 58
  • 83
Jamie
  • 41
  • 3

2 Answers2

6

How would you expect them to find out about that job from five years ago? Do you have that job listed elsewhere, like on LinkedIn, Monster, etc.?

"None of your references were called today" - so they will be called some time within the week. Big deal.

The background check? They want to find out if you did time in the Big House.

Frankly, if you had been fired five years ago, it's water under the bridge unless the reason you were fired is part of your criminal record.

StackExchange What The Heck
  • 5,425
  • 7
  • 37
  • 52
Vietnhi Phuvan
  • 72,342
  • 8
  • 133
  • 268
5

You are not required to include ALL your previous jobs on your resume. A resume is a short, summary - type document that highlights your capabilities, not your life's history.

That said, it is likely that you will be asked to fill out a form of some sort that does include ALL the positions you held in the last X years (in addition to degrees/etc.), and sign that it is accurate - errors on that form would be grounds for not hiring or dismissal. It is not clear in your question if this was a part of the application or not.

References not being called isn't a sign of anything, good or bad. It's good to have them, but sometimes people don't need (or have) the time to make a decision and will simply decide whom to hire based on the interviews.

user2813274
  • 1,444
  • 2
  • 15
  • 25
  • In some countries (mainly Germany) you are required to include absolutely everything in your resume/CV. – Juha Untinen Sep 06 '14 at 08:02
  • @JuhaUntinen That is a good distinction to make, I was unaware of it - how long are German resumes typically? And how is this enforced? While it is implied that it should be accurate, how is one to know that they included everything that a potential company may want included on it? – user2813274 Sep 07 '14 at 02:23
  • I'm not sure about pure German CVs, but the standardized European Union CV (Europass CV, http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae) is 5 pages long for me (4 years working experience, a few years of summer jobs, some freelance work, and practical training in two degree programmes). It is also a complete listing, and I suspect it is chiefly of German origin. – Juha Untinen Sep 08 '14 at 08:46
  • 1
    The chief enforcement is through applying for jobs. If you have gaps in your resume, you might even be disqualified. You must clearly list that you were unemployed/on vacation/whatever (that is not an issue, you just need to list it - I guess it's a tradition there). – Juha Untinen Sep 08 '14 at 08:50