If you were an employer and were considering someone for a clerical position and their resume was somewhat...?

Question

lengthy and you asked them to explain why they've never stayed at any one job for more than 3 1/2 years...and the reasons that they gave you were truthful although they may make the prospective employee look bad...the reasons being that a previous boss didn't like her on long-term temp job and so they hired someone else instead. The place before that...the office was chaotic and mismanaged and they were overhwhelmed because of the manager's poor management decisions which made the employee not even be able to keep up their own job because they were always filling in for others who were out and the office had just moved locations and the manager didn't even make sure the phones and computers were up and running before moving in...causing this person to have to spend a lot of time running back and forth from old to new office, taking calls/messages and in the meantime her work's piling up. Also: other employees were always late causing her to fill in until they arrived.

Also, so many of the other employees were unhappy and complaining all the time and fussing amongst one another constantly and the overall atmosphere pretty much sucked. Lots of backstabbing and gossiping. Horrible environment. This person that you're thinking of hiring did try to find another job a while before she quit, but eventually could no longer tolerate the behavior and felt out of place, so quit.

Answer 1

First off, I'm a recruiter/headhunter....I will share with you my opinion and explain how the agency I work for views these issues....To begin with, staying with a job for 3.5 years (these days), is totally acceptable. Hiring Managers (in general) consider a job hopper as someone who leaves in less than a year (or possibly every 2 years). I started in the work force over 20 years ago and believe me, life is totally different out there than it was when I first started off in the early 80's. Now, as to the reasons you can provide on an application (or if they ask over the phone or during an interview in-person), you need to get creative...you can say that your background wasn't a match, your skills/abilities weren't being put to the test, the commute proved to be too tiresome, you were using the temp job to gain more experience but weren't planning on making it a permanent job, ..but you need to deflect from the real issues. If you sound like a complainer, nobody will want to hire you. If you say negative things about Company ABC, your new/potential employer will wonder what you might say about them when you leave them in 1-2 years. There are issues at every job and no company runs perfectly. Personalities clash, bosses can be a pain in the you know what, you can find yourself working with very inexperienced people and it can be frustrating...there are always issues. But AGAIN, don't sound negative about any of your employers! Nobody cares! They just see you as a complainer and they won't have faith that you will remain with them (for a few years at least). If I review a resume of someone who has changed jobs 5 times in 5 years; I hit the delete button and go onto to the next resume of (hopefully) somebody more worthy. I suggest taking a visit to some of the job sites..they provide excellent information regarding how to answer these types of questions. Just remember, you want to be looked upon as a true "candidate"..... not merely as an "applicant".

Answer 2

Wayyyyyy too much detail and wayyyyyyyyyy to long. I have worked on two jobs in the past 29 years. When I was laid off from the last one after 18 years of service, my resume was one page with an attachment of references. I receive 6 offers for interviews within one week on Monster.com and was hired within the next week. Short and sweet. I have also found, and this is after not being in the "looking for new employment" section of the population for over 18 years, that having an interview via phone is very common practice now. I actually enjoyed it immensely.

If I received a resume such as you speak of, and I have hired many, many people during my career, I wouldn't give it a second glance. Sounds like too many excuses and blame. If you make excuses and place blame in a resume then you would do it on the job also. In fact I would probably continue to read it just for a laugh.

Answer 3

Let me start off by saying hi. I have my own business and I know from personal experiance from before I had my own business what you are talking about. Make sure your resume isn't too long. 1 to 2 pages Max. Only jot down recent work or important facts. Never put down another company no matter how bad they were or how bad a situation was there. When asked why you left you can always state that you moved, you wanted a change in career or in job discription. It doesn't hurt to stretch the truth. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

Regardless of it being lengthy, honesty says a lot about a person.....who would want to even try to make something like that up knowing how it could potentially harm her in the long run. I would rather have to hire and keep hiring honest people instead of a long term employee with a lot of problems. Sleep on it and do what feels right to you.

Answer 5

Keep the resume short. If they ask you why you left, just say it was a temporary position and you were hoping to go permanent, but they decided to end it (for the first one) and for the second, you wanted to find a more challenging position where you could use your talent. You don't even have to explain why you left before you found a job. If they ask you, just say that the timing was such that you wanted to take some time off and take care of family business and you could afford doing so. DON"T EVER TELL YOUR FUTURE EMPLOYER A STORY LIKE YOU DID HERE.

Answer 6

First off if you are the person in charge of hiring for your company and you need to ask complete strangers on what you should do based on a prospective applicant, then I feel sorry for the company that gave you this responsibility. Certainly, you are under qualified for the position based on asking what you should do. If this is the only person who applied for the position and they have the qualifications to handle the job then I guess hire that person but, if there are other applicants who are equally qualified then it should not be hard for you to figure out which person to hire. I don't know about you but, for me this is a simple solution to your dilema and asking random people of what you should do would not have been my route to resolving your problem.

Answer 7

When I'm hiring CNA's I make sure that the Rèsumè is ONE PAGE LONG. When I get 2 or even 3 pages of a Curriculum Vitae, I put it in the "circular file". (the trash!) I don't have time for all that reading!

Keep it condensed, short and sweet. Trust me, HR has no time nor the energy to read about your 1st babysitting job you had back in 1987!

Answer 8

Certainly don't give those reasons. They will make you seem like a complainer, though you aren't. I used to work in Human Resources. I suggest you check out the book, "What Color Is Your Parachute". There are some really good tips on how to answers questions regarding a high turnover in jobs that allow you to put yourself in a good light. Good luck. (and don't go back more than 10 years on your resume, anyway)

Answer 9

Too Long ... the possible employer doesn't need to know every aspect of your life. Just put it simple, do not complain if they ask why you quit the last job say it simply clearly and short. There is no need to explain everything to the last detail. It's boring and it only shows that you are not secure and trying to excuse your actions ...

Answer 10

OMG! well resumes are to be short and punchy. If the employer needs to know why they will ask, Don't make your resume more than 1 page. make the font smaller if you need to.


By the way... too much info in your question.


I bet you have high phone bills cause you like to talk alot......