Lying by OmissionI was recently offered, and accepted, a new job. My potential employer is doing the background check and will contact me in 1-2 weeks after the screening is complete. The problem is the last job I held ended horribly (I was only there six months), so I left it off my resume and didn' t mention it in my interviews. Prior to that, my work history is stellar. My question is: will that prior employer show up in my background records? In retrospect, I should have included it...but it has nothing to do with the position I was applying for and since I had a fallout with my old manager, I felt it best to leave it off. Now I' m petrified if it shows up on my records, they will take back the offer. Yes, well...I see... In my opinion every job you have had is part of your working history and it should be mentioned in your CV, no matter what. Otherwise, it is replaced by a gap in employment, which is not good either. However, no law sais you have to explain the reasons for which you have been fired (or you have resigned), so, you are clean from this point of view. I would think that as a matter of employer practice and policy that your references and work history would have been checked prior to the offer being made. The background check they are talking about needing to complete may be a criminal background check which can take up to two weeks. Unless your most recent job ended with you being carted off to jail because of something that happened at the job site, I don' t think a criminal check would reveal that employer. If the background check is to do with references, then the employer is probably going to check with the companies you listed. The only way that I can think that your new employer would know that you ommitted an employer is if they have they are told. I know that there is a computer system that is used to track people down by their social security numbers and displays all past reported jobs (jobs where income tax is deducted) but that is a specialized system and is not generally used to find out if someone has left something off their resume. (Side note: I used this system as a tool to track down deadbeats who didn' t pay their child support.) If the job was not related to what you are doing now, then it is perfectly fine to keep it off your resume. If you were never asked about those six months or never asked whether you worked anywhere else or never signed an application stating that you reported all of your jobs, you didn't do anything wrong. There are different ways an employer can find out about previous, unreported jobs. A credit check can list your previous jobs especially if you applied for credit cards or loans while you worked at that job. Another way is that if you told your employer prior to the six month job where you were going, someone checking that reference could ask "where did greenismycolour go after she left your company?" So, you should be ready to answer if your prospective employer brings it up and you will have to address why it ended badly. You're allowed to present yourself in the best light possible on your resume meaning you can pick which employers to list on it. Leaving out some employers that aren't relevant to your job search isn't lying. It's the job of your potential new employer to find out all they can about you through an interview plus an application. I wouldn't sweat it. If your previous employer mentions that you left them for another job during a reference check, and if you have omitted that last job from an application that required you to list ALL of your recent jobs, admitting to having left a job off the application and explaining why it ended badly may not be an option. If you do, you would be admitting to lying on an application, which is grounds for dismissal. What you could do, however, is say that while you did indeed tell your previous employer that you were leaving to take another job, that opportunity actually ended up falling through (position was eliminated, offer was rescinded, they hired an internal candidate, etc--use your imagination). So, while what you told your then employer was true at the time you said it, the other job never actually materialized. Because of _________ (list your reason for leaving your next to last employer), you still felt that it was best for you to leave at that time and put all of your time and effort towards conducting a full time job search, which you did. Unless you live in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone' s business, or are in a very small industry, you should be fine, as long as that job does not show up on your credit report. References can be mistaken, circumstances can change (you may leave in order to take another job, but change your mind and end up taking a sabbatical instead), people often don' t tell their current employers their real reason for leaving (e.g. you can' t exactly say to your employer "I' m leaving because you are a giant @$$", even if that' s indeed the reason). If this is the only red flag in your entire background check, and if you handle yourself with confidence when/if asked for an explanation, it shouldn' t be a big deal. If you didn' t fill out and sign an application requiring that you list all of your recent experience starting with the most recent job, then you don' t have anything to worry about at all. IF the job application asked for "all jobs last 5 years" or "last 3 jobs" or some statement where this job SHOULD have been included and you didn' t list it, AND, IF they find out, you' re toast. Even if they find out after you start- you' ll then have another firing to explain. You do not need to list every job on your resume, however, you DO have to follow the rules on the application. I' m also betting there may have been a question on there like "were you ever involuntarily terminated from an employer?" Will they find out? Who knows? But it is incredibly easy for this to slip out. What did you tell them you were doing for 6 months? What did you tell the employer before that about why you were leaving and where you were going? Do any of your references know you worked there? Did you apply for any sort of credit while you worked there (will show on your credit report if so)... etc. Next time, don' t be stupid and lie about things that aren' t even important. Instead, just say, this job was not a good fit, take responsibility for that and move on. | |
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