Do employers keep old applicationsFor how long to companies hold on to applications/resumes of applicants who were interviewed but didn' t get the job? Two years ago (beginning of ' 05), I interviewed for a position, but did not make it past the screening interview. In the application I filled out, I skipped the job I held in ' 03. My boss at that job was a complete jacka$$ and disliked me for no reason (someone later told me I looked like his ex-wife, and I' m thinking that may have been it). Anyway, I just did not get along with this person, and I did not think he would give me a good, or even an average reference. I know it sounds like a disgruntled employee blaming the boss, but he is the only boss I have ever had a problem with. He was just the most irrational, stubborn, self-absorbed person I had ever known. He was also famous for his talent for keeping grudges, and I knew that saying something nasty about a former employee "just ' cause he felt like it" was not beneath him. I also knew that even if I didn' t list him as a professional reference, he would still be contacted as my former manager, and the fact that I didn' t list him as a reference would only make the potential employers suspicious. So, I left that job out of the application listing only the jobs before and after that one. Now, this same company I interviewed with in ' 05 is advertising a position I like and want to apply to. Here' s where it gets tricky. The jerk from the other job has since been fired after getting into a public confrontation with the CEO (see, I' m not exaggerating when I say he is unstable), and my former co-worker from there who is also a good friend was promoted to his position. I know that she' ll give me a great reference. However, if they still have my application from 2 years ago, I' m going to have to leave that job off this time too, which is fine, but I need to know if that' s the case before I send them my resume and apply. So, do you think they still have that old application? They probably don' t still have it that far back. Whether they do or not, NEVER deliberately leave a job off your resume. You can explain a difficult boss, but you can' t explain lying on your application. That will absolutely get you fired if they find out. So, put it on and see how it flies. If by some chance they come back and ask about the discrepancy, you can probably address it as an oversight since it is on the new application (unless of course you changed dates to cover the gap). No, I did not change any of the dates. I just couldn' t afford at the time to engage in a lengthy job search, which could have been a potential consequence of my listing that psycho on the application, so I figured it would be easier to explain a 9 month gap in employment. As an applicant, you can really find yourself between a rock and a hard place if you' ve had a nightmare boss--can' t get a good reference if you list that job, and there is a risk of being fired later if you leave that job off the application and are found out. I' m just glad that wasn' t my first job out of college or, for lack of other references, I' d probably never work again after that. At least this way, I had other jobs I could talk about. Sorry, I see I said resume when I meant to say application. A RESUME can highlight your strengths and be in a number of formats that are very forgiving of issues like this. An APPLICATION always has phrasing like "last 3 jobs" or "all jobs last 5 years" or something like that. You have to do what the application says or you will be dumped out for lying. And in the future, potential employers can understand the odd psycho boss. If you know they' re going to contact former supervisors, you could say "If you contact Bob Brown as a former employer, I' m not sure what sort of reference he' ll give. He was very difficult to work with and was upset that I left. You can however talk to X, Y and Z who can verify my work records and attest to the fact that I' ve never had any other difficulty with any other employers...." | |
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