Listing past employers

[DrParasite]

Had an interesting experience 2 weeks ago. Was interested in a side job, and emailed my resume to the mayor's office, who forwarded it to the EMS administrator for the City. The admin loved my resume, and called me wanting to set up an interview immediately, to which I scheduled with her 2 days later.

Now, my resume is 1 page long, and lists my last 3 employers going back 8 years (2 of whom were FT, one was a part time supervisor/coordinator position that I currently hold).

That all being said, when I went for the interview, i was about 30 minutes early, so her assistant gave me an application to fill out, which l did while I waited for the admin to arrive. The application asked me to list all my previous employers, so i listed the 3 on my resume, as well as my first per diem EMS job, and another per diem job that I was at for a little more than a year. I also talk with some of the staff, to see what they thought of the place (something that I think is the best way to do research on if a place is good to work for or not).

When the admin looked at my application, her first reaction was "well, you seem to have quite a few short term employment periods, which might be a problem in getting you hired." I was like "one was my first employment opportunity, which i left when I was offered a better job at a better EMS agency that paid more and had more chances for advancement. and the other one was just a per diem job, that I left when I accepted a full time position at my current job." she seemed satisfied, and said she would submit my app to her higher ups for consideration.

I have since decided not to take the job, because she told me (DURING MY INTERVIEW) that another agency was hiring, and when I contacted them about a position, was told this place is going to pay me more and give me more flexibility in what I can do (and doesn't have the horror stories that many close friends told me about the first agency).

but the question becomes 1) if an employment application asks for ALL your employment history, should you include per diem or part time positions that weren't all that long term and 2) if you have multiple employers on your resume, how short is too short of an employment time frame to list on a job application?

 

[Handsome Robb]

Personally I think you should. Make it a point on the application that it was per diem/PRN employment though. Like the women who looked at your application said, lots of short period employment doesn't look good for you. No one wants to hire someone who can't or wont hold a job. However if you can explain it or have a good reason for it on the application or in person I don't think you should omit it from your app.

I had a similar issue on past interviews since most of my previous employment was seasonal so I had employment changes every 5-6 months and sometimes with gaps in between employment. Easily resolved when I explained that it was seasonal employment. It also helps that seasonal employment is common in my area but still did raise some questions.

As far as too short to list I'd say anything under a month or if you didn't complete your orientation/FTO time. That's more EMS specific though.

 

[MMiz]

I had this same exact issue last week. HR called me in about my application and asked that I list every job and every address. Having lived in dorms and college apartments that changed often, it wasn't easy.

 

[DrParasite]

No one wants to hire someone who can't or wont hold a job. However if you can explain it or have a good reason for it on the application or in person I don't think you should omit it from your app.

Yeah, my employment was from 2005 to 2011, and 2008 to present, and 2010 to present, which my first EMS job (longer than 3 months in college) was in 2005, and a per diem job sometimes in 2007 for 13 months.

In an interview, it's easy to explain, but when someone just looks at the application, and ends up drawing conclusions based on inaccurate information (which can happen when you just submit a resume and don't talk to someone), you can get screwed, esp if HR doesn't just deal with EMS and goes by normal business standards.

Like I said, my resume just lists the long term jobs, and the Administrator loved it, it was only when I added "all my past employment" (which didn't even include all my jobs, just enough to fill the spots they had) did she begin to reconsider her initial comments about me.

 

[mycrofft]

THIS is why computer staffing computer programs are causing problems. Had a story on NPR a couple weeks ago I think.

I'm a little puzzled that the administrator was saying this to you.

Mine is funny because other than the County all my references from prior jobs are deceased, moved, out of business, etc. My military unit has undergone at least 100% turnover and changed its name, and moved. My second to last program administrator was run out by a grand jury. So....(