I started a job 3 weeks ago and will be giving my 2 weeks notice tomorrow.

47 Comments

1. AnonymousSeptember 15,2024 at 6:43PM UTC

   No background check will reveal this very temporary job and I would certainly leave it off your resume. 5 weeks is not long enough to contribute anything and it would bring up all sorts of questions that are not flattering or easy to explain away.

2. AnonymousSeptember 15,2024 at 7:35PM UTC

   That’s not what background checks are for or how they’re used.

   since you have a job lined up already displaying this very temp job on a resume probably won’t help you. It’s advisable to just leave it off and leave a gap and consider it unemployed/transition time going forward.

3. AnonymousSeptember 15,2024 at 10:35PM UTC

   Former recruiter here, add it. You have another job lined up so it obviously did not hurt you to leave so soon. Stay in this one at least 2 years. If anyone asks say the job was not a good fit and I learned I was not using my skills. It’s not a good idea to leave anything off a resume. In the future you can drop it as it will not be relevant. It is relevant within the next 2-3 years. Always be honest and transparent.

4. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 1:06PM UTC

   Current recruiter and leave it off. It’s 5 weeks and considered a bridge job. It’s does not go on a resume.

5. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 11:31AM UTC

   Why highlight a bad choice.

6. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 12:16PM UTC

   No.

7. Jacqueline CutlerSeptember 16,2024 at 12:24PM UTC

   No. Should anyone ask you just explain that it was so brief and a better match came along.

8. Megan LeasherSeptember 16,2024 at 12:50PM UTC

   I agree, leave it off and speak to it if someone asks.

9. GirlBossanova934974September 16,2024 at 12:58PM UTC

   Just leave it off your resume. And next time........Try and avoid this sort of thing. IF you are quitting a job after 5 weeks, there had to be some seriously wrong which you should be on guard for the next time aka asking tougher questions.

10. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 3:16AM UTC

    I was not told the truth about the job on the interview. That is the reason I am leaving so quickly.

11. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 1:23PM UTC

    Be careful and be prepared to be let go immediately.

12. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 2:12PM UTC

    Your resume is your story of your career and experience. Your application is a legal document. Don't lie or omit items from your application as this will be considered lying or falsifying and you can be let go in a heartbeat. Resumes are a summary/marketing tool of your history. It is there to get you in the front door to complete the sale.

    As someone said below, be prepared to be let go when you submit your resignation.

13. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 12:29PM UTC

    Leaving something off your resume js absolutely fine. Making things up, well that’s a different story.

    Leave it off since it was such a short stint; not a value add to your resume. And contrary to what most people actually think there is no record that a background check company is going to pull for every single job you’ve ever worked most companies do not have the money to go that in-depth on a background check for a job that pays under 6 figures. Trust me I’ve been doing this for 20 years as a recruiter and then Director of HR.

    In fact, I wouldn’t put something on my résumé unless I was at the company for at least a year… unless it was a contract position or working for a temp agency.

14. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 5:42PM UTC

    This confuses me. I’m considering restructuring my resume to only include the last ten years of work to try to counter ageism, as I have 20+ years of experience. I understand this is common for people over 40. Are you saying this could be legally problematic?

15. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 8:43PM UTC

    Thanks! I stand on the side of complete transparency but I see a lot of responses that say omit it. Interesting. I'm in contact with several HR Directors and will get their take as well.

16. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 8:44PM UTC

    It's standard new grads will stay 2-3 years (I'm in hire ed helping put students to work). But sounds like folks leave under 2 years now?

17. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 12:48AM UTC

    How did your notice go? Honestly, if I got 2 weeks notice from someone who'd only been with me 3 weeks, I'd tell them to go ahead and leave. There's very little value to keeping someone who was still learning the ropes for an extra two weeks. That would leave you with less than a month on the job and absolutely "leave it off" territory. Unless you're going for a top secret clearance, nobody will care.

18. LauraSeptember 17,2024 at 10:45PM UTC

    That actually happened to me a long time ago. I was hired at a company that had to get a security clearance for in the meantime they had me shredding all day in high heels and I wore contacts too. This was back when they could have a dress code of dresses only. After only a few weeks I couldn't take it anymore, so I turned in my notice without another job. They showed me the door.

19. marden928September 17,2024 at 12:23PM UTC

    Don’t put it on your resume, do share in a background check.

20. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 12:24PM UTC

    Director pf HR here….Leave it off your resume . Some recruiters will look at that and think you’re a “job hopper”, sadly. I wouldn’t but most do.

21. AnonymousSeptember 20,2024 at 3:04AM UTC

    Does the job need to go on my work application? I want to leave it off because I think it will bad.

22. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 12:58PM UTC

    i had a job for 5 weeks once and I've left it off my resume for years and years. No one ever asked or mentioned. it's just a bad memory, is all.

23. LivSeptember 17,2024 at 12:59PM UTC

    A regular background check might not, but something more detailed like a check for a federal and/or state job most likely will. I wouldn't list it, though, because I would definitely want to know what happened there.

24. Kaytlyn TomassiSeptember 17,2024 at 1:09PM UTC

    Leave it off. Most people won’t ask about the gap. If they do, I’ve heard someone explain it as they’ve only included jobs relevant to the position they’re applying for

25. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 1:16PM UTC

    your resume is a marketing document abt you- you do not need to add that job. I think purpose of a background ck is to see if you have a criminal record

26. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 1:31PM UTC

    No! The gap can easily be explained that you were unemployed and still job searching. Don’t ever mention the 5 week job ever again. Good Luck with your new job.

27. Steph McDonaldSeptember 17,2024 at 2:12PM UTC

    A background check WILL flag this role - any company that runs your social security number will see any companies that have paid you and withheld SS funds. Take it from a recruiter with hundreds of hires.

28. EMILY KIKUE FRANKSeptember 17,2024 at 2:22PM UTC

    You don't need to include it. Resumes are summaries, not legally binding documents. If they find it and ask you about it, you can just say you found something with better pay.

29. Michele HoraneySeptember 17,2024 at 5:13PM UTC

    Not only are resumes summaries, but functionally they are "advertising flyers" that are used to highlight the positive features you are selling to prospective employers. They are promotion vehicles. They are not CVs. That's another ball of more serious wax.

30. Maggie StoneSeptember 17,2024 at 2:54PM UTC

    I would not include it. However, I think the bigger question is why you are in a job that you feel you need to leave after three weeks.

31. Vivian LeeSeptember 17,2024 at 3:14PM UTC

    If someone was on Employment Insurance benefits, they would lose benefits by declining a job offer. Which makes it safer to take a survival job out of necessity.

    Or the “dream job” offer came as a surprise a few weeks later.

32. Rhonda MageeSeptember 17,2024 at 6:02PM UTC

    I’m sure there is a very good reason! She is not inviting our questions

33. Balanced372207September 17,2024 at 7:28PM UTC

    Obviously it isn't a good fit for her.

34. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 11:04PM UTC

    Employers also lie to you and hire you for jobs they know gonna end in a couple of months. Its happened with me multiple times. I was lied to in my last job, I was told by my employers that they have secured the project but when I joined the project I realized that they didn't had the project.

35. Celena BartonSeptember 17,2024 at 3:00PM UTC

    Definition not include it. It will be a big red flag to future employers.

36. GirlBossanova934974September 17,2024 at 4:25PM UTC

    After 40 years plus in the working world, I speak from EXPERIENCE. There were a few jobs that didn't work out as I found things were different than what I thought. On almost all those cases IF I had asked the TOUGH questions, I would have saved myself a lot of grief. That was what EXPERIENCE is all about. You realize that in order to be successful you will need resources. And if those resources are NOT mentioned or talked about, you better ask...........I found ONE STINKER just a week ago. After about 7 questions to the Hiring Manager, I realized she had no idea what she was doing! CLUELESS and yet someone had put her in charge. Needless to say, I think she figured I was on to her and declined my application. Saved me a ton of problems. The fact that her company was canceling job interviews left and right as they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, was another huge tip off.

37. Lisa WatersSeptember 17,2024 at 6:03PM UTC

    I think she means being let go immediately from the job she has been on for 3 weeks. She is still so new that they will probably consider it easier to just cut ties and get someone else in.

38. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 6:22PM UTC

    Don't list the current job on your resume. Unless you are asked about the job, don't bring it up at an interview.

39. Deb AllenSeptember 17,2024 at 6:47PM UTC

    No job is going to show up on a BG check, usually you fill out the form saying where you worked/for who/how long. If you leave it off your resume, you will need to leave it off of background check forms.

40. AnonymousSeptember 17,2024 at 7:12PM UTC

    I'd leave it off the resume - as others have said, your resume is a marketing document, not a legally binding document of every single job you've had.

    You may be asked for a further background check and it would come out in that, but you can always say something like you found something that better aligned with your skills/goals/whatever. I recently went through something similar where I was recruited for a role and actually used a reference who was from a job that is NOT on my resume or LinkedIn (it was toxic), and it all worked out.

    If my resume included every single job I've had, it would be 8 pages long and also subject me to ageism.

41. Susan MyersSeptember 17,2024 at 9:20PM UTC

    Past HR Director: Depending on the company that does the background check, the job could very well show up. I agree that a resume is a summary. DO NOT leave it off the application. If for some reason things are not working out, it could become a reason to let you go if it is not on the application. I have interviewed several candidates who have left off positions but I review the background carefully and question the candidates the reasoning for leaving it off the resume. Again not a big deal on resume but it is critical on the actual application as most applications ask a candidate to sign that the information listed is accurate.

42. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 3:02AM UTC

    I think listening to this person is wise. Resumes and applications are two different things. Never leave a job off of your application.

43. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 9:37PM UTC

    I absolutely agree. Most applicants do not understand the difference between the employers application and their resume. I think this difference is not explained or even discussed as much as it needs to be. I get the feeling most applicants are just annoyed by the perceived double work the employer is making them do.

44. AnonymousSeptember 19,2024 at 12:56AM UTC

    How does that happen? I've been told the background check should only confirm you worked at roles you listed. If literally anything where you were technically employed could show up, I may have a role show up that I started onboarding for and decided at 2 weeks was not the right fit--which is insanely awkward, obviously, and due to the timing of another job offer, I had no gap on the resume to explain.

    I never list that because it seems like that would only be a negative.

45. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 12:12AM UTC

    No. If the experience is not relevant, then don’t list it. There is no requirement to list every little thing you’ve ever done in your life. Your résumé should reflect the things you wish them to know about you. It is perfectly fine to take a “temporary “job to bridge the gap between your ideal positions.

46. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 2:56PM UTC

    Even if the experience is relevant, don’t list it - it’s a short time and it will raise too many questions on your resume

47. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 4:19PM UTC

    I wouldn’t. I have added a pause on resume ahead of time as I knew I would be asked. I just said Gap in employment due to family leave. It is enough information and asking for further information is inappropriate. It hard stops discussion ahead of time and no worries about having to explain.