Do you have to list every single position on a resume?
Hi everyone,
Just have a few questions regarding the background check process.
If given an offer, do you have to list every job you worked at on the pre-employment screening application? There are a few jobs I left off my Resume because they were temp jobs. How do the background check companies check your previous employers? Do they call what is directly listed on your application or do they do a some kind of scan to uncover your previous employers? I don't mind listing the temp-jobs, but would rather not have to if not required by law.
Thank you so much.
There is no resume law. Create a resume that matches each position you are applying to. Lets say you previously have worked at 5 marketing jobs and 5 mechanic jobs. If you were to apply to a marketing position you would include the relevant work experience on your resume.
Google: CV vs Resume
If your potential employer has a question about an item from your background check or not on your background check they will ask you to clarify. Unless you really screwed up, then they will avoid you.
I received a FT offer with a foreign bank in the US and there was no background check, I am sure this is the exception and not the norm though
Good resume advice I once got was: “the truth and nothing but the truth”
That is, you shouldn’t lie about anything, but no need to disclose everything either. There’s nothing in there about the “whole truth."
I am interviewing with a major financial services firm. I am pretty sure they do a very thorough background check and an FBI criminal background check. I am pretty sure they use Kroll or HireRight to screen candidates. HireRight has done a background check on me before and it was a living nightmare. They uncovered something from 15 years ago on my background, that I thought had been cleared. My offer was rescinded. Was awful, awrful. Needless to say, I just don't want to be any surprises on my 'application". I am pretty sure you can just have relevant history on your "resume." But when it comes to listing previous employers on the actual prescreen application, I think you have to, by law, list all jobs..even temp positions or short lived positions that were not a fit?? Thank you so much.
IMO the resume is a marketing document - leave out whatever you wish. When you get the offer, and if there is a background check, the agency may ask you for a list of all jobs and internships you have held including salary info and references.
Yes, thank you. That is what I am planning to do. If given an offer, I will list anything and everything that they ask for, and not omit anything. Will the actual firm though question why I left off jobs on my resume? Surely they understand that people don't report every position on their resume, especially if it was only a few weeks temp-position. But again, if requested, I will list everything on the pre-screen application. I think I will inform HR as well, and be upfront that there were a few jobs I had left on because they were irrelevant (short-term) to the job. I just hope that wouldn't disqualify me? ughhh so sorry, I am obsessing over this:( Thank you so much again.
Are you referring to a resume, or to online job application forms? I keep a lot off my resume but when I fill out online application forms I tend to add some back in.
I am referring to the online "pre-screen" application form, after you receive an offer. I am gathering it is ok to leave irrelevant jobs off a resume, but when asked to list jobs on the pre- screen application form, you must include all jobs, irrelevant or not?
Include all of them, especially if you've earned some form of income from them.
Yes, I will include all of them on the application form if given an offer. Thank you. I just was worried the company may question why I didn't include them on my resume?
I think that the best policy would be to actually call the company that does the checks, explain your situation and ask for a recommendation on whether you should list these temp jobs or not. Otherwise, I would list them and state that these were temp jobs.
On a resume you can list whatever you want. On a job application I would list any job that was taxed and for which there is a government record such as on a W2. I don't know exactly how the background check process works but I do know it is usually outsourced and I'm pretty sure the people doing it lean towards the incompetent/apathetic side.
I have being a tutor on my resume. It was organized by my high school through the National Honor Society. It was no paid and I have very few contacts, besides a select group of friends and teammates that I tutored. Will I have to get references for this?
No, I didn't get paid. It was more like an extra-curricular. I only listed as a volunteer experience because I also tutored friends, teammates, and family. So you're saying I don't have to worry about having this verified?
Understating Work Experience (for background check) (Originally Posted: 02/08/2013)
I was asked to provide past work experience in the last 5 years.
Can I only state those recent 2-3 experience listed on the CV?
I prefer not to list meaningless ones 4-5 years ago, especially when they are not relevant to the job, and the manager may have forgotten me.
Edit: Sorry forgot to mention this, but I am currently an undergraduate applying for internship. The work experience I am planning to omit are very short stints like job shadowing, part-time research attachment while studying etc.
Not sure how senior you are, but if you have 5 years of work experience you should likely list them. They check by cross referencing what you said with the HR team at your old firm, NOT your old boss.
Whether or not it is meaningful is subjective. If its not meaningful dont address it in the interview...that is very different that listing it on an application
Anyways, If you were on the payroll they can verify dates of employment pretty easily
I am actually an undergraduate. Can I not be bother with those work experience that are not stated in my CV? You see, if I declare them, then there will be more issues e.g. the agency have to check records There is no criminal record or anything that I wanna hide, but just that I don't want to deal with any hassle, seeing that these past experience are really not relevant to the job and just did for fun.
As an addition to the OP's question, if I have a research position on my resume that could be classified as either work experience or extracurricular, would it be wiser to classify it as extracurricular just so it doesn't get examined too closely? For what it's worth, I have nothing to hide, but I'm just an extremely paranoid person lol.
Should I include these jobs? (Originally Posted: 05/24/2009)
I have been a financial accounting tutor since january, should this be included?
Also, I did a 3 week stint at a major IT company, think EDS/Microsoft/Unisys/Oracle as a systems intern, should I include this as well or just keep it relevant?
im guessing you're gunning for an IB position. If you think you can reasonably fit it in and it wouldn't look out of the ordinary then yea. it really depends on what kind of past work experience you've had and the overall strength of your resume. IT and Financial accounting tutor looks great for someone as a freshman. but if you're a junior or anything above i guess just keep the financial accounting tutor thing bc it should'nt take that much space.
Right now I'm a sophomore in a middle office credit risk position. That's about the only relevant experience I have so was planning on padding out the work experience section with these items.
I guess I will post a full resume later.
Should I include this experience? (Originally Posted: 01/22/2012)
Hi guys,
So I was a SA at a BB but due to personal issues, I had to leave the firm after two weeks. Naturally, I wasn't offered a FT offer.
Should I include the fact that I did two weeks at the firm on my resume? (didn't do much work except shadowing and go for training).
Personal issues aside, you're asking about listing two weeks of training. I think you know the answer.
What was the personal experience?
Best not to. However, as long as your "personal issues" do not make you look bad, you could always bring it up during an interview
Best not to get into any situation you can't control, or at least dictate, the outcome of. Besides, I'm sure there is something else he/she could put instead.
NO
for sure don't
Not including a job on my resume? (Originally Posted: 10/02/2014)
I graduated college in May of this year, and I'm currently working at a job that's not exactly in finance, and am trying to land an IB job asap. If I quit my current job this month, I will have worked here for 3 months.
My issue is this: there is a good chance that I may work at my next finance job for less than a year (due to Visa issues). If that were to happen, I would obviously want to avoid having 2 short job stints on my resume, since that is obviously a red flag. One solution to this is if I chose not to include my first job in my resume. Could someone tell me about the risks and possible repercussions of doing this?
Thanks!
Why do you need to quit the current job? Hard to give a definite answer without knowing that.
Because I'm trying to get into IB
You don't have to list any job. There is no resume Law, firms can't review your tax return.
anyone else have any thoughts on this?
You have to leave due to Visa issues? Are you on OPT which is running out next year? If so, not sure that making the jump locally would be great for you unless they can place you somewhere else.
You can leave it out, unlikely that background checks would pick it up - but can never say. You can always put "2014-2015" on your resume later on.
You don't have to include anything you don't want to on your resume. You don't have to put your school or work experience, or anything. You just CAN'T lie or overly fluff it. Don't extend employment dates to try and hide it.
Include Brief Work Experience? (Originally Posted: 06/05/2009)
I graduated from undergrad in '07. Upon graduating, I began working at an asset management firm as a junior research analyst (generalist). Less than three months into the job, I was contacted by a hedge fund with whom I interviewed during the prior school year and was obviously rejected from. I was told that they were interested in hiring another analyst and I inevitably ended up switching firms.
I'd appreciate any advice on whether or not I should include my brief experience with the asset management firm. If I were to not include it, my only relevant experience would be the hedge fund (I didn’t do any finance-related internships while in school). As it stands, 3/4ths of my resume is dedicated towards highlighting my current job. Downsides I can think of include: 1. it may look strange only having one source of work experience (regardless of the fact that I am less-than-two years out of school; and 2. it would likely make for a harder interview when going over my background (of course this would be irrelevant if leaving it off produces more interviews. Downsides associated with including it are: 1. appears as though I jump ship easily; and 2. my role at the asset management firm was less signficant than that at my current fund.
I’ve asked a few other people for their advice on the issue and I’ve gotten mixed results. I didn’t think posting the actual resume was necessary, but if it is please let me know and I will do so.
Thanks
It's important for your to current job to take up most of the space for the reasons you already give. But I would definitely put the asset man. job down because it adds color to your resume - it will explain the time gap and the more experience the better. Recruiters know people change jobs all the time and you can always explain it.
Chase Us, Break In http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/
I am in complete agreement on this one. State it!
Not listing a work experience? (Originally Posted: 01/02/2008)
I'm applying to a BB in IBD for a SA position. I worked at this BB my sophomore year but didn't get an offer to come back for junior year. Is it ok to not list this on my resume? I'm applying to a different division and region this time
You should absolutely include the W/E for two reasons:
1) It acknowledges that you have BB experience and that you are employable in that type of environment 2) It is easily explained away by stating that the offer rate was low and that you still received very positive feedback
Does it suck that you were not asked back? Yes, but it is not the end of the world and in no means a significant deterrent from a future opportunity. Good luck.
Agree with JBS, you should absolutely include it. Keep in mind that you're competing against juniors at target schools with great extracurrics and great GPAs. The one thing that most of these kids won't have is relevant finance or banking work experience. You have that.
Also, you're just trying to get in for the interview. You can explain why you didn't get an offer or prove that you should have received an offer, but absolutely put it on your resume to secure those interviews.
Yeah, definitely list your experience. They might not know you were not offered to return, especially since you are applying to another division. They might assume you turned down a potential offer to apply for this new division.
agree with the above - also, if you had a good relationship with your former supervisors, you may be able to get them to give you a rec which would def help.
is there a reason why you didnt get an offer to come back?
Thanks! Good to know...
Officially I was told I couldn't come back because of "hiring needs"
Unofficially, the analysts I worked with told me a pretty senior Vice President we worked with exclusivly thought I was "fake" (wtf, am I supposed to tell you that I think you suck??). He was actually let go from the bank in Oct though
"Unofficially, the analysts I worked with told me a pretty senior Vice President we worked with exclusivly thought I was "fake" (wtf, am I supposed to tell you that I think you suck??). He was actually let go from the bank in Oct though."
This furthers the case for leaving it on your resume. If asked, provide the interviewer with the contact information of someone you know who will vouch for you. Good luck.
"Unofficially, the analysts I worked with told me a pretty senior Vice President we worked with exclusivly thought I was "fake" (wtf, am I supposed to tell you that I think you suck??). He was actually let go from the bank in Oct though."
This furthers the case for leaving it on your resume. If asked, provide the interviewer with the contact information of someone you know who will vouch for you. Good luck.
"Unofficially, the analysts I worked with told me a pretty senior Vice President we worked with exclusivly thought I was "fake" (wtf, am I supposed to tell you that I think you suck??). He was actually let go from the bank in Oct though."
This furthers the case for leaving it on your resume. If asked, provide the interviewer with the contact information of someone you know who will vouch for you. Good luck.
I'd say sophomores in banks are a reasonably scarce enough group that not being asked to come back for further years is not an auto-ding, or even close enough to a dent that you shouldn't list it. All the sophomores I have known in summer positions have sorta made it themselves, in unstructured/nontraditonal ways such that being asked back and good performance are not necessarily correlated.
Leaving job off of resume (Originally Posted: 03/12/2007)
Would leaving a past internship off of your resume be considered unethical and potentially result in a lost job offer? I accepted an internship at a West Coast BB for the summer, but am nervous about the background check. I was suspended from school for a year, and I structured my resume so that recruiters could not tell this. I left an internship off because it occurred during my time away from school and was not located in the city of my school - interviewers almost certainly would've put two and two together and asked why I was in a different city while school was in session. At no point, however, did I lie either on my resume or in the interview. Will this omission be a problem - I fully intend to disclose the job during the background check so will the firm check my past jobs against what I listed on my resume? Please advise, as I'm freaking out I'm gonna lose my internship over this. Thanks.
Its not the fact that you are leaving out a job. Its the fact that you were suspended from school for a year and they didn't know that when they made the offer.
Whether thats a problem, I couldn't tell you, but that part is more serious than the job.
I understand that could be a concern. But I don't know that its my responsibility to bring it up to them during an interview. I fully intend to disclose it and at not point did I lie. If anyone had ever asked about it during the interview process, I would've openly discussed it. Plus, the suspension was not anything that would call into question my ability to do the job.
you are fine.
leave that sucker out.
This poster doesn't know what he's talking about. Being suspended from school is not a problem. It's not something you have to disclose in the interview process, just as I didn't disclose my activities during my freshman summer (getting drunk and partying with friends).
You're also not obligated to list every job you held. It's your choice as to how you present yourself, and if you feel like leaving a job off the resume, that's your decision. I had a job that I left off, because I didn't feel it was relevant. As long as you didn't outright change dates and cities on your resume, you've got no problem at all. Frankly, I wouldn't disclose either the suspension or the other job.
If they do happen to ask for your transcript at some point, however, you'll probably want a story to go along with that year-long absence in coursework.
just don't bring it up...why are you trying to shoot yourself in the foot?
Alternative: you could say that you took a semester off for work experience - that might sound very goal-oriented. they will think you believe in delayed gratification = mature.
But my transcript also says SUSP at the bottom (and obviously there is a year gap if you look at the dates closely). Should I assume that they will notice this and be upfront about it, or should I not mention anything? Would they even care if they did see it - again it doesn't in any way reflect my ability to do the job? I talked to my school about this and they said the only thing employers and business schools call about is to verify graduation, and never about specific issues on the transcript. Thoughts?
True...I doubt they will look at your transcript in detail (although some do)...so like I said, just don't bring it up then - no point in committing suicide.
Does Mbb check every employer on your resume? (Originally Posted: 02/18/2018)
I’ve recently been offered a position at an MBB... not in a consulting role but in a support role for another department. I am about to start the background process and wondering what to expect. Do you fill out forms online with previous employer contact details etc or speak to hr? Do they check back more than 5 years for jobs?
On my cv, a job I had finished in April 2012, I put as ended in July 2012 (started the role in Feb 2011.) I took a month off work before starting my next role but thought it looked back.
All credit, criminal, education statements on cv are all clear and true. But now feel stupid for not just putting the right dates on that job! Should I bring it up now or wait until the background check shows it, as they migh not check every job.
Excuse me?
Didn’t read but took the time to comment...
What's your problem?
.
Puppet
Omitting previous IB experience on resume - auto ding? (Originally Posted: 05/07/2013)
I have received a résumé from someone seeking to lateral into investment banking after doing a year of what looks to be corporate banking type stuff (asset-based lending, syndicated loans, etc.) at BoA. One of colleagues recognized the person's name - they were in the same IB summer analyst class at a top-tier bank. For some odd reason, however, this kid decided to leave out this previous IBD SA experience. The only thing under work experience is the one year of corporate banking...
Perhaps I am being overally cynical, but it appears this guy is trying to pass himself off as a "career changer" with no previous IB experience. One reasonable speculation I can make is that this kid did his SA stint, wasn't able to convert it to a full-time offer (my colleague - who did receive a return offer, but then signed full-time at our current bank - told me the conversion rate that year was on the low end ~60%) then settled for corporate banking.
This person's resume is otherwise pretty good. My colleague who interned together with him tells me that he hasn't spoken with the guy since their internship ended, but he remwmbers him being a chill guy to be around during their internship. I am leaning towards giving this guy the benefit of the doubt, but I can't quite get over why he would purposefully hide his previous IB experience?
What do you think? Is this a red flag or am I just being overally cynical?
You'll only know if you interview him.
I agree with the above poster. Interview him and ask him about internship experience. If he doesn't bring it up at that point he probably has something to hide.
Interview him. If he blatantly spins himself as a career changer then ding him. Or better yet bring it up if you want to be a dick about it. For all you know he just thinks internships are meant to be left off your resume once you've been working FT for a bit and he'll bring it up himself in his story.
Good point above, after college I stopped listing internships even when I was only one job out.
Give him a shot. It has only been one year out of college. Yeah maybe he made a mistake during his internship but people learn from mistakes. He could've also left it out since he may think listing internships on a post-grad resumes serve no purpose.
if chances are not taken/given, most of us would not be in the industry
I agree give him a shot.
Whats wrong about spinning things by omitting the internship? Banking is all about spinning things for your advantage. Nothing wrong in trying to sell yourself as long as you are not directly lying i.e. when asked about the internship denying it.
Deo et Patriae... is that name in re: to a particular NYC high school perhaps? Hoot hoot
Pretty interesting to hear that some folks leave out their internships even after being one year out of college.
Yeah, I’d probably think the same way - think the kid was purposely not including the IB summer thinking people might assume he didn’t get a return offer. To the above point, I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong (it’s not a lie). So long as if you ask and he’s truthful then it’s fine.
If I were him I’d leave it in though. Yes, maybe he couldn’t convert it to FT offer. But maybe it was just culture/fit. And you can talk to that. Also, them having done banking, and wanting to return means they are aware of the hours and sacrifice (and are not going into it blind), and they are aware of the expectations. At least, as an interviewer, I would see it as a positive provided he tells a good story and appears legit when we test on technicals.
Leave internship off resume? (Originally Posted: 01/05/2018)
Question for you guys..I’m 3 years out of school about.. and currently at my second company. I interned with a multifamily slumlord small firm that no one knows of in my senior yearI did basically nothing besides search in MLS and basic market research, collect rent and property management BS complaints. I also had a bad experience with the two principles. I do however still keep in touch with another intern I worked with.
Right now I took the internship off. Should I put it back on and “fluff” the market research and analysis and just use the other intern as a reference if needed?
What kind of bad experience?
If you want to take it off, take it off. I think if you put it on there and give an honest (not fluffed) description of what you did, no one is going to call your former bosses about it.
Leaving out work experience with government in resume??? (Originally Posted: 12/18/2017)
I worked as an intern for a department in the government during my UG.
I was wondering if I should leave that out of my resume when applying for IB postions??
you should leave it in. government positions are legitimately looked very highly upon in banks
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