As someone who reviews resumes on a daily basis, I will tell you that it’s OK to leave some of your job history off of your resume. Say you’re a career dental professional with a long employment history. While it’s great to have that experience in your pocket, I’m really only interested in what you have been doing over the last ten years, and here is why: About ten years ago, dentistry kicked into high gear. Offices began transitioning from paper to paperless, and technology slowly but surely became the key to running a dental practice. So share your recent work history and skill set, but save the previous years for your cover letter. Your cover letter is where you share a brief narrative of your work history and how you got to where you are today.
We hear a lot of the same questions from job seekers when coaching them on their resumes.
“Should I add my job at Dr. Smith’s office on my resume? I only worked there four months.”
or
“I had an ethical disagreement with my employer, and we were in mutual agreement about my leaving. I feel like I will be given a poor reference. Can I leave this job off my resume?”
or this one
“I’m not too proud of the last office I worked at. It’s not seen in a bright light, and I don’t want to be affiliated with it. Is it OK to leave it off my resume?”
If you have a gut feeling to leave information off your resume, I say go with your gut. Just keep in mind you’ll need to be prepared to answer questions at the interview about gaps in your employment history. We all know the dental community – however spread out it is – is small. People know people, who know people, who know you. You must think this through and be prepared to answer questions if asked about work history and/or employment gaps.
Click the link below to read a great article from Forbes.com that gives reasons why it might be a good idea to leave that job you’re questioning off of your resume.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/05/02/five-good-reasons-to-leave-a-job-off-your-resume/#6950af073f10
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