CV - State reason for leaving each job?

unreggd

I've mainly worked retail, and the nature of this for me was lots of temp contracts / change of circumstances/hours

So the result is that I've worked with MANY different companies, and I think this comes across poorly with employers in the sense that I just leave jobs after a while all the time for invalid reasons

Is it generally advised to state reason for leaving on the CV, or explain in person in interview?


thanks!

fasttalkerchat

You could write Part time, Full time or fixed contract beside the job title. If none of the short jobs were Full time that would be all that matters.

dvpower

unreggd wrote: »

I've mainly worked retail, and the nature of this for me was lots of temp contracts / change of circumstances/hours

So the result is that I've worked with MANY different companies, and I think this comes across poorly with employers in the sense that I just leave jobs after a while all the time for invalid reasons

Is it generally advised to state reason for leaving on the CV, or explain in person in interview?


thanks!

Bad idea to put reasons for leaving on the CV. Your CV is supposed to give recruiters reasons to accept you for interview, not reject you.

If you've worked a lot of short term contracts, why not just state ("contract") beside the finish date.

unreggd

dvpower wrote: »

Bad idea to put reasons for leaving on the CV. Your CV is supposed to give recruiters reasons to accept you for interview, not reject you.

If you've worked a lot of short term contracts, why not just state ("contract") beside the finish date.

I know, but it seems to come as a shock at interview stage, and having no reason at all may come across as I just left for stupid reasons every time

beazee

I got an advice once from an interviewer to put "Reason for leaving: project completion" when a temp job finished within 6 weeks from start date.

It was obvious to question why such a short work term. Stating the reason for leaving seem to have helped my case.

tempura

I worked long and short term contracts for over 4 years. What i've done is put this in writing on my CV and then followed it up with a brief detail of experience gained in the roles, then a short bullet pointed list of some of the places you have worked for ( not all ) just the ones that would be more reputable.

This has made the few interviews i've had quite easy , as the the interviewer can at a glance pick out a company and fire a few questions about my time there.

I have not been asked reasons for leaving as it was clear from my CV that these were contracts.

unreggd

Well I drafted up a new copy with my work exp in a table format, with the reason for leaving stated

I left my 2 long term jobs to go back to college, everything else was a fixed term contract, and my last job I had to leave cos the manager wasn't paying us / sorting tax

I'm just concerned that if I state nothing, or a vague comment on my CV, I wont even get an interview

Mr. Loverman

Having many previous jobs can look bad. The employer may think you cannot commit to things (even if you feel you have valid reasons for leaving each job.)

It might be worth your while excluding any of the short-term positions (which weren't officially temp positions or contract positions) from your CV.

fasttalkerchat

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Having many previous jobs can look bad. The employer may think you cannot commit to things (even if you feel you have valid reasons for leaving each job.)

It might be worth your while excluding any of the short-term positions (which weren't officially temp positions or contract positions) from your CV.

They problem with that is you will have gaps which aren't good either. I wouldn't leave a gap longer than 6 months but obviously this depends on the type of job you're doing.

unreggd

Yeah that's what I'm weary of too

I've always worked retail, with one Admin contract

I explained the reasons for the job changes in my last interview, but he actually blatantly said that the issue is probably me

fasttalkerchat

unreggd wrote: »

Yeah that's what I'm weary of too

I've always worked retail, with one Admin contract

I explained the reasons for the job changes in my last interview, but he actually blatantly said that the issue is probably me

If you moved to another job because they offered more hours you can say that. If an interviewer asks about it tell them "I really enjoyed my job but it was hard to get more than my contract hours. I discussed this with my manager but unfortunately I had to take the offer from X company because they were offering X"
You can word that more eloquently yourself but you get the idea.

Working for many companies gives you more varied experience so you can talk about different challenges with eg. an independent retailer.

unreggd

I quit my 2 long-term jobs when I was back in college, because the hours clashed and there was zero flexibility

Job1: Sept - Sept
College 1: Sept - May
Job 2: May - Nov
College 2: Sept^


I've always been aware of how my CV looks, but I think I'm just overthinking it now after that bad interview

Suppose all I can do is be honest and hope my exp + skills show through


Cheers for all the feedback!

Mr. Loverman

How many different jobs do you have on your CV? How many of them are of short duration？

unreggd

9 jobs

3 were xmas contracts for <2 months, one was 4 months, and the admin role was 6months

I guess I can leave off the xmas contracts, but I included them because it was all clothing retail, related to the job I was applying for

fasttalkerchat

unreggd wrote: »

I quit my 2 long-term jobs when I was back in college, because the hours clashed and there was zero flexibility

Job1: Sept - Sept
College 1: Sept - May
Job 2: May - Nov
College 2: Sept^


I've always been aware of how my CV looks, but I think I'm just overthinking it now after that bad interview

Suppose all I can do is be honest and hope my exp + skills show through


Cheers for all the feedback!

On mine I have reasons for leaving as promotion, promotion, return to full time education, then I left a part time job because I moved house to be closer to uni.

Make sure you have solid reasons for leaving full time jobs.

fasttalkerchat

unreggd wrote: »

9 jobs

3 were xmas contracts for <2 months, one was 4 months, and the admin role was 6months

I guess I can leave off the xmas contracts, but I included them because it was all clothing retail, related to the job I was applying for

Leave out the christmas jobs from your career path but mention them where you talk about skills and experience "During 3 xmas holidays I worked at X where I learned... in a fast paced environment"