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I really couldn't remember the exact start/end dates, so they're pretty much estimated. If these are discrepancies, they are subtle ones. I'm not trying to exaggerate anything I simply didn't know the exact dates. How much weight do hiring managers put in background checks if you say you worked up until December when you actually stopped working around mid-November?

I've applied at a bunch of places, and I'm not sure if I should even mention it.

Edit: The job was an internship that lasted a few months. The jobs I'm applying for are entry level positions.

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  • Don't you have monthly payslips or tax documentation for the change of jobs that would have a definite answer? You could always call HR at the old employer to check: they'll be able to tell you exactly what they'd tell a background checker so it would be consistent. I'd think one discrepancy might be OK, but if all of your entries are wrong that'd look suspicious - but I don't really know how seriously they'd take that.
    – Rup
    Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 1:14
  • This is for an entry level job, I'm still in college. So I'm experiencing growing pains from the job search. I never thought an exact match would be so necessary. Lesson learned.
    – barry784
    Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 2:20
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    I'm not sure but I really wouldn't overreact to this. Maybe just correct it and move on.
    – user42272
    Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 4:21
  • Ditto: if it's for an entry level job I'd be surprised if they run much of a background check at all. If it looks like you're trying to deceive them then it's a problem, else don't worry.
    – Rup
    Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 6:52
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    A month's difference is unlikely to be a deal-breaker but it's impossible to say what any given company or background check cares about. Beyond that I'm not seeing an answerable question.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 11:24

2 Answers 2

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It's very unlikely to matter. While it's impossible to rule out somebody caring about this somewhere, I don't think this is something to worry about.

The primary concern with dates not matching up in your resume would be falsification of your work history. An inaccuracy of a few weeks in the end date is not plausible as a falsification, because what difference does it make? Especially when we are talking about an internship that is a short-term position anyway.

I also would expect discrepancies like this to be fairly common, because many people will be going from memory when putting down their dates of employment, and may mis-remember.

For an internship, they may not even check.

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  • If you said you worked someplace 10 years and really it was 3 weeks, that would be a problem. It would certainly look like you were trying to inflate your experience. If you said 10 years and 9 months and really it was 10 years and 8 months, I'd be surprised if anybody made a big deal about it. There'd be nothing to be gained by making such a lie, so employers would likely conclude it's just a mistake. I suppose if they found you had many mistakes on your resume, they might start getting concerned that you're careless. I'd certainly fix the problem, but I wouldn't obsess about it.
    – Jay
    Commented Nov 7, 2016 at 22:28
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Agreeing with dan1111, It is unlikely to matter.

I suspect you are a bit afraid of considerations based on your CV, and it is most possibly coming from early fair inexperience (approx. below 2 years of employment). Don't worry! It is not your +/- weeks of employment that matters, but the complexity and quality of work you did in this time. One can be thrown in the middle of hard experience, and he gets invaluable proficiency, but you can put someone to do shallow work for years. None of these carry any importance, if they did it for 1-6 weeks more or less. The point is, what did you get out of it, and able to do at another employer job-wise.

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