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I'm a recent Comp Sci graduate and have been working as a software engineer for the last two months. I've just been made redundant (laid off) due to company cut-backs. I'm unsure of how I should handle this within my CV and job applications.

My concern is that my very brief period of work will look really bad, especially as it happens to be roughly the same as the average probationary period in my country.

Should I mention my redundancy in my CV? Should I just discount this period of employment alltogether? (In my field, any amount of experiance can make a big impact on job applications)

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  • Will there be any opportunity to include a cover letter in any future applications you make? They can oftentimes be a good place to expound on what is in your CV/resume.
    – ConcernedHobbit
    Jul 15, 2019 at 18:20
  • How 'deep' are the cutbacks relative to your company as whole? For example were you the only one of a team of 5 to be laid off, or are whole departments being shut down?
    – seventyeightist
    Jul 15, 2019 at 18:23
  • Possible duplicate of: workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/34534/… (but I haven't marked it as a duplicate as the optics may be different in different locales -- the linked Q appears to be in N.America (?) based on the use of 'resume' 'layoffs' etc and I know there are different conventions in the USA etc regarding cover letters and resumes. I get the feeling this Q is from the UK or one of its related cultures.
    – seventyeightist
    Jul 15, 2019 at 18:27
  • @ConcernedHobbit It depends on where I'm a applying to. But that is a very good point. Could mention it there.
    – Womblers
    Jul 15, 2019 at 18:31
  • @seventyeightist I was one several (the newest employees)
    – Womblers
    Jul 15, 2019 at 18:31

2 Answers 2

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Your field is also quite in demand, so you would probably not be causing real damage by omitting it. That said, I would lean toward labeling it as a contract position. You can discuss the precise detail of what it was if need be during an interview, but a resume/CV is supposed to paint a picture in few words. Contract--while not precisely true--is the essence of what the short term position was.

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    I have a company on my resume that i was only at for 3 months. it was a 6month to hire position that we got short changed on. I still leave it there to show no gap in employment and for the exp it shows. When asked about it at interviews people tend to completely understand. I vote to leave this on your CV
    – jesse
    Jul 15, 2019 at 19:02
  • @jesse I agree and have edited to indicate that being the more preferred course of action.
    – SemiGeek
    Jul 15, 2019 at 19:07
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I had a similar situation a couple of years ago. I was hired for a programming job and 2 months later the project was canceled, so we were all laid off. I chose to keep it so that the gap between jobs was not as long and when any potential recruiters have asked about it I'm honest and tell them exactly what happened.

I followed that up with a contract which was only 2 months from the beginning, so I actually have two two-month jobs for that year.

As long as you can explain it, it shouldn't be a problem.

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