I made a big mistake when switching jobs. The new company was a poor fit for what I was looking for, and I am looking to switch after only two weeks. During the current interview process, I have not informed the companies about my current employer.
What are the risks of omitting this short-term employment altogether?
There are a couple of ways I could see this being risky:
Start time - If the potential new company doesn't believe you are currently working, then you may need to come up with an explanation for not starting tomorrow which a potential employer may expect. I'd stress the may as most companies may take some time to set up some things for a new employee so this may not be a big deal, but this may be an issue to consider if you have to ask for more time to properly exit from your current role.
Rumor/gossip - There may be the potential for someone at a perspective new company to know where you are that may think this is worth discussing in an interview or after you start in a new role. "Hey, weren't you working at XYZ last week?" or something like that may be asked. I'll admit this isn't necessarily likely but it is a possible risk.
On the bright side, only 2 weeks is an extremely short period of time and thus may not be seen as bad as if you had been working there for many months. At least this would be based from what I've seen in Canada and the U.S. that may or may not be common in other parts of the world.
Freelancing at your old company reduces one a little as this may give you some wiggle room if the company says, "we want you to start tomorrow at 9 am," then you can return with, "my old company's current needs will take some time to resolve. Could I start in a week or two?" which may be fine.
The second risk isn't reduced at all if someone knows you are working at another company. To give an example in the second case, imagine a Jim that worked at Microsoft, currently works at Amazon.com and is applying at Starbucks. Unfortunately for Jim, the people at Starbucks that would be his manager are friends with the people at Amazon.com that are Jim's current co-workers that over a coffee it slips and now Jim could be in trouble in terms of getting the job at Starbucks as they find out something that makes them question if Jim would be honest about his situation. Granted these are large companies that may not have the connections I'm implying, it is just a possible situation that could occur.
First ask yourself why you think you need to omit it? You made a mistake and discovered it quickly that speaks for you, not against you.
You have only worked there 2 weeks so you were able to decide within a generally acknowledged grace period that most companies have before confirming your employment. In most EU countries this grace period for employer and employee can be up to 2 months by law. And allows for easy termination of the contract by either party. In the US this is often determined by the state or your contract.
As I don't know what county you are based I can't tailor the advise to your specific country, and for the companies in the US and EU I have worked for terminating a contract with a 1 day notice in this period is perfectly acceptable.
I wouldn't be too concerned about your reputation, as long as you don't make the mistake of bad mouthing the company you are leaving.
Honestly, like most of the resumes it comes down to a narrative. If you have this narrative:
Then I would tell them the truth. This resume fits the narrative that the culture was a shock to you but that you still have the possibility of a stable career at your next place.
If, however, your resume looks like this:
This resume has a lot of moves and little stability. If this is you, I think you are in a tough spot either way because it looks like you are a jumper. I personally would say that instead of joining the current company D that you are freelancing with the current company but realized you don't like freelancing and want something stable again. If they ask about current company D and going full time, just mention how you are not a fit with the culture (which is true).
YMMV, and good luck!
