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As the title suggests, I've recently filled out a background check form for a new job and in the employment section I omitted an employment from 5 years ago that lasted just under two weeks. That employment was during a large employment gap which lasted several months. I was ultimately asked to provide bank statements to prove I wasn't employed during that time, which I promptly did and, as you can guess, contains a payment for that <2 week employment.

The backstory of what happened back then is that I started in one career that I thought I'd be doing forever, but it turned out I didn't actually enjoy the role at all. So I resigned and spent a few months on personal hobbies while I reoriented myself on what to do. A few months went by and it turned out that I was still in love with the idea of being in that particular role. I forgot how much I actually disliked the role itself, thinking that maybe I didn't enjoy it before not because of the role but the company I worked for. So, I decided to give the same role a go but at a different company. Less than two weeks into this new employment, I remembered exactly why I left this role in the first place and so, instead of wasting everyone's time even more, I cut it very short and just resigned.

Fast forward a few years into the future and I'm in a completely different role which I actually enjoy. I've never included the above experience in my CV and similarly I've never included it in any of my background checks since I was under the impression that the two should be in line with each other. I've never been asked to prove no employment like this in that gap previously until now.

So, my three questions, given the above, are:

  1. How bad of a situation am I in given that I never disclosed that short employment which will almost certainly be found by the screening company?

  2. What is my best course of action? I haven't preemptively addressed it yet myself since that seems overly guilty to me, as if I was purposefully misleading all along which is certainly not the case. But I'm not 100% sure on that.

  3. Was I correct in just sending over the bank statements in the first place?

Update: So, to be true to my word, here's an update of what happened in the end: nothing! Neither the background checking company, nor my new employer, ever brought it up.

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  • I don't think I'd be too concerned about 9 days' employment or less - I think they'd be more concerned that you're not concealing a substantial employment which covers the entire period of claimed unemployment, which would then raise the question of why you're concealing it. Also, a singular payment into your bank may not even obviously be wages.
    – Steve
    Jan 22, 2021 at 14:42
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    This is super unusual - what kind of job is this that it’s even relevant? Here in the US the only people that would care about something like this are applications for e.g. the FBI or things requiring clearance. Or something with extensive trade secrets trying to make sure you’re not a mole for the competition (pharma, high finance...). Most jobs no they won’t care but some might, we can’t answer without more information.
    – mxyzplk
    Jan 22, 2021 at 17:03
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    "Is this bad?" "How bad is this?" "Will this have a negative impact on my future?" "Am I screwed?" - The fact that people fear the process of getting a job like they'd fear a parole hearing is something I wish we could fix. Nothing about the process should induce fear and trepidation.
    – joeqwerty
    Jan 22, 2021 at 19:42
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    @DanielHatton it's for a new job: edited that in to be clearer!
    – doesthislookbad
    Jan 24, 2021 at 15:54
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    Having to provide bank statements honestly feels like a massive breach of a persons privacy.
    – Gregory Currie
    Mar 4, 2021 at 15:04

3 Answers 3

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How bad of a situation am I in given that I never disclosed that short employment which will almost certainly be found by the screening company?

I actually don't think anyone will care. That is such a small amount of time employed, I would not be so sure it will be discovered.

What is my best course of action?

Don't mention this unless they notice. If they do, apologize for the oversight ( its only two weeks ) and move on.

Was I correct in just sending over the bank statements in the first place?

Sure, this was okay. Normally I would not recommend it, but in this case the cat is already out of the bag. If they notice, apologize for the oversight.

In summary, if the company is really that concerned about the fact that you were employed for only 2 weeks somewhere, I am not sure I would want to work there anyway.

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    And even if they do ask about the job, an answer along the lines of "I resigned after quickly discovering the position was poor fit" would be perfectly fine.
    – Laconic Droid
    Jan 22, 2021 at 16:43
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If someone gets upset about 2 weeks of employment not being mentioned, that's not the company where you want to start. The only reason why I know my employment dates is because I always keep my last CV around; any dates are rounded to the nearest month, everything older than 10 years I only mention what I did, not where. Good for a bit of conversation in an interview, when people ask you about something interesting you did 15 years ago.

No sane company is interested in two weeks of work. If they are, that's insane, and you don't want to start there.

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It's totally irrelevant. I wouldn't worry about it. It will probably come up as a comment in your background check from as a "minor concern" or something like that and whoever is reviewing the from will absolutely ignore it.

The best course of action would be to say nothing, do nothing and wait and see if anything comes of it. If it does, be honest and tell them you just forgot to include it.

That is, unless, they are actively trying to get rid of you. It may be that your boss has decided they want to get rid of you and they are using this as an excuse.

If that's the case then I'm sorry but you should have disclosed this employment earlier. If they really want to, they can fire you now for withholding information or submitting incorrect documentation etc.

The best course of action there would be to quit now before they can fire you.

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  • They haven’t hired the OP yet, way too soon to need an excuse to fire the OP.
    – jmoreno
    Mar 7, 2021 at 14:12

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