Should I add a new job (1 week) onto my resume?

Question

I was brought aboard to a new web project last week. So far, all I have done is think about design and implementation, but I have a good idea of what to expect in the future since I've worked in web development before. My question is, should I add this new job to my resume now, even though all I can really put on it is that I've done some software design/planning for this project? On one hand, it seems like there's nothing of substance to add, but on the other hand, I'd like to include it just to have a complete and up to date resume. I will also be applying to internships very soon, so if adding a new job looks bad, I will just omit it.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

I always recommend updating your resume the day you start a new job. You may never give anyone that resume before it is next updated, but on your first day you know the dates, the company name, your job title and so on, and what better time to capture them than now? (It's also the perfect time to adjust the description of the job you just left - putting things into the past tense if they were present tense, for example, and making sure your job title and duties are complete.)

A year or two from now you may not remember if you started in September or October, or other details that are easy now. Your resume is a living document - put what you can on it now, and adjust it regularly as your job duties shift. That way there's never a big ugly update my resume task that's blocking you from looking for a new job should you want to.

For the specific resume you send to apply for a job that will start 8 months from now, include the job with start and end dates, the end date being in the future, and use the future tense along with verbs like "expect" or "plan". For example:

Sept-Dec 2015, Web Developer, BigCorp. Designed software for XYZ. Duties for the remainder of the term will include A, B, and C. We expect to deliver D and E.

I would not think it "looked bad" if your application for a temporary internship at my firm included a different temporary internship or project position that you started 8 months before my start date. I would think it looked bad if you were applying for an internship that started right now, since you'd be saying "I'll totally ditch these guys for you if you offer me something good." But that's not the situation you're in.

Answer 2

Go forward and add it, if you think you think the work/project you have done during that time adds value to the resume.

It might go like this:

Jun '15 - Aug '15                 < Location >
<Role > at < Company >
< Project Name(if any) >  

From here include bullet points explaining what you have done in the project. 

Bullet Points should include the project explanation, your role in it, the technologies/methods used, and finally(and ofter the most important) your learning from the project.

If there is nothing done in the project except planning and laying the outline, include it like this:

Designed the roadmap for the < project name > which aims to < include the aim and end goals of the project >

So, Yes you can include the project in your resume even if the time period is short.

If you've done some work on it, then it deserves a place in your resume. As simple as that.

Answer 3

In general, I recommend waiting at least a month or so. Or, until you know that you want to stay for a significant amount of time, that they will keep you on, and/or if not doing so would create an unexplainable gap (like 6+ months).

If it's an internship, and you know you want to stay for the entire internship, put it on your resume. If it's a temp job that you knew you'd only have for 2-3 months, put it on your resume.

For full-time jobs, or jobs where there's a waiting period, you want to avoid putting a job on your resume, having it not work out, and then removing the job. My personal experience is that I once took a FT job, but quit about 5 weeks later because it was just not for me. I don't even list it on my resume because it looks bad to leave a FT job really quickly.

I would personally wait until I knew what I was going to be doing, in your case - or just give it a full week. Eventually this part-time jobs will give way to a full-time position. You can always talk about the details of your work experience in a cover letter.