Should I list a job I was let go from during my probation period on my application? [duplicate]

Question

After being laid off permanently from a job due to slow business, I took another job at a larger car dealership which used a totally different computer system of which i was unfamiliar with. I received very little training and if I asked questions I was ignored. The supervisor apologized numerous times about being to busy to give me the time proper training that I needed and trained me some whenever he wasn't busy.

After about 45 days he called me in the office and said I was a hard worker and he said that he was sorry that I was having a problem getting a hang of the job. I had told him that when I ask questions I am ignored by the person who trained me and he said he was aware. As I said before he stated that he could see that I am a hard worker and he was going to find the right fit for me. At that point I thought I was going to be fired.

He then sent me to another department where I didn't even have a desk or a draw of money to be responsible for. It was in a area that had room for only 2 workers but 3 workers were working in a small work area. I was given some training, it was very high volume business compared to the previous job I was laid off from previously.

On one particular day they decided to put me to a test and let me handle 2 busy phone multi-lines, salesman requesting keys and writing out tickets. In addition to that I had to take all the payment from the service department.

This was on a friday which is extremely busy and requires at least two workers to handle that volume of work. So as I said my co-worker disappeared and did not assist me whatsoever for about 5 hours. She later walked back to the work area and said she did it for my own good. I feel like I was set up for failure.

It was approximately 4 days later when the assistant manager of the service department told me they were letting me go. I was only 6 days from my 90 day probation period. I feel like if I list this job it will hurt me, yet if I don't I will look dishonest and I don't want to come across that way. I have been unemployed for almost 6 months and I can't help but wonder:

Is listing this job ruining my chance of gaining employment?

Prior to that I was on my previous job for 14 years.

Answer 1

Rule of thumb is to never list anything that has a chance of hurting your appearance on your resumé.

You are not dishonest for not mentioning something on your resumé, but if you have 'gaps' in your employment listing, you should probably provide some kind of explanation. But it is up to you, how many details you feel like providing, and how you word it.

EDIT: Just to clarify: I would never lie on a resumé, but wording something to make it better sounding is quite common, and something I would recommend.

Example:

Instead of wording something: "I got laid off doing my tryout period"

One could word it like this: "Had a tryout period, it didn't work out since it wasn't for me"

Answer 2

What I was told at my recent "How to get a job" coaching is that gaps under 3 months are ok on a CV. Anything over that should be "explained".

So your alternatives are:

• Finding the best possible way to frame those 3 months
• Making it appear like you were unemployed for 6 months (plus presumably more to come as you look for yet another job)

As for how you can frame your 3 month stint. There are no good ways to tell a bad situation. But some ways are better than others depending on the details...

1. The most neutral way would be to simply say when asked that "it didn't work out". The downside of this is it leaves things open negative interpretations of you (she couldn't make it there)
2. Or you could phrase it like you "felt it wasn't a good fit after all". This is still quite neutral, technically true but implies that you left on your own. If this is a viable approach depends on how strong your recommendation from your previous employer is and how likely it is that a new prospective employer will inquire with the intermediate employer (In my country it is heavily frowned upon to inquire at places you don't explicitly list as reference. But I don't know if that is also the case in your country)
3. You could take it one step further and state that you "weren't given the training necessary to do your job". While this leaves it open as to who terminated the employment it is something of a criticism which might reflect unfavorably on you.
4. Frame it as a temporary engagement. This implies that your work there came to a natural conclusion at that time. I would expect a reference from it in this case. It's unlikely that you'll be able to provide a reference that will confirm this story.

My personal assessment would be that with 14 years at your previous job, you likely have some good references from there. In that light I doubt a 3 month engagement would be scrutinized much. As such I would go with option 2.