Employment History vs. Resume Forum

[Ludo!]

Are you putting every job you've ever had on your resume? Unless you've only had 1 or 2 jobs you're probably doing it wrong

[dingbat]

It's a test to see if you're willing to do repetitive tasks

[Ludo!]

You put EVERY single job you've ever had on your resume? That's weird. In your case yeah you are probably going to have to reenter a lot of data. I think that question is designed for most people who only put a few of their most relevant jobs on their resume.

[DougieFresh]

bump.

As someone who always had one or two part time jobs while at school, and then FT plus other PT jobs after school. Unless a school has a strong pizza law program, I dont think my part time work experience is all that relevant.

[Ludo!]

bump.

As someone who always had one or two part time jobs while at school, and then FT plus other PT jobs after school. Unless a school has a strong pizza law program, I dont think my part time work experience is all that relevant.

It's not relevant, that's why you don't put it on your resume. But you have to list it all for the bar, so some schools want to see it on the application

[gaud]

maybe they want it for the state bar in the future? i could be pullin this outta my ass, but doesn't the bar look into all the jobs you've had?

SCOOPED. I think Ludovico gots it

[dingbat]

bump.

As someone who always had one or two part time jobs while at school, and then FT plus other PT jobs after school. Unless a school has a strong pizza law program, I dont think my part time work experience is all that relevant.

For this same reason I left off a decade of work experience (off the entire app, not just my resume)

[BlaqBella]

I would call them up and ask if you can input "Please see attached resume" or something along those lines in the application where they ask for a list.

If that's not possible, just bullet point your employment history, allowing your resume to give the details. So for example:

1. Senior Auditor -- ABC Inc. (Sept 2010 - Present)
2. Junior Auditor -- ABC Inc. (May 2008 - Sept 2010)


...would be listed and the details of each job descrip with be in the attached resume...if you get my drift.

[BlaqBella]

You put EVERY single job you've ever had on your resume? That's weird. In your case yeah you are probably going to have to reenter a lot of data. I think that question is designed for most people who only put a few of their most relevant jobs on their resume.

Shit, I'm a moron, yeah that Starbucks job back in 1998 isnt on my resume, but everything else I did was all professional and relevant.

In this day and age, after ten years of WE its not uncommon to have a couple of pages worth of resume.

Funny, I was also a barista at Starbucks back in the day and I actually will be listing that experience on my resume, lol. Hey, it's all part of the history and shows my progress from then and now.

[risa]

I've seen some schools' instructions that specifically state that the want you to fill out the entire employment history section even if it's on your resume too. I wouldn't risk looking lazy by writing "please see attached resume." My resume is only "relevant" work or volunteer experience anyways. I'm almost 9 years out of school so it feels ridiculous listing my work as a lifeguard at the campus pool on my application, but I look at is as the law schools wanting to look at my undergrad grades in light of how many hours per week I was working during the school year.

[criminaltheory]

I'm not too concerned with the handful of jobs I left off the app, they were so petty I actually forgot about them.

[nickb285]

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[dingbat]

So wait, could there be an issue with the bar if we left some crap job off the application? E.g. I worked as a busboy at a shitty restaurant for two weeks my freshman year of UG and forgot about it till just now; will there be a problem because I didn't put that (or some similar stuff--a couple months at Best Buy, two weeks working for a friend/former boss of mine, that kind of thing) on my law school applications?

I don't think it particularly matters. Someone with more knowledge - doesn't the bar ask for 10 years back?

[nickb285]

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[nickb285]

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[dingbat]

oh god now i'm hallucinating

[ProWritten]

There are many reasons for both an application and a resume: We'll begin with two.

You cannot be held accountable to falsehoods on a self-directed document, however, you can be held to the accuracy of a corporation's application wherein you print and sign your name attesting that your representations in the application are true. Again, this is not available on a self-directed document, aka, a resume).

For example, all day long and any day of the week, you can falsely represent in your resume that you were the Editor in Chief of some law journal in 2001 when you were actually one of three proofreaders.

Your signature on the application gives the recruiting authority permission to do a background check, and thus grounds to terminate you when they learn the truth two minutes, or five years later. (Read the language at the bottom of any application--this will clue you).

Next, the rule of thumb is to only provide 10 years of your professional history on a resume, or go back to high school graduation--whichever comes first. You're 30 years old, so giving 10 years should be no problem. Where you did not hold a job, but was a full time student, simply state so. Remember, a career history includes collegiate activity, volunteer work, and freelancing. You're not limited to a compensable tenure.

In this era where background checks really are necessary, it is not unreasonable for recruiters to ask for specifics--twice. So.....if supplying details two or three or four times is a problem.....then you better re-think becoming an attorney, or going into the legal field at all

Good luck

~Professionally Written LLC~
www.spammyspam

[crossingfingers]

Great timing on this thread, I was just about to post regarding this issue.

I don't think anyone's concerned about the time it will actually take to enter, it's more an issue of not having things look inconsistent or too exclusive/inclusive on the resume.

I've been on 14 different payrolls since my undergrad started in 2000, naturally I haven't listed all those on my resume (which TLS implored me to keep to one page), but certain apps simply request you to "list employment". This makes it seem like they want every job you've ever held. My concern is that if I list everything, some schools that weren't collecting this for bar reasons will look down on listing 14 jobs.

I guess I'll err on the side of inclusiveness, but I'm not going to add more than my last/most relevant 4-5 positions on my resume. If anyone else has further clarification to add, thanks in advance.

[lever1je]

Is there any consensus on the importance in getting dates correct? With some of the jobs I've had I can only remember time periods but not exact months on starting and ending

[dingbat]

Is there any consensus on the importance in getting dates correct? With some of the jobs I've had I can only remember time periods but not exact months on starting and ending

Not important if not lying (getting a month wrong is not a big deal, but doubling the length of the job is)