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I got an in-house offer from a client of my midsized CA firm, and I'm thinking ahead to the impending background check. Between my prior firm and my current law firm, I voluntarily took some time off to address some family issues (this gap is reflected accurately on my resume, but was never really brought up during my interviews).

During my little gap (of a few months), I did some work at a non-legal job for about a month (my friend worked there and offered me the opportunity to help them out on a project and get paid a bit, while I could work remotely, etc.). I left this job off my resume, though, because it's not really relevant to my legal experience and it was such a short period of time.

For background check, I'd surely disclose this when asked to list all prior employment. That said, should I feel worried that I omitted it on my resume and it was never really brought up during interviews?

Everything I've read / everyone has said that its OK to leave little things like this off a resume, but wanted to get others' thoughts here.

Anonymous User wrote: Everything I've read / everyone has said that its OK to leave little things like this off a resume, but wanted to get others' thoughts here.

This is totally fine. Resumes are not laundry lists--they are tailored documents which showcase relevant skills for the job you are targeting. There's no need to include every single thing you've done since junior high. If it's relevant for a background check, certainly, disclose it. But do not feel bad leaving it off your resume and confidently saying, "I did not believe that job was terribly relevant to my application to FIRM XYZ, but I would be happy to discuss it or give references for it if you would like." Sally forth!

RedGiant wrote:This is totally fine. Resumes are not laundry lists--they are tailored documents which showcase relevant skills for the job you are targeting.

+1.

mjb447 wrote:

RedGiant wrote:This is totally fine. Resumes are not laundry lists--they are tailored documents which showcase relevant skills for the job you are targeting.

+1.

+2

Thanks for the replies / reassurance. I guess I just expected my little employment gap to come up during interviews (because the gap between firms is right there on my resume, and I was definitely prepared to address it), but no one ever brought it up, and therefore it was never discussed. Suddenly got a little worried they'd think I was trying to sneak one by them/hide it. But as I mentioned, I'll fully disclose the job when asked re employment history during background check.