OP - sorry to hear. I am also in a creative field and was a SAHM for 10 years. I have a job now, but it is no where near where I was when I left. I also fear for my job - I feel like an imposter and an interloper. I am taking a class at night related to my work (no, i don't really have time or $ for this) but it is helping and when/if I am fired I can turn a negative into a positive by telling the truth AND showing efforts toward self improvement/professional development.

Good Luck!

OP, this could be you!

http://www.askamanager.org/2009/10/should-i-include-job-i-was-fired-from.html

A reader writes:

I was just terminated from my job. I was five days before being off probation and two days away from my first big job event (I plan and run conferences).

So, my question is, do I leave this job off my resume, which shows that I have been out of work since March? Or, do I include it? I don’t know if I ever will find out the “real reason” I was fired, and I know that a short stint in this job looks suspicious. I would be suspicious of me. Or, does being out of work, even in such an economy, look worse?

A: Leave the job off your resume.

It was only two and a half months, which means that it’s not useful in showing any real accomplishments or advancement. And in addition to not doing you any good because of that, it will actually do harm — by raising questions about what you were fired or left so soon. Those are questions that can be addressed if it’s absolutely unavoidable, but it’s better to never raise the questions at all if you can.

In general, I’d suggest leaving any short stints like this off a resume, unless there’s a way to paint them in a flattering light (and to do so honestly). For instance, short-term consulting is fine. But leaving after two months because of fickleness or dismissal aren’t things that strengthen your candidacy.

Your resume is not required to be a comprehensive accounting of how you spent each month of your professional life. It’s understood that the whole point is to present yourself in the strongest light.

Now, of course you may get questions about how you spent a period of time that your resume left unaccounted for. In your case, you had already been unemployed for five months before. You didn’t say why, but let’s assume for the sake of illustration that you were laid off. When asked about the period of time since your last job, you would simply say that you, like so many others right now, were laid off and have spent the time since job-searching and doing ____. (Fill in the blank with freelancing, caring for family members, taking a class, or whatever happens to be true in your case.)

Regarding your question about whether being out of work looks bad: Show me a hiring manager who hasn’t been spending her days talking to strong candidates who are out of work because of the economy, and I will show you a hiring manager who just started her job this morning. Great candidates who are unemployed have become normal right now, unfortunately. Any hiring manager who would discard a candidate for being out of work right now isn’t living in reality (and is a jerk you don’t want to work for anyway).

So leave that job off your resume, and good luck.

Here's a link to www.askamanager.org:

http://www.askamanager.org/2008/09/answering-have-you-ever-been-fired-in.html

Q: I was in a job interview the other day and everything was going well, until I was asked if I had ever been fired, and if so what were the reasons.

So my question is, how can I answer this question honestly? Is it a trick question?

A: It’s not a trick question. It’s exactly what it seems to be — a genuine desire to know if you have ever been fired before and, if so, why. If you put yourself in the employer’s shoes, you’ll probably understand why an interviewer would want to know this. It’s not that no one who has been fired could ever be the right fit at a different job — but it certainly does provide useful information about problems that the candidate has run into in the past (even if only personality conflicts). And perhaps most importantly, there’s a lot to be gleaned from the way the candidate discusses it now. Do they just seem bitter and angry about it? Have they learned from the experience? How has it changed how they conduct business? And so forth.

It’s hard to tell you how you yourself should answer this question without knowing more specifics, but one option might be talking about how you ended up in that situation, what you learned from it, and what you do differently now as a result.

Could you spin that it was short-term or a contract?

Op here. Thanks for the help. I'm just not sure what to say when asked. Or what to do. If it was my talent, should I get out of the field? If so, what do I do? If it is what he said is true and it was how long it took me to do my designs. How do I work on getting faster?? The last job I had for 5 years said nothing about my speed.

I feel like a truck ran me over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lying on a resume is a red flag

There is no obligation to put every job you've ever had on your resume. Lying means putting something that is false, not omitting something you deem irrelevant.

not listing a position is putting something false
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/how-lying-on-your-resume-will-get-you-in-trouble.aspx

But OP wasn't even a full hire yet. She was on a trial period. I think that's a different story.

As a hiring manager I want to know everything including your failures. If you omit information as it is requesting all of your previous employers, you are lying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lying on a resume is a red flag

There is no obligation to put every job you've ever had on your resume. Lying means putting something that is false, not omitting something you deem irrelevant.

not listing a position is putting something false
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/how-lying-on-your-resume-will-get-you-in-trouble.aspx

But OP wasn't even a full hire yet. She was on a trial period. I think that's a different story.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lying on a resume is a red flag

There is no obligation to put every job you've ever had on your resume. Lying means putting something that is false, not omitting something you deem irrelevant.

not listing a position is putting something false
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/how-lying-on-your-resume-will-get-you-in-trouble.aspx

This is definitely not true -- it depends on your field. If you are applying to a Government job with a background check, then yes, you need to include it. For a non-Gov't job, the resume is a sales document and you do NOT need to include every single job.

Might a good question to submit to www.askamanager.org -- she always gives terrific advice. Or you could search her archives -- I bet this has been asked before.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lying on a resume is a red flag

There is no obligation to put every job you've ever had on your resume. Lying means putting something that is false, not omitting something you deem irrelevant.

not listing a position is putting something false
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/how-lying-on-your-resume-will-get-you-in-trouble.aspx

Anonymous wrote:OP I'm a front end web developer and work off designer created templates on a daily basis. Templating is something you need to know how to do. Period. Being out of the tech design industry for 2 full years is a VERY long time. Did you do any work at all during that period? Keep your skills up to date? Do you have any experience with basic web design (HTML/CSS)?

I agree with above, if they call for a reference will they get your previous boss or just HR to verify you were there for the dates you submitted? Since it was essentially a "contract" time period, you may be better off listing it as such on your resume, as "consulting" experience or something.

OP here. I do have some basic experience with HTML/CSS, but the templates I was creating were not for web. There were signage templates for other graphic designers to use. You create them at 2.5 % or whatever and create a layout (template) of what the end designs should look like. I honestly never made them before. I have five years experience at print and never had to do these. I was not on the job description.

I did a little freelance, but it was small brochures and flyers.

I think OP should NOT start temping until she can actually get her skills into squeaky clean shape. I'd be pissed to have OP walk through my door and struggle with templates, taking a long time to produce because of inferior tech skills.

I think there's a lesson to be learned here about taking time out of the workplace. To return to the workforce, OP needs to get her *ss in gear and take some classes and get her skills back into 2016 shape.

OP I'm a front end web developer and work off designer created templates on a daily basis. Templating is something you need to know how to do. Period. Being out of the tech design industry for 2 full years is a VERY long time. Did you do any work at all during that period? Keep your skills up to date? Do you have any experience with basic web design (HTML/CSS)?

I agree with above, if they call for a reference will they get your previous boss or just HR to verify you were there for the dates you submitted? Since it was essentially a "contract" time period, you may be better off listing it as such on your resume, as "consulting" experience or something.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. If I stick with the design field, I wanted to use a few design pieces from working there. If I did that I would have to say why I was only there for a little under 3 months. I'm not sure what response to give.

Being vague is fine. "The culture wasn't a good fit"

If you put it on your resume, they are going to call the firm and ask about you. Can you count on a good reference? Doesn't sound like it. Leave off the experience.