<p>I know 2 new graduates that got jobs (different companies) that lasted just 2 weeks. One was a really foolish move (5 new employees in training in a large corporation had beer with their lunch a supervisor walked in on them and they were all fired). </p>
<p>The other was a bit of an odd situation where 2 new employees in a very small privately owned research related company were working with an older employee who told them to do a particular thing differently than they had done before with another senior employee. When the (very elderly) owner came in he said they had done it wrong and fired the 2 new employees even though the older employee was there when the work was done that way and had told them to do it that way (she was not fired). It was all a bit odd and both were completely shocked and confused by the situation (there seem to be some odd back stories going on in the company as far as USDA inspections (2 surprise inspections in a week), not meeting USDA requirements, running part of the operation at a different location unknown to the USDA, possible money issues, and some other strange goings on - all a bit sketchy sounding so probably a good thing in the long run to be out of it)</p>
<p>A friend and I have been wondering whether they need to even report these jobs when they apply for new jobs. The Dad of one says no. To me it seems like a kind of damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. If you do you may not get a job. If you don’t and you get a job and they find out down the road, then you may lose the job. Any wisdom out there?</p>
<p>I am not sure. I am assuming it was in a restaurant - the company apparently has a strict no alcohol policy during work hours so I assumed on premises was not an option. They were still in the training program. Huge life lesson there.</p>
<p>Oh, I see. You are wondering if they need to state that they were terminated for cause at a previous employer, even if they didn’t stay long. Yes, they do.</p>
<p>They can not put that on their application and try to hide it. However, if they are caught lying on an application, then they will be in bigger trouble.</p>
<p>I know a person who lied to the US government on her application for a government job. Got caught, then the US government terminated her for fradulent application. Person who terminated her made a point that they would have been able to hire her if she was honest, but the fact that she lied made her ineligible for continued employment.</p>
<p>Yes dumb, and he knows it and is kicking himself mightily. The policy was in the gazillion pages of stuff they had received. Pays to make sure you read all the “stuff”. Another life lesson.</p>
<p>In the UK it used to be a fairly normal part of work culture to go to the pub at lunchtime - I even used to. I look back now and wonder how we got anything done in the afternoon. My brother tells me that has changed somewhat in the last 28 (:eek: is it that long) years. But I have always had the impression that it was not acceptable in the US even back then - of course the companies I had dealings with were oil companies in the bible belt. I remember having a young expat come to the UK and say no to a drink at lunch time then grow rather wide eyed as everyone around him had a drink and ask if it was ok to have a drink, which he then did. So based on that I would have assumed even without reading the gazillions of pages that it would not be ok to drink at lunchtime unless bosses gave the ok, but lifetime experience vs zero experience helps.</p>
<p>My kids have had too many jobs to put all on an application. D2’s BF walked off a job of a week when his supervisor asked if he wanted to get high with the rest of the crew. He didn’t get paid so he never reports it and has been just fine with never reporting the job on applications.</p>
<p>I’ve never put my disastrous week working at a pharmacy candy counter or my training to be a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesperson on my resume. But then, I don’t work for the govt, either.</p>
<p>My two cents is that if get a job and are at a company a decent length of time, they are not going to fire you if they discover something like this UNLESS: they don’t like you already, you have given them other reasons to think you’re untrustworthy, or it is a very classified job.</p>
<p>It takes a lot of time and money to find and train a new worker. I don’t know many bosses who would get on their high horse and fire a good employee for something like this. They wouldn’t ask questions like “What is your greatest weakness?” in interviews if they wanted pure honesty.</p>
<p>That said, the beer thing could be spun off as “I was a foolish youth who has learned my lesson”. The other one is trickier, the applicant is stuck between looking incompetent or blaming a coworker or boss, which you never want to do–it will make the interviewer think you’re a whiner or “not a team player.”</p>
<p>The other thing to look at is how likely it is that the interviewer will find out. Is the new company connected to the old job in any way? Or is this like that Blockbuster job I never bothered to list on my resume because I was only there a week before quitting for a better paying job?</p>
<p>You can always leave things off of your resume. Most people after a certain amount of work experience do, and two weeks isn’t going to lead to an employment gap that people will question. I’ve had jobs that I don’t have on my resume simply because I want to keep it one page.</p>
<p>I think the issue is if they are asked a direct question. If an application asks if they have been terminated or something else where this would come up, they should answer truthfully. Otherwise, I’m not sure that leaving this off would be lying if they aren’t asked a question about it. Am I lying because I don’t have my jobs at Subway or Borders on my resume? You pick and choose what to put on that presents the best image of you.</p>
<p>This really is a darned if you do darned if you don’t situation. If they list the job for two weeks it will raise flags. If they do not list the job, get an interview, and have to fill out additional paperwork, the question may appear about whether they have ever been terminated. Either way, a lack of judgment is there.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom, when I worked in Manhattan it was quite common for people to have a beer or a glass of wine at lunch on occasion. Then there was the proverbial “3-martini lunch.” :)</p>
<p>One is not required to list this on one’s resume. Just skip it. Pretend it never happened. This is how we all learn things that help us grow up, but we’re by no means obligated to list every silly or short-term job we ever had.</p>
<p>It is a dilemma. It is certainly fine to not include every job that you have ever had.</p>
<p>However, it isn’t a good idea to say no to the question about whether you have ever been terminated. You may just want to leave the job off the resume, but be prepared to be honest and explain the situation when asked about a termination.</p>