Honesty is the Best Policy

Employment counselors typically advise clients to exclude previous employers from whom they may have parted on bad terms from employment applications and resumes. This only suffices, however, for those companies that are not listed in the individual’s credit report and/or those that would be intrinsically excluded from the individual’s employment applications and resumes by virtue of time (falling outside of the desirable 10-year employment history that should be listed in a resume or on an employment application). Also, if relevant aspects of the individual’s work experience that are synonymous with the position(s) they are applying for are with that company with whom there may have been a falling out and there are too few other demonstrations of required experience to list in the individual’s resume, or if excluding the employer would leave a significant employment gap, there’s simply no way around disclosing them.

Prove Yourself Worthy

To counter that employer that might render a negative employment reference on you, tell the truth, rendering your side of the details that the previous employer may conveniently exclude in speaking with your employment prospects. Include performance evaluations, samples of your work, etc. in your employment portfolios or with your employment applications that would demonstrate your good character and work performance. This would help prospective employers to form a more objective view of you as an employment candidate and perhaps properly contradict any false information rendered by any previous employer…