Fired at retail job prior nursing school

Nurses Job Hunt

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I'm a recent ADN graduate trying to get my foot in the door. It's been so hard with so much competition and now something in my past is haunting me. Right before I got into nursing school, I was fired at a part-time retail job. I was fired for absenteeism and tardiness. It was in 2010.i didn't really care for that job and it was something to go by while I got my nursing applications responses so I didn't really have my heart set in it. But now that I graduated, I'm not quite sure how to put this on my résumé and applications. I've heard different views. Some say not to even mention it. Some say tell the interviewer you "no" if asked the question of " have you ever been fired before. Same advice that prospective employers will not able to find out if you fired. Some say, you should be honest about it because they can eventually terminate you for lying on application if found out. But with the market being so hard and competition to strict, how do I even get a chance to get hired with this employ,net history flaw?

From what I've been told, they don't ask the previous employer if you've been fired, they ask something like, "Would you hire this person to work for you again?"

What you really need to find out, is if you mark that you have been fired before, if they automatically throw your application out. Because if they do, it might be worth lying. Sure, they can terminate you if they find out the truth, but who has time to go digging around in your records from when you worked in retail?

This is just my opinion though, I don't have enough experience to give an informed response.

My personal rule of thumb is if I was employed for less than 3 months, usually a probation period, and I was fired for whatever reason, I do not put it on my resume`. That being said, I was fired from a nursing job once in 32 years. I included that job on my resume` because I was there for 3 yrs. But once I explained the reason for the firing, it wasn't an issue. (I told a colleague that the boss could go f*** himself, she told him and he didn't like it and fired me for it. Unemployment didn't agree with the termination, though.)

If you choose to enter that job on your resume`, sell yourself with the explanation. Let them know that since you finished school, your absenteeism and tardiness is no longer an issue. Good luck!

Specializes in Pedi.

I don't see why you would put a retail job on a nursing resume at all.

Don't put it on your resume, especially if the end result could be negative

Specializes in ER.

If you can, tailor your resume to the healthcare community. I leave out an EMT job because I went on a date with the owner's son when he was dating another girl and I didn't realize it. Then when I was hired back a year later, he was engaged and his fiance flipped out. I think he made it to be something more than it was as I was actually talking to another guy on his same fire department. I don't include that job because it's a small family business. Oh, and I told them to go **** themselves as they were paying me ambulette wage instead of the EMT wage when I was an EMT.

I wouldn't mention it to be honest. It isn't relevant resume work anyway ( I have worked many places but I don't put it all on there ). Especially if you weren't even there 6 months. Best bet is leave it off the resume and application.

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