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Discussion

New grad in a pickle!

Hi All,

It's a long post, but thanks for reading. I have an interview next week and I'm in a bit of a pickle. I keep getting mixed advice from family, so I thought getting some perspective on here would be great. Thanks, here's my story...

I'm a new grad. I knew before starting nursing school that critical care was not for me. Went through clinicals and reinforced that I did not want to work with unstable patients. After job searching for over 6 months and expanding my search over time, I was offered a position in a step-down unit. It was the only area where they were able to train a new grad at the time. I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't the area for me, but with a family to raise and no other prospective jobs, I needed to accept this offer. So, I did, but I only worked there for 2 months. I did great in school & never struggled to learn, but had the hardest time learning this job to the point where I couldn't remember important things. The stress was unrelenting and affected my home life and my health to the point where it wasn't worth it. My manager was kind and understanding that it wasn't a good fit, saying that it's a difficult patient population and it's not for everyone. Long story short, I left the position on good terms.

So, I've been applying and I have an interview for a community health RN position. Much, much more my style. When I sent in my resume, I didn't update it with this most recent job and now I'm kicking myself for it. I never intended to be dishonest or hide it, I just didn't think it would be important because I was there for such a short time. I was able to update my "online profile" which has my work history, but I couldn't re-upload my resume because I already submitted the application. Grrrrr.

My question...would it be better to just bring it up during my interview? Hand them an updated copy of my resume and point out that the experience helped me learn about myself and figure out firsthand that acute care is not a good fit for me. I'm just unsure how to present this info, especially after they have decided to interview me. I don't want to seem distrustful. Is there any good way to go about this or am I stuck?

Thanks for your thoughts on this!

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    • Featured Replies

    If I were in your shoes I would just bring an updated version to the interview, explain what happened, and simply explain that it was just not the right fit for you. Be sure to emphasize that this community position is the right position for you because of xyz.

    Technically, since you have only been there 2 months you could omit it from your résumé, but, being that it was a step own unit I am sure you learned something that you could mention and bring with you to your new job. I would just tell them how you plan to utilize this knowledge in your potential new role.

    Just my opinion.

    Best wishes.

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    I would not bring it up. Your resume is not a legal document and is intended to be an advertisement for yourself. It is a docent that shows off the best you. Of course, adding things on there that aren't true would be dishonest but omission isn't. I've had several waitressing positions and temp positions that I leave off my resume because they aren't reflective of my objective. I think it is actually very unprofessional to include non-relevant job experience on your resume, and though your experience may be in nursing, it is not reflective of your goals to stay out of critical care. If you include this, are people going to think that you really wanted critical care? Will they think that you "couldn't handle it" and now are going for something less stressful? Not wanting to send the wrong image about your goals is a perfectly good reason to omit a job from your resume.

    Now, your application for a position definitely needs to include your most recent positions. The application usually states that they want your most recent positions and has you sign something saying all is true. You should include that job there.

    As for handing in an updated resume, I think this will reflect poorly on you. Did you not think things through before you applied? Were you doing something that you thought was dishonest and now you feel guilty? Were you too lazy or careless to update your resume? Btw, I'm not saying you are any of these things, I'm just saying a recruiter may see it that way. Overall, resumes do not need to include every position ever (I know people who even leave degrees off their resume) so there is no reason to look flippant now.

    I was trying to look up a good article for you that talks about this but if you google "do I need to list all jobs on my resume?" you'll find that every link says no and it is a mistake to list short term and irrelevant jobs. Here is one from cbs but there are many more. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-i-leave-a-job-off-my-resume/

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    • Author

    Thank you for the replies. It's good to see different perspectives on this. I'm still not really sure what to do and the more I think about it, the more I'm stressing out. I have my interview in a few days. I am not sure if I can add the job to my application since it is already submitted, but I was able to add it to my general online profile for this organization. Might be good to call HR and see if they can add it to the application or ask what they use for background check (considering I move forward with the hiring process).

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