As the holidays approach many people wonder if they should list seasonal and temporary work on their resume. Whether you are a college student, recent graduate or recently unemployed, this question pertains to you. It is not uncommon to take on temporary, freelance and/or seasonal work until you find a job in your field or while pursuing your degree. In fact, it’s a great way to gain work experience, earn some extra cash and close gaps in employment. The question then becomes whether or not this experience should be added to your resume.

 

Keep in mind that you do not list every job you’ve ever held. Going along with this notion, when you list a number of jobs held in a short period of time you risk looking like a job hopper and a company may fear you may not stick around for them either. On the other side of things, you don’t want large gaps of time on your resume.

 

Below are some of the best practices for including (or not including) short-term jobs according to a Simply Hired Blog:

Tell the truth – When you send in an application to a hiring company, it should be the complete truth. A simple background check would show inconsistencies, and you could easily lose your consideration for a great job.

Include years only – A simple change from a month and year (March 2010) date format to year-only (2010) can be an easy way to make short-term jobs less noticeable. This is generally acceptable if you’ve held the position for six or more months.

Leave it off – If you held a position for less than six months, it’s not relevant to the positions that you’re applying for, or you didn’t stay at the job long enough to make any notable contributions, you can leave it off your resume.

Note contract and temp work – If short-term jobs were meant to only last a few months, such as contract work, temporary jobs, freelance work, or even seasonal jobs, you should definitely include them on your resume. Just make a note that it was a contract position (or whatever the case) right after the dates held.

 

Include the word “seasonal” or “temporary” in the title when writing about seasonal work on a resume. This will help clear up any of the above issues and show you are not flakey. Seasonal jobs often require a considerable amount of flexibility and strong work ethic. Highlight these traits in your resume. Here is an excellent example of how to highlight your seasonal experience if you are still in school.

 

When in doubt follow this general rule of thumb: your resume is where you showcase your most relevant work experience to prove you have the experience required for roles that you are interested. If your resume is loaded with resume experience, go without the seasonal work. You can always explain this in the interview.