Best CV Tips: Should You Include Short Term & Unrelated Jobs On Your CV?

By Tabitha Makumi
Samuel Mwathi writes in an email, “In 2013 I happened to work with IEBC as a returning officer. In 2012 December, I also held a small stint as an English Tutor for about 10 primary school kids in my village (Muranga County). Being a Procurement & Logistics graduate seeking my first employment, should I include these two “jobs” in my CV to showcase my working experience?”

Most people have had such job. Two weeks? One Month? 3 days? … Big question is, should you include them on your CV as relevant working experience?

Speaking to Florence Mukunya, a CV Writing Advisor with Corporate Staffing, she advises that although you might be tempted to include such opportunities in the hopes that by doing so you exhibit a longer working experience, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Any short term job which doesn’t add value to your CV shouldn’t make it to your working history,” says Ms Mukunya.

She adds that the relevance of indicating any past job in the working history segment is to show what you accomplished during this period and what set of skills you can bring on board once you are hired.

“Most of these IEBC jobs last for 3 to 5 days maximum. As a supply chain graduate you should ask yourself if the IEBC vacancy is relevant to the kind of job you are applying for. If it’s, well and good, if it’s not, just leave it out,” she advises.

Ms Mukunya insists that your CV is supposed to show relevant experience related to the position you are applying for.

“If the short term employment is not relevant to your getting the job then there is no reason to put it on the CV,” she adds.

What if the short term stints are related to the kind of job you are applying for and in which category should you place them under? I inquire

Ms Mukunya opines that, “Then you should have a section on your CV labeled “Significant Work Experience” which is not as detailed as the actual working experience which comes with various duties and responsibilities.”

She advises that for this section (Significant Working Experience) it should be in a listing form.

“They should be in bullet form and you should include the titles and the working duration.

The section she adds should come just after you’ve listed your relevant working history and right before your referees section.

For a professional CV and cover letter, you can reach Florence Mukunya at Florence (at)corporatestaffing.co.ke

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