Should I put my current "unrelated" employment on my C.V.

[Onlyme123]

Hi there,

I am applying for a job in my career field which is web/graphic design. I have been doing this for around 20 years and have all my past work experience on my C.V.

However, I have been freelancing as a designer with a part time job in a supermarket for the last 2 years. Should I put my supermarket job on my C.V.? I am worried employers will see it and wonder why I have been working in a supermarket instead of a full time job in design. Will it put employers off? Or should I just list my freelance as the past 2 years?

Any advice would be great, thanks!

 

[Owen Parry]

Just talk about your relevant experience. You have been freelancing for the past 2 years.

If you say you've been working at a supermarket part time the only image that conjures is that you were not able to make it as a full time graphic designer. And that's just going to hurt you chances.

If I were you I'd prepare answers to the following questions:
- Why have you decided to abandon freelancing
- Are you still going to be freelancing
- Do you have any legacy work that is going to impact on your job should you get it

 

[Brey White]

You can add your supermarket experience as well, but as Owen Parry said that employers gonna ask this question that why were you not working as a full-time graphic designer, then you should be prepared to answer it. If you have valid reasons for that, then I'm sure, it's not gonna affect your chances of getting selected for the role of designer.

 

[Paul Norman]

I struggle with this kind of question!

The reason is, each interviewer will behave differently.

However, sadly, a big percentage are not brilliant at recruiting, and deselect for quite trivial reasons. Personally, I would want to talk about it. If you have had the energy and get up and go to get a supermarket job to pay for stuff, I find that commendable. But some would not.

I would include it in my list of employers. But make not real mention of it, because your CV should focus on the skills you have relevant to the job you are applying for.

And the questions mentioned by @Owen Parry . Definitely get your answers ready for those questions.

 

[WaveJumper]

Quite a lot of airline pilots are working as supermarket delivery drivers at the moment, its been a difficult two years (covid) you have not been sitting around you have been out there making ends meet in my book that's nothing to be worried about if they ask be prepared to talk about it

 

[Opinion87]

I would put it on my CV and I'd look at it positively if I saw it on a CV. As @WaveJumper said, a lot of people have had to take jobs they wouldn't necessarily have taken due to Covid. Rightly or wrongly I have a lot more respect for those of my staff that took on other jobs (whilst furloughed) to pay off credit cards, save a deposit etc. than those who message me every Sunday night asking if they can be paid early because they're skint.

 

[IanSuth]

I would leave it off (i am an ex recruitment consultant of 27 yrs experience) but maybe in the header email/letter mention "I am recently also been working as a supermarket delivery driver to supplement income but can leave this on short notice to be available for your role"

I demonstrates you will do whatever is needed to earn a crust but also value their role

 

[AstEver]

Because you cannot know what the interviewers are going to think, judge, and interpret what you communicate, and to what degree their subjectivity influences their decisions, I would play safe.

 

[Opinion87]

Because you cannot know what the interviewers are going to think, judge, and interpret what you communicate, and to what degree their subjectivity influences their decisions, I would play safe.

Surely using that logic you could argue that he should put it down.

 

[AllUpHere]

Because you cannot know what the interviewers are going to think, judge, and interpret what you communicate, and to what degree their subjectivity influences their decisions, I would play safe.

What do you mean by play it safe? I'd say the easiest way to play it 'safe' is not lying on your CV.

 

[WendyThompson]

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. Has your supermarket role given you any additional experience that might be relevant to the job application? Have you learnt anything about yourself that might be helpful to the advertised role? If you say nothing, will it harm your application?

 

[AstEver]

Surely using that logic you could argue that he should put it down.

Because you don't know what the weather is going to be like, you should take an umbrella with you. Using this logic you could argue that they shouldn't take an umbrella.

 

[Fagin2021]

There is a right answer. If you don't reveal your previous employment and your new employer discovers it, it's grounds for dismissal. I'd be asking 'what else has this person concealed?'

 

[AstEver]

There is a right answer. If you don't reveal your previous employment and your new employer discovers it, it's grounds for dismissal. I'd be asking 'what else has this person concealed?'

I think this applies only to job applications and not to CVs, but please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[AstEver]

What do you mean by play it safe? I'd say the easiest way to play it 'safe' is not lying on your CV

This is a good point, however, leaving off jobs and other irrelevant to the job role information is a common practice, and I would not consider it lying but arguments can be made to call it as such.

 

[AllUpHere]

It's been a while since I had employees, and I've never been an employee so this way be way off, but doesn't the OP give the P45 from the Supermarket to her new employer? If so, you might want to mention you work there.

 

[Opinion87]

Because you don't know what the weather is going to be like, you should take an umbrella with you. Using this logic you could argue that they shouldn't take an umbrella.

Lying to a potential employer isn't going to get you off to the best start. But yeah, umbrella something something weather, remind me not to hire an HR consultant that thinks like yourself.

 

[AstEver]

Lying to a potential employer isn't going to get you off to the best start. But yeah, umbrella something something weather, remind me not to hire an HR consultant that thinks like yourself.

I do not understand where this animosity is coming from.

As I said, excluding from CV employment not relevant to the position one is applying for is a common practice, sometimes it is even recommended, and it is debatable whether we should call it lying or not.

I am not an HR consultant.

I used the sentence with umbrella to show that it can be ambiguous from logic perspective but it cannot be ambiguous from notional perspective. There is no need for this ridiculing of yours - I hope that you do not always react this way when someone presents you with a counterargument.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Yes. The fact you’ve asked the question means you’d probably worry about it at interview and it would show.

 

[paulears]

As this CV for employment in the graphics industry, why not list,
Your graphics career and describe the supermarket work as Covid-19 period, which is true. The world went mad and many specialists took these kind of jobs with head held high because it was the sensible thing to do. Turn it into a positive, which everyone will understand. My friend is an entertainment huge video screen programmer, he’s listed Tesco on his quite happily as a plus point, indicating his willingness to do work outside the traditional job role.

 

[kulture]

Include it. Make it a positive. Either to show your willingness to work regardless, or to say that you observed customer interaction with the graphic displays and product designs.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Explain why the work dried up as a freelancer, which should be easy and mention you have been forced to work at supermarket to make ends meet

I am sure that most will understand that marketing has gone through a very tough period over the last couple of years and your 20 years experience is what should be judged on

Most people would prefer honest staff

 

[ecommerce84]

Definitely list it, I can only see it as a positive personally.

You needed some extra income to support you whilst you were freelance? That’s perfectly fine. They are employing you for your graphic design skills and not your business skills. If it was that easy, everyone would be a freelance designer and there would be no need for any employed ones.

If it comes up in an interview, use it to your advantage - you saw a problem - your incomings were lower than your outgoings and you did what you had to do to fix it. You can then apply this to a situation which is relevant to that company - a colleague is off sick a week before a project is due to be finished, so you step up to the plate, offer to do overtime and make sure the project is finished on time. You let nothing get in your way.

As others have pointed out, CV-19 has meant that many took up jobs they wouldn’t normally, so you could go down this route if you want to, although I guess the start date may have been prior to Covid.

It’s also easy to get caught out when telling lies - I imagine this company is local to your supermarket - how likely is it that one or more of their employees shop their that might recognise you. You may be introduced on day 1 to the office administrator, who goes - “I know you from Tesco!” and then you’ve got a lot more explaining to do.

One final thing - if a company really saw you working part time in a supermarket as a reason not to employ you, it’s probably not a company you’d want to be working for anyway. So consider it a bullet dodged.

 

[Mr D]

I think this applies only to job applications and not to CVs, but please correct me if I am wrong.

To some employers, the CV is the application.