How to Put Temporary Jobs on a Resume — Like a Pro

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Temporary jobs or short-term jobs are often a part of our working careers.

Whether seasonal or contract jobs, these are important parts of one’s work history.

Including short-term jobs on a resume is not typically advisable, so what should you do in the case of a temporary job?

 

How To Put Temporary Jobs on a Resume

To put Temporary jobs on a resume, include them in the experience section. If they are not relevant to the job, don’t include them. Jobs longer than three months are the most impressive. Include a small descriptor indicating that it was temporary so the employer does not get a bad impression.

One of the first questions that an employer will ask upon seeing a short-term job on a resume is, “Why?”.

Especially in very short jobs, one month and shorter, this could give an employer the impression that the termination was your fault.

Shorter jobs do not show dedication or loyalty to a company, which makes them tricky to include in a positive light.

Adding a descriptor to the temporary job can let an employer know that the job was scheduled to end on a set date and that the shorter duration was no fault of your own. Which descriptor to use depends on the type of temporary job it was.

For seasonal jobs, you can include [seasonal] next to the job name. For contracted jobs with a scheduled start and end date, you could include the phrase “completed a contracted project doing x” as one of the bullet points.

Remember that if you use periods with bullet points on a resume, you must use periods in all bullet points in the resume!

Remember to list the dates next to the seasonal jobs in the experience section. You can list these by including only the month and year.

The month can be written out as a number or as a word, and the year should always be written in numerical format.

For seasonal jobs, this format should look like the following:

 

Student Center Math Tutor [Seasonal] [6-2014] – [9-2014]

• Assisted students in remedial summer math classes
• Created weekly lesson plans following textbook curriculum
• Led group lessons of 8 students, and gave/checked homework as needed

 

For contracted jobs, an example of a work experience may look like this:

 

John’s Construction Company [8-2020] – [10-2020]

• Completed a contracted project involving building a patio and concrete grilling area
• Experience with various power tools and painting techniques
• Adjusted plans to meet client’s wishes while also meeting deadlines

 

By formatting jobs in the above two ways, you ensure the employer can see you are experienced.

This also lets them know that you have completed past projects. 

This is a good time to tell an employer you are seeking a longer-term employment opportunity.

Fit this into your interview and make these temporary jobs into good talking points that can help you land the job!

 

What types of temporary jobs are there?

Temporary jobs can include seasonal jobs, contracted jobs, volunteering jobs, jobs at weekend events, or even part-time jobs such as babysitting!

These different types of jobs can be important assets in the right context.

Volunteering and babysitting, for example, may be placed in various sections on a resume. Volunteering may be written in the volunteering section, and babysitting may be written in the skills section.  

Consider including temporary jobs in sections other than work experience or only including the relevant skills you gained from them on your resume.

These are good ways to avoid the pitfalls of the short-duration job and to expand your skills section! 

 

Should You Include a Temporary Job on a Resume?

Temporary jobs should be included on a resume if they are relevant or you have a shorter job history and need to fill the space. You can also add the job if it fills a hole in your work history. If you have many job experiences that are thorough, you should not include the temporary job.

Temporary jobs can resonate poorly with potential employers, so it is important to be careful when including them on your resume.

If it does not need to be there or is not impressive, then it is always best to leave it off.

Do not feel pressured to include every job you have ever done in your experience section.

If you do not have a lot of work history, such as in the case of freshmen, undergraduate students, or new graduates, then an employer will understand that your work experiences will not have been long-term.

It is not uncommon for university students to include temporary jobs such as research or tutoring on their resumes. 

If not including the temporary job leaves a big hole in the dates of your experience, you may also want to include it.

Whenever there is a gap in a person’s employment history, it could make an employer wonder why.

Leaving an employer with questions about your resume is never a good thing, so consider filling that gap with your temporary job if possible. 

 

Is it bad to include a temporary job on a resume?

Including a temporary job on a resume is a bad idea if it forces you to leave off a longer or more relevant experience. You also should not include irrelevant temporary jobs because they will not impress an employer outside of that field. 

While job histories should be written in reverse chronological order, you can leave off jobs if they are irrelevant or unimpressive.

If your resume only has space for three jobs, for example, do not just choose the three most recent ones.

Choose the three that are most relevant to the desired job so the employer can see your most valuable experiences!

Including irrelevant temporary jobs is a double mistake. Temporary jobs are questionably useful, and irrelevant ones are not of interest to an employer.

By including this, it makes the employer question the reason you included something so unimportant.

Perhaps you had nothing better to write? Do not let this line of thinking continue!