Forum: workplace.stackexchange.com
Tags: <resume>
Title: Is it better to have a 10 year gap or a bad reference?
Question: I made a mistake and was let go from a job I held for 10 years.   How should I handle this on my resume? Do I omit my last 10 years of employment or list them when I think they will give me a bad reference?

Answers:
sents: text: It would be better to list the job.
text: You'll face questions in any interview about what you've been doing for the last ten years.
text: If you've left it off, your options will be to lie (which is bad - never lie in interviews), or tell the truth that you left the job off your resume (which is also bad - it will likely give the correct impression that you lied by omission on your resume to get into the interview room).
text: Additionally, if the new job requires a background check you'll need to list your old job for that (or lie again, still bad, and fatal to your application when the background check uncovers it anyway).
text: Depending on your area (this site has taught me that some locales expect a reference to be from "the company", but wherever I've worked it's been from individual people), it would be better to get a former manager there to supply a reference.
text: Someone you reported to at some point in the last ten years, preferably who has left the company so has no stake in the politics of why you were dismissed.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/64188/Player One
score: 95
sents: text: In the 10 years that you worked there do you not have a single person who could provide a good reference for you?
text: I'd mention the job on my resume and just use a current or former employee that I trust would say good things about me as a reference.
text: If you're asked why you're leaving or why you left you could just say something like "
text: I'm ready for a change of pace" or something.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9236/neubert
score: 26
sents: text: Even if you were fired for cause, 10 years in the same company is a good indicator.
text: You were good enough for them to keep you that long, please acknowledge that.
text: By omitting the experience, you seem to say that it's a shame your job
text: there was so long.
text: It's not, it proves you were faithful to the company and are not a butterfly who changes jobs too often.
text: Besides, honesty is always you best card.
text: List the experience on your résumé and be honest about why you had to leave when asked in the job interview.
text: As others have said, you can surely find people who will say nice things about you if asked for reference.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/17223/Pierre Arlaud
score: 24
sents: text: It is very difficult to spin this without more information.
text: If you were let go for something that was your fault (and even worse it was very recent)
text: then you're not going to want to highlight that at all.
text: On the other hand people can be let go for things that are not their fault.
text: 10 years is too big a gap to leave it blank on your resume.
text: It is one of the worst kinds of red flags you can have.
text: You're applications will get passed over every time by someone who doesn't have a gap.
text: Best bet is to put the job down and hope for the best.
text: as suggested you could put a colleague or someone you trust as a reference.
text: You could ask your old boss to see if you can gauge what kind of reference you might get but its hard to say without knowing what the cause was or what his/her temperament is like.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/76870/solarflare
score: 6
sents: text: You can't hide something that was going on for 10 years by simply omitting it in the CV.
text: Even with a gap of two years the first question you will get will be "what have you been doing recently?"
text: List the job on your CV, and prepare answers to questions about your career there (and your termination), should they arise.
text: Answers where you admit your mistakes and which sound like you learned your lesson tend to work better than answers where you try to shift the blame.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/37016/Dmitry Grigoryev
score: 5
sents: text: You must explain those ten years.
text: If the HR department has to guess, they'll either make a worst-case assumption (like "10 years in prison, maybe?") or they will not bother to guess and discard the application.
text: Depending on your family situation, you might be able to imply family time without any outright lies, but even then a gap is probably worse than being let go.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/32416/o.m.
score: 1
sents: text: I feel like you're conflating two different issues here.
text: First is employment history.
text: This will likely be a call to an HR department, and it consists more-or-less of three quick questions: Did Cathy work for you?
text: She said her employment dates were June 2009 to June 2019.
text: Is this correct?
text: Is Cathy eligible for rehire?
text: That's it.
text: The other is professional reference.
text: There's no rule that says this needs to be your old manager.
text: Talk to your other coworkers and get their permission to use them as a reference.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/63978/Alex H.
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
You won't be able to hide a job you had for 10 years. You should mention the job and trust that the former employer will give a good reference. Prepare some answers to potential questions and be honest about why you had to leave.
Whilst it's difficult to give a precise answer without more detail, most people would say that honesty is the best policy and you should mention the job on your CV.